Focus on craft. There's a kind of blog that focuses on the craft of something -- the book design blogs I mentioned recently, the chess and wine blogs I've looked at from time to time. These tend to give away good information, invite exchange, as other blogs do, but they have the additional trait of having a subject matter that breaks neatly into practical or concentrated little or medium-sized pieces.

I suppose an editor could put up a little passage to be edited once or twice a week and offer an approach to it, and after a year the person would have created a nice little body of work to share. If it were organized in some way, it could be very useful.

A meterologist could do something focused in the same way. Some fields seem well-suited to it. It could be an informal way of drafting a book, too. I suppose that is what has happened at Chocolate & Zucchini, now that books have started coming out there. Very nice hazelnut cream balls coated in dark chocolate -- recipe we tried from the book the other day, by the way. [0 & P]

Book design blogs. I'm a big fan of the blog and regular email updates from the Book Design Review, the work of Joseph Sullivan. Today's email / blog entry, for example, introduces a striking cover design by David Drummond and links to the designer's blog, with the appealing note that Drummond shows some of the process of his creative work there, rather than just the products -- well in keeping with the spirit of certain kinds of blogs.

Sullivan's entries often comment briefly on a new book cover, always show at least one version of the design -- sometimes the same book from different countries, or the hardback and paper covers, eg. Several people usually talk over the design in the comments sections, too. I have no standing in the world of book design, but when I had to help bring a book to press last fall I found it very helpful to see how good designers were talking about the work they do. What do insiders look for? What is old hat or fresh, in their eyes? What are the elements of their craft? They share this sort of thing on these blogs -- you get to look in, since the sites aren't really aimed at outsiders particularly, I'd guess.

Sullivan also points to designer Henry Sene Yee, whose blog, he notes, also shares elements of the creative process too.

Principles here?: give away good information, written clearly, with lively images; create a place for conversation about practice; do it all for your own purposes but in a spirit that novices and fans and the curious don't feel excluded. Let the light in on the thinking and creativity of your field. [0 & P]

Follow-up from Jay Rosen. The other day I summarized an old posting by Jay Rosen in which he describes his own practice as a blogger. He was kind enough to email and clarify something I might have given the wrong impression about: he was not seeking to impose an approach to blogging on others. Intead, he was reporting his own method, created over time to serve his own purposes as a writer. For example, he pointed out that not everyone's software will handle all five of the elements of a posting that he aims for on his site.

Thanks, Jay, for helping me correct a wrong impression in the earlier posting, and for all the good work you do.

When I was writing that entry, I emphasized all the elements of Jay's process / product because I think we do a better job when we're ambitious enough to want not just posting but also a good exchange of views afterward. A striking title, a subtitle that elaborates interestingly (if your software will do this), a good little essay, links to other sites that follow up on the posting, and the comments entered on your own site -- that's a good formulation, whether it suits everyone or not.

Each element has an ethical role, perhaps? In a title (and subtitle, if you include that), do justice to the issue and content so as to earn and win the attention of the audience. In the body of the posting, give something substantial that fulfills the promise you've implied in the title and that repays a reader for the time that could have been spent otherwise. In the links to other sites, honor the possibility that your work could be deepened by the insights of others. In the comments, have the guts to listen and respond and let your ideas be tested to see how they stand up.

Political sites that want to win arguments rather than work on ideas take the ethical demands of the four or five elements rather differently, don't they? Eg.:

Obama is a fool. (or, if you prefer: McCain is a fool.) Anecdote that I will only look at from one perspective that proves by its single instance the sweeping thing I want it to prove. An explanatory term or two so dripping with point of view that dialogue becomes difficult once the term arises. A little name-calling directed at those who disagree. Then, either no comments, comments heavily screened to support my point of view, or a comments section where yelling at others and name-calling rules the day.

Something like that, then, with an entirely different ethical stance than the elements Jay sketched in that entry some years ago with such care to avoid imposing one path upon other bloggers. [0 & P]

Formalist challenge of Twitter. Now I find I'm approaching Twitter like a formalist poet who likes to have the imagination provoked by the restrictions of a given form. You only get 17 syllables, or the next line must rhyme, or there must be a recognizable rhythm, etc. As you face the restriction, you see novel solutions, things you wouldn't have said, or said that way, otherwise. Two tries:

Quoted: "People congratulated me when my son was born, but I worried even then. He will be drafted in 8 years. We'll probably be at war."

Or:

Caulking the tub--needed it done long ago. Revised a line of a poem--days after writing, it's easier to see what's off. Wait, or don't wait. [0 & P]

Twitter-free zone. I noticed that I never got Twitter to make sense -- never felt the energy. Now this not-in-the-spirit-of-things thought: Twitter would make a handy To Do list. Now that's rather anti-social of me. I'll keep trying. [0 & P]