YourGamer.Net

Its hard to keep up with a blog, especially without help. But i really like having a place to post my mindset on things, specificly games and geekery. It takes alot of dedication to having consistant ready to go content, very difficult if you have to balance that with college and real life obligations. My freinds are at best, spotty with writing. Two have all but dropped off the face of the earth, or the internet at least.

Some general rules of game blogging are as follows:

1. Be Consistent - you’ll need to find a style of writing/posting that fits you. This is difficult for some because, its hard to get a handle on what precisely a writing style is. What grammar quirks, spelling, and slang works for you, while still conveying your thoughts and ideas you wish to express.
2. Be Regular - Don’t make the mistake i did; make a point of posting SOMETHING on a regular basis. Quality will come with practice and patience, but the key factor of most blogs of any type is the fact they update regularly. Once a day, once a week, twice a week, and so on. Pick a regular post schedule that fits you and your real schedule. Allow a little bit of time for research and critique.
3. Be Respectful - In this time of a shaky concepts of intellectual property and copyrights,  its best to cite your sources and make proper use of the quote options that are available to most blog apps. A little bit of formatting goes a long way to being in good relations to other sites. Personal blogs don’t know or care about such things, but that’s why it’s a PERSONAL blog, if you want to be a specialty blog, try to be professional about your presentation.
4. Be Patient - Writing is fairly trying on ones sanity when you have to hunt through lots of text to make sure it all adds up. A good way to deal with the issue of misquotes, artistic fubars, and general hack writing is to have an editor, or at least a friend who’s better at grammar than you to look through it. Proofreading, critiques, spell checking and formatting are all cross’s that bloggers must bear. You are not the only one, so don’t be angry if someone comments on a mistake you made.
5. Be Nice - You don’t have to enjoy the pressence of idiots in your community, use the ban-hammer if needs be, but also be nice to your more mature and respectfull members. Respond to there comments, have respectfull and meaningful conversations. If you’re running a specialty blog, then keeping your community happy is a primary goal of your site. You never know when a fan of yours can be a source of information and/or inspiration.
6. Be Knowledgable - When you can have most of the world’s collective knowledge just a google search away, there should be no excuse for biased ignorance. Writing a rant is one thing, but if you are a specialty blog, you are obligated to research your topics. This is especially true when you have two sides to an arguement. It may seem strange to get the “devils advocate” point of view, but your post will be the better for it.
7. Be Skilled - There is no excuse, NONE, for not knowing the tools of the trade. A blogger specialist should take the time to get to know his or her system software. You don’t need to be an expert, but you must be able to compentently navigate and use the software that runs your blog. Keep a link to the help files either saved or bookmarked for easy access. Take the time to check through the updates and tips that the creators give. If you are comfortable in the writing environment, then you work faster and more effeciently.
8. Be Honest - This pertains primarily to the tags and SOE “bombing” of articles, posts and what have you that in the make your post to be something its not. As a gaming blog, YourGamer.Net concentrates on tags and catagories that encompass gaming. You will not find photoshop tutorials, porn, or warez download links in this blog, and my SEO practices reflect that. I suggest that all bloggers to the same.
9. Be Creative - You don’t have to be completely different each post, sticking with a format you know and are comfortable with is nothing to be ashamed of, most readers expect things as such. You shouldn’t, however be afraid to throw the occasional curve ball. Keeping your readers and subscribers on there toes is good, but don’t do it to much. Being to far off the beaten path will change the focus of the posts entirely, and is ultimately confusing.
10. Be Detirmined - Just because you get a low spot in your reader or subscribership is no cause for alarm. Keep moving forward and you’ll get somewhere. Don’t be afraid to use the larger news and service sites that are huge and plentiful. Twitter, Digg, Flickr, link exchanges, all good tools to get your blog out there. It may seam cheap, but sometimes its the best way.

Welp, thats that from my brain. I know it may seem hypocritical, this list when compared to my many other posts, but this is what i’ve learned from running this site.

Have fun!!