Teenagers are always viewed as naive and inexperienced. That is why adults don’t take them seriously. Why would they? Adults have a better work experience, already have their degrees in college, and know more than teenagers. But the truth is, experienced adults can also learn a lot from teenagers.

Take blogging for example. Creative, and adventurous teens are actually more adept to blogging than adults. They have better skills in writing blogs, taking photos, creating contents, and attracting followers. Above all, they have the best attitude to keep a blog active. If you are a blogger, you might want to check out these blogging lessons you’ll learn from young people.

Know The Topic Before Writing

As students, teenagers appreciate the importance of researching before writing their essays. This is to have a better understanding of the topic that they are about to write. Just like them, you have to research first before writing a blog. Sure, you may have plenty of experience to use as a source of data, but it is better to research and tell different perspectives about the topic you want to write. A mix of data from different sources makes a blog informative and interesting to read. It also shows credibility and trustworthiness.

You can collect information from various sources like:

• Interviews
• Podcasts
• Infographics
• Videos
• Manuals

However, unlike students, you have to always credit your sources. Either link to original contents or name your source on the body of the article.

Focus on What you Are Doing

Teenagers are sometimes viewed as lazy because despite having so many projects to do, they only focus on one before working on another. Their work habit is actually better that most adults who divide their focus on many tasks. Multitasking slows you down, hence it is inefficient. Shifting your focus from time to time results to slower pace and confused brain. In the end, you’ll just get tired easily, and won’t even finish any article.

Most bloggers, who aim to publish trending topics, tend to write, research, and edit at once. This shouldn’t be the case. A line of task should be followed to optimize time and improve quality of work. Bloggers should start with researching first before writing an article, then editing it afterwards.

Don’t Make Things Complicated

Experienced blogger tend to put different ideas in one article. It is natural. You just want to share your expertise. But honestly, blogging is supposed to be like an essay when you were in high school- short and simple. You do not have to complicate things by adding unimportant data. Doing so will only result to longer articles. And you know what happens with long articles, right? Readers won’t read them. They won’t even make it past the introduction if they are very busy. If you can’t avoid writing long contents, divide them into sections, with subheadings, bullets, or numbers. It makes articles easier to skim, which is what most online readers do.

Be Approachable and Conversational

To pique the interest of readers, you have to write in a simple, conversational tone. Avoid being preachy, which always happens if you have plenty of opinions about a topic. Keep your tone approachable by using positive words on, generally, present tense. It is also advised that you use a second-person point of view as if you are talking to another person. An example is substituting “you” to words like “the students.” It is also better if you avoid  using slang and colloquial words to make articles easy to understand. As a general rule, be young at heart- approachable and friendly.

Be Adventurous

Writing is a skill that develops through time and practice. Be bold and adventurous in blogging. Try experimenting to add flavor to your blog. If you commit mistakes, don’t bother. Usually, the readers won’t mind it because they either miss the errors you made or they already get your stand. Be open-minded too, when people try to give negative feedback on your work. Take them as positive criticism to improve your writing skill.

Learn From Your Mistakes

When you enter school, you do not know anything about the subjects, and just learn as you go along the way. That’s how it is in blogging. You may have the skill to write, but you will only become better as you keep on blogging. Learn from your mistakes, and make sure you don’t commit them on your next articles. A helpful tip is to make editing a habit. It will help you easily note the mistakes you made, and at the same time be familiar with common errors you make.

Make Everything Fun

If you could emanate teenagers’ “live while you are young” mantra when you are writing, then you should. If you are having fun when writing, it makes your output fun as well. And this is radiated to the people reading your work. Making writing fun also makes the process easier for you.

Take a Break if You Need To

Just like your muscles, the brain also needs rest after long hours of use. Take a break whenever you start dozing off, day dreaming, or blanking out. These are signals that you brain is already tired. According to John P. Trougakos of University of Toronto Scarborough and the Rotman School of Management,  taking regular breaks from mental task improves efficiency, productivity and workflow. You do not have to overwork yourself, because it won’t make your blogs any better if you do.

Students often take a break whenever they feel tired with so many writing projects they do. Here are some of the things they do to recover their energy:

• Walking outside the room
• Reading a book
• Eating food
• Staring outside the window
• Watching few video clips

However,  Mr. Trougakos added that if you already feel on a roll, taking a time off is unnecessary. Just do it after when you already feel signs of exhaustion.

Be Spontaneous and Consistent

Have the energy that young kids have. Be consistent and spontaneous in posting blogs because it is a clear sign that your blog is still active. It can easily attract readers and followers, if you keep on posting interesting contents. You can also start weekly thematic posts that can encourage readers to visit your site weekly. Examples are: Motivational Monday, Thursday Readings or Creative Friday.

Tap Your Creative Side

Creativity is important to sustain a blog. It is not just about the layout of your page, or the photos your share. You must also be creative in choosing topics to write. It must be something that people can relate to, but at the same time different from what other blogs normally share. Think outside the box, and be like kids who always have the freshest ideas. You may use Google analytics to check out what topics are most searched online to help you decide what to write. You may also rehash ideas from other blogs and mix things up to form a new story for your readers.

Share Everything With People

Share and socialize with people in Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social networking platforms. Sharing your contents can help expand your readers, and generate regular followers. You should also respond to comments and encourage interactions on your Facebook posts to keep social media account active.

You might have been blogging for quite a while now, but sometimes there are blogging tips that you can only learn from amateur bloggers. Imbibe the young at heart in you, and apply these tips to improve your blog site.

About the Author:

Maddy Bertelsen is a writer and a blogger.. She usually writes about technology, blogging and education. She is now working with edugeeksclub as part of an international writing company.