It's almost expected for writers to have blogs these days, just to keep in touch with their readers and to enhance their book marketing impact. After a while, though, almost every writer's blog starts to sound like everyone else's. How to write. How to master self publishing. The perils of Amazon or best editing software. Writing about writing is great if you only want to entice other writers. If you want to gather readers together, though, you've got to get a little more creative in your subject matter. Here are 10 ways to take your blog in a different direction: 
- Talk about where you write from. If you've got a laptop, Alphasmart, or other portable means of writing, you probably work someplace besides your desk, at least part of the time. Write a travelogue on great places for writers/authors, and post pictures and give inside tips on getting work done in exotic places.
- Post as your main character. If you've got a strong novel, serial, or series, your main character is probably as real to you as a genuine person by now. Let her do some of the work by letting her post on the blog. Write the posts as if you were your main character, telling all the little details of her day-to-day life.
- Show scenes from your book. Unless you've set your book in outer space, there's a good chance that somewhere in your neighborhood can stand in for your book's home town. Drive around and take pictures that fit in with scenes from your book. Write posts connected to them and tell your readers all about the background behind each spot.
- Create a hobby blog. Page through your book looking for things that might interest hobbyists and write a blog about one of them. If one of your characters is a chef, write a cooking blog. Crafters love to read about crochet, quilting, and scrapbooking. Outdoor fans will read about gardening, kite flying, or identifying wild plants. Don't mention your book; just grab readers with one particular interest.
- Write a small town newspaper. Skip the classic blog format and write a little newspaper set in your book's small town. Make up news stories with familiar settings from your story's details, and mention minor characters to beef up their back stories.
- Review other books. If you write in a genre, you probably like reading in it as well. Do reviews and recommendations of other books in your niche. After all, when it comes to other writers, they're your colleagues, not your competitors. Plug other good books in your niche and you may get a return plug from someone else.
- Write about your daily life. Readers love to get the inside story, to feel like they're a part of something. Give your family members code names to keep their real names private. After all, if you refer to your teenage daughter as TwitterGirl enough times, readers will know who you're talking about. Keep a basic diary and post it online for the world to see.
- Post the Interesting Question of the Day. Make sure comments are enabled, and expect readers to hold a conversation. Feel free to jump in at any time.
- Put up a daily comic or funny joke. Everyone needs a good laugh. It can be about writing, or just about anything at all. Make your blog a go-to site for a really amusing moment.
- Post teasers. Good writers write every day, or almost. Give your readers a taste of this. Post one or two paragraphs, showing what you've written for the day. Go back and grab some words from a spot four chapters back for the next day's post, just to mix it up and give them a taste of another part of the book.. They don't even have to be significant teasers. Just some words connected to their favorite characters will do just fine.
Keep The Faith and may the Force be with You!
