The Mad Biologist’s Guide to Blogging

Posted on December 29, 2008 by mikethemadbiologist

So, does the Mad Biologist follow the advice given by big-time bloggers? Like Farhad Manjoo, I’ve actually read (ok, skimmed) The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging, but Manjoo gives an electronic version of the guide, upgraded to include advice from other bloggers. Onto the advice:

  1. Set a schedule. Blog often. Yep. Daily.
  2. Don’t worry if your posts suck a little. I’ve got this one covered: most of my posts suck a lot.
  3. Write casually but clearly. Mixed bag. My lede isn’t always good, although hopefully, the post titles and the excerpt blurb make up for that. On the other hand, keeping posts below 800 words usually isn’t a problem–I lack the patience and the time to write more than that.
  4. Add something new. I’m not entirelhy convinced by this piece of advice–nobody links to (or reads) my posts about antibiotic resistance, even though it kills tens of thousands of people annually (that doesn’t mean I won’t write them of course). When I do add something new, it’s often because I challenge (sometimes even correctly) the assumptions underlying an ongoing debate.
  5. Join the bloggy conversation. And link! I do link, for the little or no good that it does me. On a tangential note, I’ll probably bring back lists of links (I stopped because I hated putting it together, but I think I’ve figured out how to do it with less pain on my part).
  6. Don’t expect instant fame. Not a problem. If I wanted fame, I would use my real name…
  7. Wait at least 15 minutes before publishing something you’ve written. Yup (and I’m still an idiot).
  8. Write everything as if your mom is reading your work, a good way to maintain civility and keep your work comprehensible. Civility? Who do you think taught me some of my best curse words? Definitely bad advice here….

On a slightly less snarky note, Ezra Klein writes:

Find something specific to follow and follow it deeply. That “something” could be health policy, as it has been for me, or urban policy, or telecom, or congressional procedure, or media structure, or a thousand things I can’t name. That’s not to say you have to create a niche blog. The specialized posts mix with the generalized posts — in my case, health wonkery rubs elbows with garden variety political punditry — and the two cross-subsidize each other. The rigor of the more technical work gives you credibility in the reader’s mind and adds weight to the generalist posts. The generalist posts broaden the blog’s potential audience and create access points that new readers wouldn’t have if you let the blog become a repository of technical commentary.

Just out of curiosity, what do readers think I specialize in?

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12 Responses to The Mad Biologist’s Guide to Blogging

  1. Dan says:
    December 29, 2008 at 10:55 am

    I think you specialize in crankiness.

  2. chezjake says:
    December 29, 2008 at 11:54 am

    First off, I always read the antibiotic resistance posts, even if no one else does. I’ve been interested and concerned with the subject since back in the days I worked for Roche and then Beecham (before they were assimilated).
    Since I tend to agree with a great deal of what Dan calls your “crankiness,” I think we should expand the field of adjectives that cover your blogging specialty. May I suggest that liberal, cantankerous, objective, curmudgeonly, realistic, and a pronounced bias in favor of humanity are good descriptors.
    Keep it up, Mike. I’m still reading.

  3. drdrA
    drdrA says:
    December 29, 2008 at 12:37 pm

    Dude I read all your posts about antibiotic resistance and the human microbiome … even if it’s only me and chezjake up there reading them, please please please keep on writing them!

  4. Aperiodic Wanderings – United States
    murison says:
    December 29, 2008 at 9:31 pm

    I suspect there are a lot of us lurkers who read pretty much all your posts — including the antibiotic resistance ones. Anybody who ignores antibiotic resistance is an idiot, but then that’s just my (absolutely correct, and roundly ignored) opinion.

  5. Janne says:
    December 30, 2008 at 5:27 am

    I do read the antibiotic resistance posts – just like I read the science-related posts of other ScienceBlogs bloggers. But since it’s speciality posts that the poster presumably knows a great deal about, and I do not, I find it very hard to comment on such posts. More general subjects are much easier to comment on without making it too obvious I’m a total nincompoop.

  8. Oyun says:
    December 30, 2008 at 7:23 pm

    ı have followed your writing for a long time.really you have given very successful information.

  9. llewelly says:
    December 31, 2008 at 5:16 pm

    I’ve also read all your posts on antibiotic resistance.

  10. Birumut – Yalan Dünya
    magic says:
    August 14, 2009 at 11:16 pm

    very thanks for article sesli chat

  11. Birumut – Yalan Dünya
    yurek says:
    August 25, 2009 at 3:50 am

    thanks very

  12. Murfomurf – Malvern, SA 5061 – I am someone with far too many interests to do them all every week. This is a personal blog with no particular theme- just what I want to write. I might not LOOK very interesting but you may be rewarded for taking some time to discover me! I feel as though I am about 25 or 30 and would have liked to have had a rewarding job until I gave up searching in March 2015. My ideal job would be doing research and service development in Public Health, but meanwhile I finished an MPH and I’ll do a PhD if I have to. This blog is mainly about my life and thoughts. I'm passionate about all sorts of topics that capture my attention from news, current affairs and friends’ lives. As a bit of background: when I was a kid, I was good at everything except team sport and in the looks department; I didn’t achieve great height either. These days I am deemed not to be good enough at anything to be employed, although I used to be a uni lecturer and health researcher. My blogging tends to have at least a wry note, if not a completely Pythonesque aspect! Since I find blogging therapeutic, I sometimes touch on my experiences with Major Depression, but I won’t drag you down. My posts tend to contain what I THINK, and hopefully some of what I do. Although I’ve been pretty much unemployed for 4 years, and only semi-employed for 7 years before that, I still blog about the topics of my old work. My favourite work topics are mental health, eating disorders, depression, body “image” and public health. Im a strong supporter of equity. You’ll find I’m fairly leftie in a 70s Hippie kind of way, but without the stars in my eyes or the Little Red Book in my pocket. My main mission in life is achieving some sort of “fairness”.
    Kay says:
    August 25, 2009 at 7:13 am

    I must go read the antibiotic resistance blogs! I haven’t been exploring Science Blogs for long- sorry!! Also, I’ve already linked to your blog in mine, and yours has been broadcast to all and sundry in Adelaide, South Australia through a local webby radio program! I am taking your advice (and that of my webby partner, Spotrick of http://spotrick.wordpress.com/) in my new health blog- trying to start something topical and not get too technical!
    Thanks for the advice!

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