Every Fiction Writer Needs to Blog
If you want to build an audience of raving fans
The Internet is flooded with content about how to build an audience as an online writer. But most of them are targeted at nonfiction writers. That makes sense because as a nonfiction writer, building an audience is a pretty straightforward process.
If you write about topics like relationships, self-improvement, wealth creation, fitness, and so much more, the people who care about these things will flock to your content as long as your writing is compelling.
But what if you write fiction? How do you target your audience?
Sure, they might love your genre, but writing a 2000-word article about self-improvement is nothing like writing a whole ass novel of about 50,000 words or more.
Do you consistently churn out novel after novel in the hopes of attracting an audience? The mere thought of that fills me with dread because how the hell can you put yourself through such stress?
Even if you’re insanely productive enough to publish one book every month, who are you going to sell to if you don’t have an audience?
Writing is important. But so is building a tribe of readers. The great news is you can do both at the same time. And the number one way to do this is by blogging.
Why should you blog?
Anyone who’s ever attempted to write a novel knows what a daunting task it is. A great deal time and effort goes into it — from coming up with interesting ideas to assembling those ideas into a coherent story. You also have to revise the crap out of the novel.
On top of all that, you must craft a compelling story that keeps readers hungry for more.
That’s a lot of work.
So why in God’s name will you add more to your plate with another time-consuming task like blogging?
I promise I’m not a masochist. I have a very practical reason for recommending blogging to every fiction writer.
Every writer needs two things above everything else. It’s neither money nor fame. They’re nice to have, yes, but they’re merely a by-product of what you truly need:
1. Mastery of your craft.
2. Readers of your work.
While you probably write stories because you’re passionate about it, you also want people to read your work. And I wager you even want them to love what you write.
That’s normal.
What’s not normal is to write book after book, hoping readers will eventually buy them, although you’re not marketing them in the first place.
The foundation of self-publishing is audience building.
Even if you plan to go the traditional publishing route, you still need your tribe of readers to buy your books.
And there’s your reason for blogging.
Between a blog post and a novel, it’s obviously much easier to write the former. Even if you’re a fast writer and can finish one novel in a month, blogging gives you four times as much traction with just one article a week. You regularly engage with your readers through blogging as they wait for your new novel.
Hell, they may not even know that you write fiction. But because they love your stories, it’s easier to pivot since they’re more likely to read whatever you write.
You probably worry that focusing on your blog will detract you from writing fiction. I can totally relate. I felt the same way too in the past. But it doesn’t have to be like that. Think of blogging as part of your marketing strategy.
It helps you attract new readers, turn them into subscribers, and eventually nurture them to become raving fans of your work.
And guess what? Raving fans buy stuff. Do with this information what you will.
What do you blog about?
In 2023, I witnessed a battle of wits on Twitter between the CEO of Open AI and an author.
Now, the origin of their Twitter feud is not the point here. Instead, it’s how they went back and forth with each other. The CEO didn’t stand a chance. With every argument he made, the author flattened him with words heavier than a tanker.
The author wasn’t even being insulting or disrespectful. But the potency of his words, cadence, and style, combined with thoroughly researched arguments, brutally demolished every single point the CEO made.
My goodness, the author could write his ass off. I was even a little jealous. Damn. An absolute delight reading every single tweet. And it wasn’t even a topic I had any interest in.
I wondered to myself, if this guy was this good at writing tweets, how good was he at writing everything else? I wasn’t the only one with this thought. The comment section and the quotes shared the same sentiment.
In one of his threads, he revealed that he wrote fiction. And do you know what the hell happened next?
So many people asked the author to drop the links to his novels so they could buy and read them. “If this is how you write tweets, I just want to see how you write your novels,” was the common theme in the comments.
I hardly read long tweets, but I made an exception for this author simply because his words hypnotized me. Clearly, it had the same effect on thousands of other readers.
That experience taught me an invaluable lesson:
It doesn’t matter what you write about as long as you have the skill to compel people with your words.
What has this little story got to do with blogging and fiction writing?
Everything.
The topics you write about in your blog don’t matter at all. You’re a storyteller, first and foremost. Employ that skill in everything you write, delight your readers, and keep them coming back for more.
Sometimes a reader may not even be interested in the topics you talk about. But they still read your work simply because they enjoy your style.
Just because you write fiction doesn’t mean your blog should only be about your fiction. No need to limit yourself like that.
Explore any topic you want. Most especially the topics you find interesting.
Self-improvement, relationships, culture, society, feminism, personal essays, short stories. So many ideas out there.
If you want to talk about your novels — characters, world-building, magic systems — don’t bore your readers. Be creative about it.
For me, I prefer to draw parallels between the general topics I talk about and how they show up in my fictional stories.
For example, if you’re a romance author, write about relationships in general, and how to strengthen intimacy between lovers in particular. To relate it to your fiction, talk about how this plays out between the two main characters in your love stories.
So not only are you writing about topics that appeal to readers, but you’re also subtly introducing them to the characters of your novel.
You can do this with any topic or idea. It all boils down to your creativity. And yes, you are more creative than you think.
When you reach that level where your audience knows more about you and your books, you can talk about your writing process and how you come up with ideas. Your readers will love to hear that.
This, however, is risky to do when you’re still a beginner. They don’t know you enough to give a shit. So be smart about this.
You don’t have to write about writing either. Unless you plan to only attract fellow writers to your blog, don’t even talk about writing.
The only people interested in reading about writing are writers. These aren’t people who will be very much interested in anything else you write about. They simply want to learn more about writing.
If you want to attract readers for your stories, then get creative at telling entertaining and inspiring stories on your blog.
Where do you publish your blog posts?
There are way too many options for this. It all depends on you and what you find useful. You can blog on social platforms like Medium where there’s already an in-built audience. However, the algorithm can change at any time. You have zero control.
For more control of your content, create your website. The disadvantage is that it will take a while to attract readers unless you’re an expert in SEO.
I think the best option is to combine the best of both worlds. Blog on Medium to easily attract an audience, and then funnel that audience back to your website.
If you’re just getting started, stick to Medium. Create your website later.
If regular long-form writing takes too much of your time, use Twitter to publish short-form content. None is better than the other. Different mediums appeal to different writers.
I prefer long-form writing, so I focus entirely on Medium. I barely write on Twitter. But if that’s your style, go for it.
Ultimately, be authentic to yourself.
How often should you publish on your blog?
While blogging is an important part of your marketing strategy, it shouldn’t take precedence over your actual fiction writing time. Dedicate time to it, but don’t neglect your novels.
How often you publish on your blog depends entirely on how much time you have for everything else.
Blog regularly. But regular blogging means different things for different people. If you can manage one article a day, that’s awesome. Three times a week? Great.
If once per week or fortnight is all you can manage, then there’s nothing wrong with that. But it should be regular enough that your readers know when to expect a new post from you.
Always remember the end goal of blogging:
To attract readers and get them interested in you as a writer.
Final thoughts
Unless it’s taking your time from writing your novels, there’s not a single negative to blogging. However, there are so many benefits you’ll enjoy if you make it a habit. Not only will it widen your readership, but it will also improve your craft.
If you’re not already blogging as a fiction writer, then start now. Building an audience is something every writer should be doing. Because if you don’t have one, then what’s the point? Who’s going to read what you write?
Start blogging today.
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