I'm an Emotional Blogger - What Style Blogger are You?

I’m an Emotional Blogger - What Style Blogger are You?

Written on September 18, 2008 – 9:47 am | by Shana Albert |

Photo by JasonRogers

Earlier this summer my good friend, and fellow Collective-Thougthts author, David Harry was interviewed by Garrett of YourSEOMentor.com. In it he talked about the Collective-Thoughts group and what each of our assets to the Collective-Thoughts team was. In this interview David explains how I am the "Emotional Tie" in Collective-Thoughts.

Normally, if any man would declare me "Emotional" I would become raving mad and scream and cry and give him all the reasons that I was not "Emotional"…. Of course, with doing that I would prove, in fact, that I was Emotional after all.

But, with listening to this awesome interview of David I wasn’t in the least bit upset at all…. in fact I was more than thrilled to have that title. And, do you know why? Because he is right!! And, I’m proud to be Emotional….. in my writing, that is.

I’m an Emotional Blogger

Yes, it’s true….. I’m emotional. I’m emotional in reality and it carries over into my writing. But, you know what?? It’s okay. Because I want you to enjoy reading what I write. I want my readers to stay for the whole conversation. And, if being me…. if being emotional keeps you here reading. Then I’m a happy blogger.

People Love Being Entertained by Emotions

What gets people hooked on Talk Shows like Jerry Springer or Jenny Jones? It’s the emotions, the embarrassment, the anger, the craziness. The viewers heart pounds and their excitement builds. The viewers keep watching to see what is going to happen next… to see what is the next thing they will say.

Or, how about romance novels? Its the emotions….. The feelings the author portrays to you. This style of emotional writing that gets the reader imagining what that would be like… remembering what you felt like when you were that happy.

And, let’s not forget those "made for TV movies" that draw us in with those horrific story lines. I’m sure you know the movies I’m talking about, but let me give you an example of a "made for TV movies" plot…The kind of story line where the husband seems to have drowned while on a boating trip with friends…. the Mom then has to raise three children with barely making ends meat only to find out that he never died in the first place, but instead pretending to die so that he can start a new life 3,000 miles away.

What is it that these 3 different story examples have in common?

All three examples pull at your emotions.

Whether it’s anger, horror, happiness, love, lust, fear, disgust, or embarrassment it gets you interested because for the most part you can relate at some level. Even if you can’t relate to the situation you can relate to the way the characters in the story feel…. and it keeps you watching/reading just to get to the end. To find out where the feeling takes you.

Sometimes, its the fact that I can’t relate that gets me. I love watching/reading stories that remind me that even at my saddest times that there are people and situations that are so much worse than my own. It reminds me how lucky I am….. it makes me feel good.

What is the point? What does this have to do with Web 2.0 or Social Media?

Everything. It is the type of Online Conversation I like to hold with you. This is how I relate to my readers. It is how I get their attention and keep a hold of it. Because unless you are holding people’s attention with your blog posts they will leave. Lose their attention too many times & you might lose a reader forever.

Grab your readers with your emotions.

Blogging is your way of holding a conversation with your readers. However, if you lose your readers half-way through your post it is no longer a conversation…. it is more just boring babbling. "Blah, blah, blah, blah".

Have you ever got stuck in a conversation with someone that had a lot to say, but lost your attention because they were soooooo….. boring? I’m sure you have…. we all have. And, it’s not as if they didn’t know what they were talking about. As a matter of fact, the person could be brilliant and be making an excellent point, but if your attention is lost… the entire conversation is lost. There are many different styles of blogging. It’s not as if I don’t ever write in any other styles. But, I believe I am at my best when I’m using my emotions to make my point. Even when I am being more technical or writing a "how-to" post…. my emotions seem to come into it at one point or another.

Ways to add Emotion to a Post

With a face-to-face Conversation there are a couple way of adding emotion to a conversation:

Vocal Words
Body Language
Touch

With a written conversation adding emotion that a reader can feel may be a bit of a challenge, but can be done. There are a few things you can use to help reiterate the feelings you are trying to perceive.

Pictures - Adding pictures of things can help you express your feeling. After all, have you ever heard the saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words"? It really is.

Photo by Victor Bezrukov
Videos - Another way to easily get your feelings across to your readers would be through video. It’s a way for your viewers to be able to see you as well as hear you while you tell your story.
Podcast - Express your emotions through sound.
Written Words - The most obvious method, but not always as easy at it sounds.

In order to get your feelings across to someone with written words you will need to be quite descriptive. Use descriptive words to get your point across. And, to do this you need to change it up a bit. You will need to use Emotional Words.

Emotional Words are what I call words that help you get your feelings across to your readers. These words let the readers know exactly how you feel or were feeling. You need to think of yourself as a storyteller….. you are telling a story.

Emotional Words are more than Happy, Sad, and Angry.

Happy, Sad and Angry are great emotional words & there is nothing wrong with using them. However, you need to open your mind a bit. This is where this area might get a bit difficult for some. There are a bunch of words that portray sad. Another words, were you a bit sad? Or, were you really, really sad? How intense is your sadness? With some help from Ms. West, a Science Fiction Author, here is a chart of Emotional Words and different levels of intensity.

Emotional Words for Blogging

You have readers, but are they listening? Are they staying around to read your entire post?

