Find Your Niche: Writing for the Web

We will begin by exploring the various types of web writing, from personal blogs to op-eds and from news pieces to think pieces. We will identify specific goals for our own writing and why writing for the web is important to us. Through various readings and fun questionnaires, you will identify your own area of expertise and interest in order to create a focus for subsequent assignments. We will also talk broadly about how internet writing has changed over the past decade, and where we are now in terms of what is expected of writers trying to break into this vast field.

What is it that makes some online pieces go viral and others fall flat? We will examine various online pieces—blogs, articles, and lists—that have resonated with readers in order to understand their power. We will look at literary elements such as the writer’s tone, the issues raised by the pieces, imagery, sentence structure, length, style, storytelling devices, the “hook,” and more. We will also discuss the importance of titles and headlines and how such formatting elements work on readers. You will be asked to write your first blog piece.

One of the great uses of online writing is the imparting of knowledge. The “how-to” form can be useful for anyone trying to share expertise with readers. It can also serve as a great vehicle for satire. We will look at examples, both straightforward and satirical, of the “how-to” form. You will be asked to write your own “how-to” piece, which can be derived from an area of technical expertise or personal experience.

This week we will look at web pieces that successfully approach contemporary issues through the writer’s fresh lens. You will write your own article that responds to some issue in your daily lives (global, political or interpersonal). This is a chance for you to tell the world how you see things.

Readers love lists. They are easy to digest and appeal to the way we tend to read online, usually skimming information more than reading closely. As writers, the list, aka the "listicle," can be a fun and useful way to organize your ideas and get your message across. Writing lists can also improve your writing skills in surprising ways. This week we will look at a handful of lists, ranging from the thoughtful to the light-hearted, the impassioned to the jokey, and we will discuss what makes these lists resonate with readers. Students will also create their own lists, for discussion and peer review.

Writing online reviews can be a terrific way to leverage your particular area of interest and/or expertise. A writer trying to promote a food-oriented memoir, for instance, might review the references to food in a particular movie. A feminist author might want to look at how gender is represented in certain TV shows. Or you might simply be hoping to grow an audience for a certain work or kind of art by bringing attention to it. We will look at successful reviews that are focused, smart, and ethical. You will write your own reviews.

One of the challenges of regular web writing is coming up with ideas. Interviewing an expert is a great way to get fresh material, while also celebrating someone important and building connections in your field. Here we will look at outstanding interviews that work well for online reading. What kinds of questions draw in readers? How long should questions be? Why might one interview work while another falls flat? You will be asked to conduct an interview and write it up as a blog post.