Questioning Bloggers — Part One
One relatively common blog topic is interviewing somebody else and putting their answers in a post. This was made into a series when @Lightning questioned people who don’t play Chess and blogged about their answers. This series will be similar, but instead of questioning non-Chess players, I will be questioning bloggers. For this post, I will be questioning @hiryanli, @CDRED141, @alphaous, @DonRajesh, @ScatteredWealth, @Fire, and @ryanchen100. I asked them 8 questions about blogging, and here are their answers and my thoughts:
Question One
Me: Why did you start blogging?
@hiryanli: Ahhhhhh brings me back to the old times 😊😊😊 So I was wandering through some profiles, and I saw blogs at the very under of @JackRodgers's profile (Not sure if he is a top blogger at that time). So I begin reading . So I am pretty curious what it is, because at that time I was just STARTING to get social, so I still don't know features like forums, blogs and other stuff. Anyway, I clicked it and began reading the blogs. The blogs are very good and it grabbed my attension the whole time. After that, I set a goal of becoming a top blogger and began making blogs.
(You and I have a very similar story. I found out about blogging because somebody in the Daily Puzzle Comment Section, @JCH2021, asked for friend requests, and so I looked at his profile, and saw that he was a blogger. He had some good blogs, including one on how to beat Nelson, and so I was inspired by that to start blogging myself. I might not be Top Blogger-worthy, but I'd say I have some good posts. Did everybody find out about blogging through comments or clubs? That would be a good survey question.)
@CDRED141: I had extra time and saw a lot of people blogging and thought I could do it to. So, I tried doing it and it went pretty well! Been blogging for about 8 months I believe.
(Ah yes. Blogging appears to be very popular on chess.com these days. Another example of being inspired by someone else, but this case is interesting, due to being inspired by multiple people. It would be interesting to know how many were Top Bloggers and how many weren't, both for you and for other bloggers here.)
@alphaous: I'll be lazy and put the answer I put in one of your BlogChamps thread, lol, since it's still accurate.
I've been thinking about blogging in the back of my mind for months, possibly a year, but I didn't have a coherent idea of what I wanted to do, and I wanted to get myself on board before I got my mom on board (I thought she would be a bit reluctant). BlogChamps broke that inertia for me, and my mom was possibly even more excited about my blogging than I was, XD, and here I am in the qualifiers.
(The inability to choose a topic is the nightmare of any blogger, and has definitely contributed to blogging inertia in my experience. But hey, now that BlogChamps actually provided a motivation to start blogging, it will be interesting to see if it is the case for others who are following the competition as well.)
@DonRajesh: I've always liked writing, and chess seemed like the perfect way to do it. Plus, I had just discovered advanced tactics, and wanted to share it with the world 
(I agree, Chess is the perfect way to do it. There is just so much to write about in Chess, as seen by the variety of blogs made by bloggers here.)
@ScatteredWealth: I originally started blogging because I created a club and wanted to use my blog as a form of advertisement. Then I wanted to blog about ducks. So yeah, that's how it all started lol
(Lol, interesting story. Looking at your club, many of your Puzzle blogs were posted as announcements in your club, given the purpose of the club. I do not know if those announcements were intended to be posted as blogs, but given that they were informational, that says a lot about what motivated you to continue blogging. Again, interesting story.)
@Fire: Around early march, I was exploring the opening database for a good counter to hypermodern openings, and while searching I found an opening called the four pawns attack. Attacking was always fun, and I had never heard of it, so I thought I give a little look into that. And once I had done some exploring, I had thought that this opening was the god of all openings. You would be using four pawns in the opening, which seemed a lot more aggressive then one or two pawns. I had actually wanted to study this opening, but I had never done anything like that before. I knew from school experience that I would retain more information by writing it down.
So that caused me to make my first post. And that's what I did for my next few posts. I had done articles on endgame theory, and tricky puzzles. They were all designed so that I would understand chess theory better, and I think that was my drive when I first started blogging.
(In my own experience, writing things down does help for retention. There is a reason that people post puzzles in articles or lessons here. The question is, has that remained your motivation? It likely hasn't, given recent topics, but it goes to show how the motivations and styles of bloggers change over time.)
