Keys to Persuasion in Blogging

The two most important keys out of the six, are "liking," and "authority." I think the importance of liking is obvious. If people like you and what you write about, there is a good chance your blog can be successful (or at least beneficial to those who read it). The video we watched on persuasion did seem a little bit like common sense personally. I think associating enjoying the content of a piece of writing to "liking" is obvious. If the reader enjoys the content and you're writing about something familiar to them, it makes sense that the reader will like you. Authority is another key that seems important in blogging. If you have no background in the field you are writing about or no knowledge on the subject, then your reader has no reason to be persuaded by you. This is another simple conclusion to make in regards to persuasive writing. The thing that has to come into question however when thinking about how persuasive writing translates to blogs is the subject. Does blogging cater to topics that require an opinionated stance. I don't really think so. A blog to me cannot rely on post such as these. I think there may be a time and place for persuasive posts, but some of the best blogs out there are informative and resourceful. I don't go read a blog to be convinced on how I should feel about a particular subject. I think personal essay and persuasive writing should be a seperate form of writing and steer clear of the blogging world.

Thoughts on The Art of Influence

I found the introduction to be quite informative. The points made, put into perspective why the personal essay can be successful and how to go about making your own successful. The first thing that stuck out to me, was the information on how "candor" can make the reader understanding of the authors embellishments (which, according to to this author, everyone seems to add). I thought that was an important thing to take away. I also found it interesting that to create a credible essay, one must avoid becoming self-righteous. The examples of famous writers  their own faults in their own writing was also a valuable lesson. I think doing so is always important, and the more I think about, many of the lessons touched on in this introduction are more or less common sense. Maybe all of the people who are known for writing personal essay just have a good grasp of that.

I think admitting to your own faults is something that we do in all of our writing. In argumentative research papers, we are taught to touch on the opposing view in order to prove your own is more factual. It's a common way of establishing credibility. I do think from the readings assigned this past week, that the personal essay is the most intriguing form of self-narrative to me, because it allows for a focused topic.