If there's one thing I've learned about having a blog, it's the fact that by having one, you incur followers. Naturally, I believe that is the idea of a blog.

For this week, I'll try to explain some of the pros and cons for those of you who would like to, or were thinking about starting a blog of your own. There are some obvious do's and don't's to blog writing, but I'm sure there are a few of them that even I don't know about. If you come across one of them within the blog posts from now on, please, leave a comment and let me know about it.

Writing a blog isn't just for an intended audience. Some people (including myself) would kind of consider it a homework assignment. A weekly journal, if you will. Homework assignments aren't designed to torture you, they're designed to help you get better at whatever you happen to be studying. Fortunately enough for me, I don't get an 'F' if I don't do them. I just lose any following that I may've built up. Beyond losing a following, blog writing helps (at least) me become a better writer.

I'm headed off to Australia in January to take part in another harvest. Not nearly as large as the one earlier this year, but definitely larger than the one I've just completed. Shooting somewhere around 5,000 tonnes (that's 2,202 lbs, for those of you who needed to learn something), this winery is pretty much in the middle of my past vintages in terms of size. Wait... this isn't about the vintage, it's about blog writing. Right. Back to it.

See how easy it is to get sidetracked? Case – and point. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about a blog is a subject. Simple, and bland enough a topic, yes, but how much can you really write about it without going astray on other ideas, or getting too boring, saying the same thing over and over? That all depends on varying technical aspects of your writing. My college writing teacher always told us to make an outline for the papers we were supposed to write, and guess who did them? Not me! Why? Because I could just write, and write, and write. Looking back on that, I realize that this particular form of writing wasn't actually doing anything to help me out. Those outlines were ACTUALLY supposed to be helpful.

So, lesson #1: Stay focused, even if it means you've gotta do a lot more work, research too.

Among other things, knowing what you're talking about is a HUGE help as well. Reading a blog, or some sort of other document and knowing that what the writer is preaching is wrong, even just a little, is a large pet peeve of mine. If you're going to spend the time writing about how a Corvette is better than a Viper, at least back it up with some hard evidence. It's hard to get people to understand what you're trying to say if all you have to give them are opinions. And no, Wikipedia is not always write. It's a public site, where ANYONE can change any bit of information they want (on a side note, I'd like to go onto Wiki- and mess up a page, just barely (for example, change the horsepower of a given vehicle, just a few clicks) just to see if I could get anyone to disagree with me). Trusted sources help more than you can imagine when trying to convey a message.

As I'm writing this, my only resource for this information would have to be my high school experience. Everyone should know it, but how often do we practice it? I know I don't, not nearly often enough (hopefully that will change...).

Regarding that bit of information, I'd consider that lesson #2. Prove your point, not just with opinion.

Now that I've found a decent subject for my blog writings, I think I can safely say: The next couple will be about the same thing. Constructive Blog Writing!

Stay tuned for more lessons from beyond.