@ryanchen100: I started blogging because I wanted to let my audience what I learned. Also, it's an unofficial hobby at this point. Probably have better things to do.
(I had a similar motivation behind my first blog post, as it was something I had learned about from months of playing Bughouse. Seems like a very common motivation, if you ask me. Many of us treat blogging as an unofficial job, in addition to the many other jobs we all do on chess.com. I agree, I do have better things to do, but I just can't leave now.)
Question Two
Me: What would you say is the best post that you made?
@hiryanli: I would say https://www.chess.com/blog/hiryanli/meet-the-cgc-champion
because tbh, I think I am doing a pretty good job here. I might have messed up when I am analyzing the games but whatever. I have FINALLY found my blogging style and what to blog about (Gonna keep bloggin about important tourneys. might be boring ngl). So yeah so I think this is my best piece so far. But who knows. Maybe my next blog is gonna be better 
(So you decided to blog about tournament recaps. That is a good idea, and goes away from the generic "Tactics to improve at Chess" that many bloggers talk about. What I would say is to do recaps that aren't for tournaments chess.com already recaps, as it will then make your blogs even more unique. But interesting choice, and I look forward to seeing what happens next.)
@CDRED141: My favorite post I've done so far is https://www.chess.com/blog/CDRED141/five-of-my-best-bullet-games.
I am working on eight different one as of now and I am looking forward to posting them. I have learned from many different people, including top bloggers, and I have been using all my new knowledge to help me improve.
(Game showcasing is very common among bloggers. @Lightning did a series on it, and @DanielGuel does a lot of his blogs about tournament recaps as well. I myself rank a blog about a tournament as one of my best. This one, I would say is good for that reason, but you should include some annotations to make it more fun to read. At the very least, state the timers at certain points to help people understand the game better, since it's Bullet. Welcome to how different Bullet is from Classical.)
@alphaous: NN's Most Memorable Games. I only have three posts, so it's not much of an accomplishment, XD, but by the time this comes out, I should have my next post posted, which I think will be my best one. I liked my NN post because it was humorous yet instructive, and I think it was a lighthearted, bite-sized post. And it beat a Top Blogger's submission for BlogChamps, so that's a plus.
(By the time this blog was posted, @alphaous's blog was published. And I would have to agree that I prefer that one, since it had puzzles. That says a lot about engaging the viewers. Nothing is more engaging than a puzzle, so put puzzles in your blog, especially if you want your blog to be educational.)
@DonRajesh: My favorite post is probably How to Visualize Faster. It has my favorite thumbnail, and has one of my favorite chess players, Yasser Seirawan. Plus, I think it has good tips.
(I would agree with this. Visualization comes up frequently in Chess discussions, and is important when it comes to calculating. So I would say that visualization above all else is the key to increasing rating, and this is a good guide to improve your visualization, so this blog is very useful. But this was not an easy choice for me.)
@ScatteredWealth: I would say that the best post I have made will be the one that I am about to post It may already be posted by the time this is published, but we'll see
(By the time this blog was published, Scattered's post was indeed posted. It is one on Chess studies, which is an interesting topic. However, it is really long. My bullet arena blog being really long was one of the main criticisms I got for that post, and for good reason. If it's too long, the viewers won't be able to read it all at once before losing interest. However, I would still agree that this is your best blog, and look forward to seeing what happens in BlogChamps.)
@Fire: I would have to say one my blogs about the top ten games of Richard Réti were all fairly good, but the best was #6, Fearful Files because it has a lot of interesting information (or at least I think so), and none of my other blogs really have that same style.
(I really am not surprised that you chose one of your Réti blogs, given how they have been most of your blog posts over the last few months. Still, is the support of Réti good enough to merit it being a favorite blog? Time for a topic vs content debate.)
@ryanchen100: I really enjoyed making the first part of French vs. Caro Kann. It was fun, like most blog series though, I don't know if I'll continue it.
(I myself would have to say that I prefer the Caro-Kann over the French. Still, I would say that this is a very good comparison, and a good introduction to the Advance Variation. Besides, a series is always a good idea, as if you run out of topics, you can just continue it.)
Question Three
Me: Who would you say is the best Top Blogger?
