HOW TO WRITE A BLOG
by The Gentle Author of www.spitalfieldsife.com

Like those writers in fourteenth century Florence who discovered the
sonnet but did not quite know what to do with it, we are presented
with the new literary medium of the blog - which has quickly become
omnipresent, with many millions writing online. For my own part, I
respect this nascent literary form by seeking to explore its own
unique qualities and potential.

This course will examine the essential questions which must be
addressed if you wish to write a blog that people will want to read.
Although we shall explore the use of pictures as a key element, the
primary focus will be on writing.

COURSE STRUCTURE

1. HOW TO FIND A VOICE - When you write, who are you writing to and
what is your relationship with the reader?

2. HOW TO FIND A SUBJECT - Why is it necessary to write and what do
you have to tell?

3. HOW TO FIND THE FORM - What is the ideal manifestation of your
material and how can a good structure give you momentum?

4. THE RELATIONSHIP OF PICTURES AND WORDS - Which comes first, the
pictures or the words? Creating a dynamic relationship between your
text and images.

5. HOW TO WRITE A PEN PORTRAIT - Drawing on The Gentle Author’s
experience, different strategies in transforming a conversation into
an effective written evocation of a personality.

6. WHAT A BLOG CAN DO - A consideration of how telling stories on the
internet can affect the temporal world.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Little is known of the enigmatic Gentle Author but every reader knows
that the Gentle Author is their confidante and friend who tells the
candid stories of the remarkable people to be found in Spitalfields.
Since August 2009, the Gentle Author has posted every single day,
writing over nine hundred stories at www.spitalfieldslife.com in
pursuit of a promise to complete ten thousand over the next quarter
century. A compendium of one hundred and fifty favourite stores has
recently been published as a handsome illustrated hardback by Saltyard
Books, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton.