| People are always telling artists to "tell stories" on their blogs, but what does that mean exactly?
What kind of stories?
I suggest you tell stories that bleed. Those are the interesting stories that will connect people to you.
The most highly commented post on my personal blog has been "How do You Keep Going?" In that post, I wonder, after losing my beautiful cat of 19 years, how I can possibly go on. I went on to explain how I'm working through that pain.
The truth is we all experience pain, joy, fear, loss, and excitement in this life. These are the stories that make us human. These are the stories you should share.
One of the commenters on my post wrote the following (in part):
"You cannot know pain until you have lost a child. I had lost dogs, cats, horses and my Mom and Dad, but nothing hurts like the loss of a child. Without my art and my horses I could not go on."
That took a lot of courage for that artist to share!
That story is as real as it gets, and my heart goes out to her. That is real. That is bleeding. That is something that matters about this particular artist and her art. We now know her art (and her horses) may very well have saved her life. And that is much more meaningful to people than yet another list of 10 items such as "10 Ways I Share My Art on Pinterest". Most people, including artists, don't care about the "10 ways" articles. Everyone cares about the story of a how a person who lost a child is somehow finding meaning again in life through her art.
James Altucher was asked, "Is there one simple, common feature, one element you aim to achieve in every blog post?" -@rajlikes [1]
His answer was to do three things in your posts:
1. Bleed - by sharing something intimate that is scary to share.
2. Tell a story.
3. Add value.
Now certainly, everything that is "scary to share" doesn't have to be a huge tragedy such as losing a pet, a spouse or (God forbid) a child.
Bleeding doesn't have to mean "tragic". Bleeding equals "intimate". It means you metaphorically bled a little to muster up the courage to share your story. Tell us how the love of your life inspired you to start painting. Tell us about the gallery person who told you not to quit your day job and how that inspired you to prove him wrong, which led to you improving your work.
Think about things you usually think of as private. The things you think wouldn't interest your blog's readers. Chances are, many of those stories are the most interesting things about you.
So, next time you sit down to write a blog post, stop, think and tell us the stories that bleed.
Until next time, please remember that Fortune Favors the Bold Brush. | 