@hiryanli: I would still choose @JackRodgers because well first of all, it is his existence that inspired me to blog. Buuuuuuuuuuut another reason is he blogs occasionally, with good quality. I really enjoy the tourney recaps since that is what he basically does. I believe this is his best masterpiece. Go check it out
(That is a good reason for choosing. I myself have not really read his blogs, but a forum discussion I was involved in did say that tournament recaps are both entertaining and have the potential for you to learn something, similar to analyzing your game after you play it. So tournament posts can be a good middle ground.)
@CDRED141: Well, I can't say I have one favorite. @Lightning is one of my favorites, @MomOnaBreak inspired most of my story blogs. And I enjoy reading and learning from so many different bloggers that it's hard to say all of them!
(Recently, I also learned a lot from @Lightning as to how to improve my blogs, so yes, I would say that learning from others is important, and that does elevate their value. This answer shows that a blogger's skill is not just the content of their blog, but the impact their blog has on other blogs. I can only hope I reach that level as well.)
@alphaous: This is so hard, because I enjoy reading: SamCopleand for the fun analysis, both Lightning and Rodgy, although I like Lightning better of the two, and they both have great variety, and I've got to give a shoutout to PheonixFree and MomonaBreak, and there are others that I read too. Since there is no 'best' Top Blogger, I'll go with my favorite, Daniel Guel, who was the first blogger I started being interested in, and I still enjoy his posts, which I feel balance humor and good writing perfectly.
(@Lightning vs @Rodgy vs @DanielGuel would be an interesting debate. OH WAIT! Still, among the 3 of them, I would have to give the edge to @Lightning, as he covers the entire spectrum of blogging, from tournaments to humorous, with @Rodgy in a close second. But this is a close contest.)
@DonRajesh: By far, @Avetik_ChessMood. His blogs are really instructive, moderately short, and have zero youtube videos attached.
(A long blog does result in lost interest, but does that mean that a blog has to be short? There has to be a good middle ground. I do not think I read any of @Avetik_ChessMood's blogs, and am therefore unfit to determine whether he satisfies it. Oh, and interesting mention of videos, given a recent discussion...)
@ScatteredWealth: This is a very tough question. I don't have a concrete favorite, but I will tell you I love blogs that are unique, and entertaining to read.
(Many of my personal favorite bloggers are those who aren't Top Bloggers rather than those who are, and even among them, I also have no concrete favorite. Still, that is a good quality for deciding, and everybody should take that into account. I have nothing more to say for this answer.)
@Fire: @Gserper by a long shot. 95% of stuff I read online, I skim, meaning I don't ever read the whole thing. But his articles make me actually want to read every single word and annotation, so yeah definitely Gserper.
(I agree. His articles are very high quality, and cover a wide range of topics, from Chess Improvement to Chess Culture. This answer is one that shows the benefits of having a range of topics instead of just doing very similar posts.)
@ryanchen100: The only Top Blogger I read their blogs is @Lightning. Wow. (check out his streams, idk what else to say)
(Only @Lightning? That either says a lot about @Lightning, or a lot about the other Top Bloggers, or both. Among Top Bloggers, I would say that @Lightning is among the most well known, due to his blogs being a change of pace from the standard "Improve at chess" blogs. Highlights the impact of selecting a topic, I'd say.)
Question Four
Me: Who would you say is the best blogger that is not a Top Blogger?
@hiryanli: @Fire. I still don't get chess.com. I mean seriously have you seen this guy's blog? The thumbnail is just... Words can't describe the beauty of it. Anyway, his content is pretty cool. With amazing games and a through analyze. That is cherry on top. But what I think is a BIG setback of his blog is unoriginal formatting. He have copied @SamCopeland's formatting. And that is not good. I think that is why he isn't top blogger yet.
(Is there even such a thing as unoriginal formatting? I get that formatting others exactly is frowned upon, but if it is supposed to be your own formatting, would there really be a set of formatting guidelines? Besides that, his blogs are good to read, and he is one of the top thumbnail makers. But how important is a thumbnail? That's a big debate I am not fit to answer.)
@CDRED141: Oooooh! That's a hard one! Probably @Fire. He's is one of the best! @FA-18_SuperHornet2007 is really good as well, he's new at blogging but already really good! @hiryanli is another good one, he has some really quality blogs. @DonRajesh isn't bad either. All really good bloggers worth mentioning.
