This class is designed for writers aged 13+ who are interested in sharing their stories online. Over the course of seven weeks, we’ll explore blogging platforms, brainstorm ideas, try out a few common post types, get to know our personal “writing voices” better, and even touch on SEO and internet safety. Learners will leave with a fully functional blog of their own and a list of ideas to carry them into the future. This is a great course for building confidence and creativity.
Schedule:
Week 1: Intro to blogging
Explore the concept of “niching down,” discover different blogging platforms, and find inspiration for your own blog. Collect your inspiration in one place, brainstorm 1-5 starter post ideas, and complete a few self-discovery exercises to determine the kind of blog you want to work on.
Week 2: Get set up
Pick your blogging platform (we recommend Medium) and get set up. Write your bio in first and third person, learn about internet safety, and publish your first post.
Week 3: Telling a story
What do bloggers post, anyway? Explore the most common post types and learn about why they work and what kinds of audiences they appeal to. Practice outlining a story post and work with your five senses, strong verbs, and strong adjectives to tell a powerful story.
Week 4: Crafting a list post
Lists are a short, snappy, and super common blog post format. Explore an example, come up with a couple of your own ideas, and create your list post in class today. We’ll start using Grammarly to check our work.
Week 5: Brainstorming ideas
With a solid understanding of what blogging is, you’re now ready to set your goals and make your own customized list of blog content ideas. Let’s curate ideas together and then work on outlining, prepping, and drafting our favorite idea.
Week 6: Finding your writing voice / Editing 101
Your writing voice represents your personality as a blogger! But how do you find it? We’ll break down the difference between poor editing and personal writing voice. After this class, you’ll be a step closer to really understanding your voice, and you’ll know how to polish your pieces for publishing.
Week 7: SEO 101
So you’ve published a post, but no one is reading it. This is fixable! In this hour, we’ll introduce and demystify basic keywords and metadata, plus talk about how to safely and effectively share your content on social media. We’ll also talk about enabling/disabling comments on posts, or choosing to share with a select audience instead of posting publicly.
