Writing something is one of the ways you can express something online. You write something, and many people read that writing. In addition to having appreciative approaches to blogging and reader interaction, you can infuse appreciation directly into your writing.
Following are 10 practical ways to add appreciation to your writing. All the sample sentences below were chosen by me randomly, and do not reflect view I agree with, and they also do not reflect views I disagree with.
10 Practical Ways To Have Appreciative Writing
- Avoid personal attacks
The less personal you can be in a disagreement, the better.
For example, saying
Jack’s view and understanding of communism is not something I agree with
can be better than saying
Jack’s a damn capitalist and thus he is wrong!
Jack will be happier, and so will you. Basically, avoid telling people they are wrong.
- Avoid direct attack on an idea
Avoid attacking an idea directly. An idea can be a religion, a mentality, a feeling, anything. Instead, if you want to disagree in your writing, target the things that make that idea solid.
For example, saying
Islam is a religion of terrorists, and Christianity promotes hating gay people
is a direct attack on religion which is an idea, and thus a direct attack on people who have such beliefs.
Instead of saying the above, one can say
In my view, many Terrorists use the Islamic religion to cloak their activities. Christianity, in my view, does not support gay people. In fact, it is against people being gay.
Which versions sound more logical, effective, and less threatening, while communicating an opinion?
- Avoid assuming things
“Are you a Southerner?” I get to hear that from people who think some of my friends support the government too much, and thus they must be from the south or something. “Where are you from?” saying that to anyone who speaks English, but has different kinds of eyes, ears, color skin, or something, shows that someone is simply a person who thinks people should be categorized racially.
Similarly, if someone asks you “What is PHP?” Do NOT start assuming that the person in question does not know anything about computers or the online world. I was at a meeting last week where a group of people talked about corporate relations. There was one person at the meeting who wanted some consulting on some of the businesses he owned, and there was supposedly a very famous blogger there also. The person who owned businesses admitted that he did not even know what blogs were, let alone know that blogs were only related at the moment to the online world. At this revelation, the blogger kept giggling throughout the entire meeting whenever the topic of what blogs are came up, and kept saying things like “Without blogs and websites, it is hard to make money anymore.” The guy who did not know blogs, at the end of the meeting, said “I make over $3 million a year, pure personal profit, working 3 days a week, around 5 hours each day. How much do you make from your blog?” Sure, it is a topic within itself to not put people in the spotlight like that. However, yes, there are times when the only thing you should assume is that your closed mouth makes you look smarter, something that the blogger should have done. After the meeting ended, I asked the non-blogger if he really made $3 million a year himself. He laughed, and told me the exact amount. It was less than $3, but still more than $2.1 million. I am guessing rounding up numbers can be effective when trying to prove a point?
On the most basic level, if you are blogging, instead of assuming who your readers are, find out who your readers are. Simonne offers an excellent series on different kind of blog readers, which may help you tremendously.
If you absolutely MUST assume something about someone, offer alternatives in such a way that your assumption applies to everyone, including yourself, without offending anyone who does not wish to be categorized into something. Saying
Are you an American/Chinese/Indian/Japanese/ Southerner/Californian/Gay/ Straight/Married/Divorced/ Normal/Abnormal/etc?
right on the first meeting or first assumption can be replaced with, if you absolutely must ask, with the following:
Tell me something about yourself, like your work or personal background, if you are ok with me asking that question. I am really interested.
Which one do you prefer hearing if you were the one being categorized by someone? It is better to be less racist than a full fledged racist moron who does not know what kinds of things may offend other people. When in doubt, keep your mouth shut and simply listen. A cow can close its mouth to rest when there is nothing to chew upon; why can’t you? Write about whatever you want to write without assuming things about other people. The best way to avoid assuming something is by asking questions first.
- Associate a user with personal examples
If you want someone to take your writing seriously, include an example, whether real or not, that a reader can take, in even the smallest form, and think “That is possible.” One way to do that is to include real life examples, or combine fiction with non-fiction, or even in fictitious examples, include some elements that a user can relate to. If you want to convey a message to someone, you have to speak their language, and giving an example they can relate to helps.
For example, in a book aimed at children, talking about what a child sees when traveling to another planet, saying
Imagine seeing a bright, shining planet from a distant solar system, and then wondering about the source of its light
can sound better than writing
Alpha variant observes the incoming gamma particle, and then deliberates on its nucleus properties.
The latter could work if it was targeted at children wanting philosophy in technical and fictitious terms. The latter version of the writing can do wonders, but only if the readers know the language of the book. Adding the above sentence while talking about a fairy fighting devils on Mars will only confuse the children more; they might think you are the devil.
