Structure of a Blog

The key to a good blog is to express an opinion, insight or provide new information. To do this it is essential that you say what you key point straight away. The structure of a blog can be seen as the inverse of an academic paper in so far as you commence your blog with a key statement based on your findings and conclusions. This is front-loading. You should also skip the methodology and literature review section entirely.

Headline

Summarise your article into one short sentence describing your main finding or argument.

Opening

Commence by setting out in no more than one or two sentences the main point – ‘say what you are going to say’. If you can summarise it in 140 characters or fewer, even better – this then makes it easy to share on Twitter.

Main body

The next few paragraphs should be based on the key findings and arguments.

• Start with a question, fact, statistic or quote that introduces the subject.
• Provide a bit of context – What is the status quo in this area? Why is the subject interesting? What do you bring to it that is new?
• Explain your core finding, argument or conclusion
• Provide some details or pad out your argument and implications
• Include a 1-3 infographics, charts, tables, photos – make sure it is clear and clearly labelled and in colour.

Conclusion

Finish the blog by summing up your argument in a new way, that can also introduce new ideas / next steps, etc.

Links

Give a link to your original article. This should be done in the body of the text and separately at the end of the blog.

Bio

Include a short bio of yourself (and your institution if desired). With links to your webpage, social media accounts, etc.

Tips

Express an opinion – don’t sit on the fence

The best opinion pieces challenge readers and may make them question their own beliefs. If you have something to say, say it. If you don’t feel comfortable taking a bold position in public, then writing a blog post or comment piece is probably not the best move for you.

Find a ‘hook’

Before you start writing, try to answer this question: why would somebody be interested in reading this article at this particular time?

Style

• Keep your writing brief, simple and to the point for maximum impact. You will need to make clear statements,
• Don’t imagine you’re talking to your peers, otherwise you’ll use terms that won’t be familiar to most audiences.
• Write in short paragraphs.
• Be careful to spell out acronyms the first time you use one.
• Use hyperlinks