(Yes, it is a difficult question to answer. And they are all good options. If I had to choose one among them, it would be @DonRajesh. @FA-18_SuperHornet2007 is new to blogging, and it will be interesting to see how he does.)
@alphaous: I could be boring and say the winner of BlogChamps, or I could start a potential fight. I'll go with the latter. There are many bloggers who should be Top Bloggers already, Nimzo, Fire, Scattered, Don, Sheldon, Chesspawn921 
, and so much more. but if I had to pick one, it would be probably Nimzo, I enjoy him and Scattered the most and I do so consistently, but I think Nimzo's a bit better, and if I remember correctly, he has several more posts, not to mention better thumbnails.
(Conspiracy Theory: I asked this question in order to start a fight to make my comment section active. In all seriousness, I would agree with all these (except myself). Nimzo is an interesting choice, as their blogs are rarely mentioned, but they're still good. Goes to show the chess.com community's ranking of bloggers, Top Blogger or not.)
@DonRajesh: @Fire. His blogs are fun and creative (except the Reti series ,) and the thumbnails are incredible.
(Yes, he does make very good thumbnails. Still, how important is a thumbnail? I myself would say that it is important, but not as important as the title. Still, attacking his favored blogs series? This is definitely going to start a controversy.)
@ScatteredWealth: Again, a very tough question with no concrete answer. I would say that whoever makes it into the the final 4 of the BlogChamps competition deserves Top Blogger (I may or may not be talking about myself)
(I agree, there is no concrete answer, and BlogChamps is a good way to find out. Are you talking about yourself? That all depends on whether or not you make it into the top 4. And will you? We'll find out. In the meantime, what does everybody who sees this think? Will he, and does he qualify?)
@Fire: @SheldonOfOsaka and @ScatteredWealth are both two really good bloggers, both of them should get the status but I would say Sheldon because he has really nice formatting, he is really good at not having big word walls, and because he sometimes has whole blogs dedicated to chess memes.
(Lol, the importance of the humorous blog, which is highlighted by @Lightning. The blog linked both has blitz games and memes, so it satisfies both humorous and entertaining. This blog says a lot about how to get viewers to like a blog, so I would agree. It will be interesting to see what blogs he makes in the future.)
@ryanchen100: Not me. I can't keep up with consistency. Probably @DonRajesh or @hiryanli. You're [ChessPawn921] are also a strong contender though. There are others, too lazy to read them :/
(One of the rare cases where the answer isn’t @Fire, and where the answer is @hiryanli. I, for one, think @hiryanli is one of the better bloggers here. And I am surprised to be featured. All good choices (possibly except me), I must say.)
Question Five
Me: If you could remove one person’s Top Blogger status, who would it be and why?
@hiryanli: Tough one indeed... But I would say @SmarterChess. I know some of you might love his blog, but personally, I don't think advertising your youtube video IS the way to go here... But yeah ig his videos aren't bad. No offense NM.
(If the videos are good, should they be included in a blog? That is a debate that is only heightened by @SmarterChess, as mentioned, and @rembonsk123. I believe that the two should be separate, as I said earlier. If he actually put the transcript of the videos in his blog, he could actually have potential to be one of the better Top Bloggers on chess.com, but advertisements always derail quality.)
@CDRED141: Hmm. The only person I didn't like as a top blogger was already removed. I don't remember his name. He only posted YouTube videos, that were his, that's all he did.
(Yes, @rembonsk123. Still, there are others who mainly use their blog to advertise. Still, while his videos could be entertaining, a line should still be drawn when it comes to connecting videos and blogs. If you do want to advertise or refer, keep it as a side piece, and not the focus of your blog.)
@alphaous: DonMcKim. No offense, but he basically just puts links to his crossword with a paragraph or so of context. Not as bad as the infamous Rembonsk123, who got his status revoked, but bad enough to get it revoked IMO.
(Ah yes, a reference to @rembonsk123. His blogs were a focus of the members of the BlogChamps club for a time, if anyone here that is in that club remembers. Around @DonMcKim, I would say that this one isn't as bad, since he actually puts the image of the puzzle in his blog instead of putting a link to the puzzle, but he should still put the solutions in the blog instead of it being a link. And a question is, when it comes to the topic, should he be a Top Blogger?)