- Allow others to disagree with you, in case you are wrong
When you disagree with someone, try to leave some room open for a rebuttal. That does not mean you should give someone so much advantage in your writing, that your own writing starts sounding less serious. Instead, lay out your points strongly, and then offer some situations where you agree that if a certain point was true, your theory or assumption may be wrong.
For example, saying
All personal blogs are inferior forms of blogs
means you are not leaving much room for discussion, whereas saying the following is better:
Thus, from what I gather, it seems personal blogs have less money making approach than other blogs. Therefore, all personal blogs are inferior forms of blogs.
That way, if someone wishes to disagree with you, at least they can argue with you about personal blogs having less monetary potential, or about the value of a blog being judged by the amount of money it can make.
- Give credit to others
If a credit is due, you may want to give it. I give advice and provide consulting to many people, and many times, people will simply take ideas and pass it off as their own. If a reader gives you an idea, giving them credit can be better. Not only does it promote your relations with readers, it also teaches you how to co-exist and provide benefit not only to yourself but to others also, unless that is not what you are looking for.
For example,
I thought of this question while driving today
can be written better as
After reading what Nancy said in her comment, I thought of this question while driving today.
Unless Nancy does not want her name associated with the question you were thinking, which sentence would you prefer reading, if you were Nancy?
- Be transparent
Being transparent means not hiding things which are relevant to the people and elements involved in something, directly or indirectly. You should always remember the importance of transparency in blogging.
Take advertising for example: if you blog only to make money, be transparent about that fact. The only reason you may want to hide such a fact may be because you do not offer any real value in return to your blog readers. The following
If you click this link, you’ll get a 5% discount, and I’ll get 1% referral commission
sounds better than
Click this link to get 5% discount! ONLY AT MY SITE!!!!
In contrast, the exact amount of money you make can be too much information, since that is usually only your concern. Being transparent can apply to many things: being clear why you support gay marriages, why you support non-gay marriages, why you want more women rights, why you want less global warming, etc. You can even be clear about why you changed the last design of your site. The more transparent you are, without being open about any unnecessary thing, the more connected you can appear with others. You can read Ronald’s excellent article, “Be Transparent to your Readers“, to find out some more specific ways to be transparent with your readers.
- Admit mistakes
We live in a global society where many people think that admitting mistakes means one is not good at something. In many cases, this can be the same as many guys saying they never cry, many girls saying that they always like hanging out with guy friends because girls are weird, etc. Not admitting mistakes does not make you look stronger; it makes you look stupider and less human. Why? Because you are depending on the notion of appearing stronger, in order to feel strong. You aren’t doing anything to be stronger in reality.
Saying
We can talk about this all day and look at it from so many perspectives, no one can ever be right. Those people are damn stupid and idiots!
when in reality you know you were completely wrong about something, is a sign that you cannot admit mistakes. Instead, saying something like
That makes sense, I had not thought about it that way, and my original understanding of this seems to be a misunderstanding in my view.
sounds better. Stop trying to appear stronger. Be stronger and admit your mistakes.
- Teach and Practice at the same time, if possible
Saying
Write nice things about other people
while insulting someone who does not write nice things about others, can serve as a double negative for both you and your readers. Instead, if you do things which are contrary to what you are writing, lay them out in one form or another.
Instead of the above sentence, saying
Even though I have to disagree with and insult the idea promoted by Medgar Hellen Ko, I must take this approach in order to show what we should do: the complete opposite, that we should write nice things about others.
That way, you can show that you are not just preaching while not doing it yourself, but that you understand the times when you do not follow your own advice.
- Explain things to readers
A stereotypical car sales person aims to target people who already have driving licenses. A smart car sales person aims to target anyone who can drive, whether or not they have a license. An appreciative car sales person aims to target everyone, including those that cannot get a license, in order to appeal to both customers and non-customers.
The blogosphere is going through a disease now, where many bloggers are promoting the idea that if someone does not understand what you are trying to sell or promote, ignore them. I think such bloggers are selfish marketers who simply want to make quick money. You can be a smart marketer who educates people on the go. Instead of saying
Today I want to talk about ways to stop whales from kidnapping people.
you can explain in some manner the statement “whales can kidnap people“, since I think some people may wonder “What the HELL is going on here?”
Similarly, if you talk about something, simply try to include some reference to a place where a reader can find out more about what you are writing about. You can read my article titled “Explain things to people who are new to some things” for more information.
Those are 10 practical ways to add appreciation to your writing right away.
What is your opinion on this? Can you think of more points? Thank you for reading. 
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Bes,
This is a great list of ways to appreciate readers within a blog post. I think each of the points could be expanded in the form of a series. I’m game.