Make sure you are being a good storyteller…. speak to them with emotions and let them know exactly how you feel. Keep your readers intrigued, keep them focused, keep them wanting more.

I’m an Emotional Blogger. What Style Blogger are you? Check out this Slide Show on Blogging Styles

The 25 Basic Styles of Blogging … And When To Use Each One

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: tips marketing)

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19 Responses to “I’m an Emotional Blogger - What Style Blogger are You?”
By Tanner (does Utah marketing) on Sep 18, 2008 | Reply

Great post Shana, emotions are a powerful thing when it comes to blogging. I’ve found myself to be an emotional blogger as well, well, I think so anyway.
By JB on Sep 18, 2008 | Reply

I run a baseball blog about my Atlanta Braves. I have to say I learned a lot reading this post. I use emotion quite frequently in my posts (it is baseball after all) and you make some good points about getting readers’ attention.
By Chris O. on Sep 18, 2008 | Reply

Emotion is for sure the best way to keep a reader coming back. I deal with realtors everday consulting them on giving their opinion about whats going on in their market. I tell them all the time that when they talk to their clients they have very strong opinions and let they should let that come out in their blogs, people get excited to see others excited…most of the time.
By Dave on Sep 18, 2008 | Reply

Well dear… while I am, for the most part, an emotional/passionate type.. I do try and settle down enough to try and pass along some tidbits of value now and again ;0)

Fame, fortune and flaming aren’t likely a part of the painting. It’s an expression, not a chain that bind my expression. After a few months of barely posting (again) - new fires are burning.

Sure glad you didn’t mind my reference; it’s simply how I best thought of you at the time. What’s the world without emotions? Dry and cold I would imagine…sterile. Emotional peeps are the tie that binds babe!!

Loved the post…
By Shana Albert on Sep 18, 2008 | Reply

@Tanner - Thanks, Tanner. I think you are an emotional blogger as well. And, it works for you. I enjoy your writing.

@JB - Thank you so much, JB. I’m always excited to receive new readers to Social Desire. I’m especially happy to have you here as I too LOVE baseball. My team is the Phillies, but I will not hold you being a Braves fan against you.

@Chris O. - That is exactly my point, Chris. Emotion DOES keep people coming back. Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving a comment.

@Dave - I’m thrilled to have you back in the blogosphere again, Dave. However, I totally understand you taking a break…. it’s a wild place out here and it takes all the energy you can muster sometimes. I’m glad you enjoyed my post, Davie. And, no… I wasn’t bothered with your “emotional” reference at all. Frankly, it felt good. And, lets keep in mind that you are a good friend I trust. Maybe if I felt threatened by you it would be a different story, but I knew you melt it lovingly. So, it’s all good.
By @Stephen on Sep 19, 2008 | Reply

Brilliant post. I do not use emotion in my writing for the most part, but I suspect that it could have a beneficial role. I will consider this in the future.
BTW, I cam here via Mark’s post on indirect networks and noticed that you do not have a Twitter link here. Find me at @the_future and I’ll follow you.

Thanks!
By Kristina on Sep 20, 2008 | Reply

Thanks Shanna, very good post. Everything you remember really tie with emotions. Either positive or negative they stick there and you have an opinion about it (”I Liked it”, “it made me cry”, “I felt sorry about it”, “I didn’t believe” …). These things do not have direct relation with the topic of the pots, but describe your impressions, which you can share with others. The words also are good
By Jess on Sep 21, 2008 | Reply

Shana, I agree! It’s when something gets me emotionally that I’m inspired to write and it ends up on my blog.

I wonder what the other 24 styles are?
By Mark Dykeman on Sep 21, 2008 | Reply

Amazing post, Shana. You give emo a good name!
By Tycoon Dreamer on Sep 22, 2008 | Reply

Thanks for this post. I never thought about the emotional nature of blogs. I know that blogs take on the personality of their owners but this takes it a step further. Adding emotions to your blog will make it even more personal and stickier.
By Glen Allsopp on Sep 22, 2008 | Reply

I try not to be too emotional because it doesn’t fit in with my ‘cool’ persona, just kidding

Great post, especially with giving people advice on how to put their own emotion in there. I like to show what I’m doing personally and bring as little personal stuff into the site as possible. I find people wan tips for their sites rather than to hear more about me
By Doug C. on Sep 24, 2008 | Reply

I was never one to think too much about writing. One day I just started doing it. I was seventeen and I had an idea for a short story and I just wrote it. People read it and were amazed that a drop out with no knowledge of English could not only form whole sentences but also make a pretty interesting yarn.

Now if I could just finish that book …
By Dwayne from Probably Sucks on Sep 25, 2008 | Reply

This blog post reminds me of emo kids. I hate emo kids, they absolutely suck.

I’ll give you a thumbs up on StumbleUpon, but I absolutely hate anything that reminds me of emo’s I’m sorry, but they suck.
By Jim Estill on Sep 27, 2008 | Reply

Excellent post. Provokes thought (which for me defines a good post)

I think people need to be who they are. Let their writing reflect that(emotional or not).
By Max Gladwell on Sep 27, 2008 | Reply

I’m an analytical and critical thinking blogger. It’s the opposite of emotion, I suppose. But I blog about business strategies, green issues, and social media tactics.

Great post.
By Nick Chhan on Mar 4, 2009 | Reply

Thanks Shana, very good post. Empathy is a valuable trait to have, and use.