I wasn’t sure what direction to take my online writing recently. Was I writing stuff worth reading? Are the topics too mixed? What should I write next?

I decided to go through every blog I have bookmarked and list out the characteristics of the ones I feel drawn to, the ones that I eagerly await their next post, as well as the characteristics of the ones I don’t care about. I want my own blog to be in the former category, so I was curious how its characteristics compared to these two lists.

The blogs that I genuinely enjoy reading have the following in common:

• the websites are uniquely designed by the writer themselves (no template or default themes)
• analyses go to a depth that many don’t dare to reach
• they counter popular perspectives
• they offer a perspective that may cause a reader to change their own
• they share life lessons
• they exhibit an intense attention to detail in everything they do
• authentic and unapologetic
• the people behind them feel human and it’s obvious who is wriring
• they are not overly focused on a single topic, but the background they’re coming from is clear

The ones I do not feel drawn to:

• use a default or overused theme on whatever blogging medium they’re on
• focus on too specific of a topic and never venture outside that topic
• are trying too hard (to be funny, to be something)
• make frequent, small posts that takes less than a few minutes to read
• post way too often
• have a poorly designed or confusing to navigate website (often because they’re trying too hard to make it look cool)
• too professional
• look like a web app? lol
• talk too much about abstract topics or ideals that don’t manifest in reality
• set in Times New Roman
• too commercial
• too much like a résumé

After doing this, I feel clarity on what keeps me coming back for the pleasure of reading.