@DonRajesh: I would say @Gertsog. He's probably a really great teacher, but most of his blogs are like @rembonsk where it just advertises something on another website, in this case webinars.
(This is the 3rd reference to @rembonsk123. Probably because he was the worst of the advertisers, as he had no text in his blogs, just links, while the others included a summary of what they were advertising. @Gertsog's videos are informative, and he embeds them instead of it just being a link, but an ad is an ad (and you could make a case for @rembonsk123's video's being entertaining, even though his blogs are just ads for them), and the point of blogs is to transmit information through text, not just link a video. What do the rest of you think of putting videos into blogs? Does it help or hurt?)
@ScatteredWealth: REMOVE @rembonsk123!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh wait, he's already removed. Now that he is gone, I can safely say that the integrity of the Top Blogger page has been restored.
(Are you sure? It was just stated that @Gertsog and @SmarterChess also use their blogs to advertise their videos. Not as bad as @rembonsk123, but still. Do you not mind them as much, or did you just forget about them?)
@Fire: I would remove @pheonix_free as a top blogger because they bold literately every single word. That makes their posts really hard to read, and it does not help that they have ten diagrams per blog with three moves in them each. Their content is good, I am not saying that they are a bad writer, they just need to work on their online readability.
(Interesting choice, and I would say a controversial one. I do not mind the bolding, except for the fact that it nullifies actually wanting to bold words. And while readability is an issue, I would say it is not as important as the content. But it is still important, and rankings of qualities in terms of importance should really be a debate, as shown by @Fire's apparent ranking.)
@ryanchen100: Idk why you would remove someone's Top Blogger status. If I were to pick someone, it would take me 3 months for me to decide.
(So if I asked you about @SmarterChess and @Gertsog being Top Bloggers, what would you say? Would you say that the quality of the videos excuse them being the focus of the blog? Would you then make the same case for @rembonsk123? If so, it adds fuel to the debate about advertisements, and whether or not they should be used if they serve a purpose. I would say that you can just use texts and boards, and they should change, but some might like watching a video better, so there's that.)
Question Six
Me: If you could make one person a Top Blogger, who would it be and why?
@hiryanli: I think @Fire really deserves the title because like i said, his blogs are awesome.
(Yeah, I expected some overlap between this question and Question Four. If you think a blogger is good, there is no reason to not want to make them a Top Blogger, and I agree that @Fire is definitely a contender for the spot. Maybe not my top choice, but a contender nonetheless.)
@CDRED141: There are so many people who I think could get it. Probably @Fire. He has always been one of my favorites and early inspiration and has always given me very helpful feedback and tips on my blogging.
(I agree, there are multiple people. When it comes to feedback, right now, I would say that I get good feedback from @hiryanli, and I haven't really gotten many tips from the non-Top Bloggers. But hey, @Fire seems to be very popular, and likely will get the title soon.)
@alphaous: Me. NEXT! But seriously, why wouldn't I make myself a Top Blogger if I had the chance? I mean, I'm working towards that goal anyway! Unless someone bribed me, in which case the briber in question would get the spot. Those who know me in the clubs that I am in know that I love to joke about bribery. (Or is it just joking?)
(Yeah, I should have seen that coming. Not the best answer for a discussion about blogging in my opinion, but hey, who wouldn't make themselves a Top Blogger? Still, not much to work with here. The important question is, would others agree that you should be a Top Blogger, or would your viewers give it to someone else? Maybe we can get an answer in the comments.)
@DonRajesh: @Fire for the same reasons mentioned above.
(This is very similar to what @hiryanli said. This question is very similar to Question 4, and so the answers should be similar, as they are in this case. It's the same blogger, even. @Fire must have a high level of support in the blogging community.)
@ScatteredWealth: Out of all the incredible bloggers that are not Top Bloggers yet, I would have to say @Fire would be my top choice. He has been consistently blogging for a while now and he makes fire content. I know that he will become a Top Blogger soon.
(Everybody here is saying @Fire. While that makes sense, given that his blogs are good, there are still other contenders. I think that @DonRajesh should get the spot, and maybe @hiryanli as well. But @Fire is still in the running. How long do you all think until he becomes a Top Blogger?)
@Fire: I would choose myself. I would really like the top blogger title, and if I staff for like four minutes and could give statuses out to anybody I wanted, ofc I would give it to myself. Who wouldn't?
(Another answer of this type. Again, there is little to work with, but I will say that you likely stand a better chance at becoming Top Blogger than most people who want to make themselves Top Blogger. At least, many of the viewers think so. Does chess.com take viewers' opinions on the blogs into account when deciding? That would be interesting to know.)
@ryanchen100: Simply @Fire. Maybe @DonRajesh though.
(Huh. I would put @DonRajesh before @Fire. But that's probably just because I've read more of his blogs, and his topics are more appealing to me. I'd rather read about how to Visualize than a Réti game personally, but that's personally, and not objective at all. Goes to show how important topic choice is.)
Question Seven
Me: What would you say is the most important factor in making a blog good?
@hiryanli: I would say the formatting. Make it unique and useful at the same time. Be sure to throw some images in as well
(Anybody can write a good blog, with a good topic, and then get derailed by having a word wall. So yes, formatting is important, since it ties into readability, which is very important. Good answer.)
@CDRED141: Some people would say the thumbnail, or the topic, but I say the it's the blogger. Every blogger has their own style, and that is the most important thing to me, in a blog post.
(So you judge by the style of the blog? Interesting. While this could be different from formatting, what makes it so important? This answer requires some thought.)
@alphaous: The humor/good writing balance. Having good humor is a great way to keep your audience engaged, but a laugh-a-minute blog at the expense of good writing is bad. So if you can find that balance, then you're gonna go far.
(Unconventional answer, but I do agree with this. If your blog has a good balance, yes, it is likely to be more engaging. @Lightning's Questioning Non-Chess Players Series is evidence of that, and I will let the balance there speak for itself.)
@DonRajesh: I would say that the blog has to be easy to read. If there's long word blocks and long, unannotated games, then the reader has no motivation to continue reading, defeating the blog's purpose.
(Annotating games is important, but when does annotating get to be too much? My blog is proof that you can go overboard when it comes to games. But hey, an annotated game is much better to read than an unannotated one, since it provides instruction. There's a reason people say that you can learn something from tournament recaps. And yes, the word wall has been the death of many.)
@ScatteredWealth: There are many, many important factors that make up a good blog. The one thing your blog must contain however, is the topic you choose to write about. If you find that writing your blog is extremely boring and painstaking, then you probably shouldn't write about that topic. Instead, write about something that you love writing about. It all comes down to personal preference. When you have fun writing, your blogs will contain more quality and bring that joy onto the reader.
(The topic, I would say, is the most important part of a blog. If a blog has a bad topic, it will likely not do so well. A good topic attracts more interest and more viewers. But even then, interesting reasons for choosing a good topic. Avoiding burnout is indeed important in blogging, and if you think about it, the topic does play a role. I like this answer.)
@Fire: I think that having good formatting is probably the most important factor in writing a blog, because if you have bad formatting (ex: bolding every word like @pheonix_free), then that makes your post generally hard to read. I would honestly prefer a better formatted blog with sort of bad writing over a nicely-written blog with bad formatting.
(How is bolding every word bad formatting? Or is it just an overextension of the definition of formatting? Still, I don't think that that is as bad of an example as other blogs with bad formatting, even though I agree with the advice.)
@ryanchen100: It has to be layout and structure. If it doesn't flow, it won't be a nice post.
(Many answers for this question are very similar. It says a lot about what bloggers value. But yes, if a blog has no structure, it will be extremely difficult to read, making your blog less good. So make sure it has structure. I would say that whenever somebody publishes a blog, they should read the draft fully, like they're a viewer, before publishing, so that they get a good feel for what to edit.)
Question Eight
Me: What piece of advice would you give to a blogger who is just starting out?
@hiryanli: I would say just read top blogger's blogs and be patient. You can learn a lot about blogging just by reading a good quality blog. Learn the format. Maybe you will be inspired as well
(Interesting answer, given what you said about @Fire using @SamCopeland's formatting. He learned the format. Still, it is a good idea to learn from others. It's what I did with my Arena post and this one. Did it work out? Either it did, or this advice is not good.)
@CDRED141: Take your time! Take your time people! I used to (and sometimes still do) Rush myself with my blogs and that always makes them lower quality. And don't post a more then one in three days. I used to post a blog every few hours! They were really bad and I deleted them all lol. It's definitely better to take time. There is no reason you should rush your work.
(One of the problems with rushing, besides the ones you mentioned, is that when you rush, you use all your topic ideas pretty fast, and will quickly end up with a topic shortage. But yes, rushing a blog does give it a lower quality, so you should take your time. many people say quality is better than quantity, and there is a reason for that.)
@alphaous: B-b-b-but I'm still kinda getting started! But on a serious note, I'll just repeat a piece of advice that my mom gave to me, and that's to have several drafts to avoid burnout. I did not strictly follow this, and took a longer break between my second and third blog than I would've liked. But I have several ideas, and a couple of drafts, so this shouldn't be a problem for long. Thank you for interviewing me, (at the expense of some equally good bloggers) and you're welcome for the positive engagement from my fans, because I apparently have those already. (Seriously, I have waaay too many people telling me I should be a Top Blogger. I've posted three posts, and one of them was an intro! I appreciate the support though, as much as I joke about it, and I am glad that you enjoy my work!)
(Interesting fact: I have drafts going as far back as December, and I would say that this is a good tip. My blog on Avoiding Time Pressure in Bullet, that was an idea I had back in May, and I decided to finish the draft, and I think it worked out well. So yes, whenever you have an idea, write it in a draft, regardless of quality. It just might help your blog later.)
@DonRajesh: Read a lot of posts from top bloggers, and the Chess.com style guide.
(Why give advice on a blog when advice already exists? I myself have checked out the guide, and it has helped. Reading posts from Top Bloggers was helpful, both for my Arena blog and this one. I would say that this is good advice, and that other bloggers should definitely learn by example.)
@ScatteredWealth: Welcome to the world of blogging! To be brief, your first ever blog does not have to be perfect! As you continue to post, your blogs will overtime become more and more popular. Find your preferred writing style, and tailor it to your personality! And most importantly, have fun! The community needs more fun bloggers like you, so post away. With that, I wish you luck and I can't wait to see your next post!
(It takes multiple people a long time to decide what their style is going to be. It took me 11 months to decide my focus on blogging about Bullet, and it took @Lightning a while to get from NSPCL updates to blogging about, well, how do you describe his style? Either way, I agree with this, and you have a point. Above all else, blog about what you want to blog about, not what your viewers want to read.)
@Fire: I know this will kind of sound like shameless advertising, but join blogchamps. My blog has improved greatly after I joined, and that is mainly because of the help of members like @Lightning and chesspawn . If you wish to improve your blog, and get personalized tips from top bloggers, this is the right place to go. Also just another actual tip, don't rush your writing. Quality over quantity 👍
(This does sound like advertising, but I would agree. BlogChamps has multiple bloggers and is basically centered around blogging, so you can definitely get good advice. I am honestly surprised I got featured in this answer, as I was too busy to continue my reviews. Maybe I will soon, once I am less busy irl. And yes, quality over quantity, similar to what @CDRED141 said.)
@ryanchen100: Start something easy. Talk about your first game on chess.com. If you're higher rated, talk about your favourite [or favorite, for you, Americans] opening or your chess story. @ScatteredWealth wrote about his chess story, I found it fascinating.
(There is a range of what people look for when judging what makes a blog good. My main preferences personally are for educational blogs, but hey, the wide range of content further raises a debate as to who should be considered a Top Blogger. And if nothing else, writing about your chess story does save you from a topic shortage, for a time.)
Conclusion
Those were some very interesting answers, many of them insightful when it comes to making a good blog. With the BlogChamps competition in full swing, many people are discussing how to improve blogs, and I think you could learn something from all these answers. What do you think? Do you all agree or disagree with anything these bloggers said?
I would like to give a shoutout to @Lightning for giving me the idea to do this (am I taking too many ideas from him?) and to @ryanchen100 for making the thumbnail, as well as all the bloggers who agreed to answer the questions for this post. If you want to be featured in Part Two to this series, be sure to comment here. Besides continuing this series, I am working on a blog about Bullet, and might publish my second post in the Perpetual Bullet Grind series before 2023 hits, but who knows?
Hope you enjoyed reading
— @ChessPawn921
