You can still blog if you suck at grammar.
There are resources to help those of us who dozed through their honors English class.
Trust me, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine becoming any type of writer.
I started this blog on a whim, and it wasn’t to write.
After almost seven years of blogging, I still don’t consider myself a writer.
I mean, I guess some content bloggers could be considered writers but are they?
Some bloggers end up writing books, so they are legit writers.
I don’t know.
My point is, if you suck at grammar but yearn to own a blog, there’s no reason to kill your dreams.
Having said all that, you do have to know how to write to some extent.
The rules are different with blogging in that many suggest to type “as you would talk,” but grammar does matter, too.
I use the Yoast plugin to help with SEO, and they make suggestions on readability.
Don’t beat me up here, but I have read articles that suggest that Google considers grammar while ranking.
I have also read articles that say that’s not true.
I happen to have an obsession with my little Yoast button being green, so I aim to please them.
2019 update: I no longer use Yoast because I’m trying to use as few plugins as possible.
I have many problem areas when it comes to grammar.
The biggest one being that I have no comma intuition.
Where I think I should have a comma is usually wrong, and where Grammarly tells me I should have a comma causes me great confusion.
And then you want to involve semi-colons?
I am sorry, did I just completely sleep through that portion in school?
How to Blog if Grammar is a Struggle – 5 Tools to Help
1.) Grammarly:
I run each and every blog post through Grammarly (affiliate link) before I hit publish.
I just open Grammarly up in another tab, copy and paste my entire blog post into it, and make the necessary changes.
2.) Hire a VA:
My virtual assistant, Ben, is an excellent proofreader.
If you have a VA, ask if proofing your posts is a task they can take on.
3.) Hang Posters:
My hero, The Oatmeal, designed the best grammar posters ever.
If and when I ever redesign my office, I plan to hang all six of them.
4.) Swap with a Buddy:
Sometimes it’s easy to spot others’ mistakes and impossible to find your own.
Ask a blogger buddy to proof your posts and do the same for them.
5.) Improve your Skills:
Learning games are not just for kids.
With phones these days, we can learn while stuck in a waiting room.
There are loads of apps to play grammar games.
My current favorite is The Grading Game.
Your job is to grade papers, and your boss is watching.
It’s easy to lose your “pay,” or even get fired in the game.
There are many apps to help improve your grammar skills.
You could always, you know, go back to school, too, but I’d much rather play word games. 😉
Of course, there is much more to writing good blog posts.
We structure our posts with SEO in mind, try to make sure they flow well and attempt to be as clear as possible.
I tend to be a tad obsessive about post structure and proofreading.
These tools help me let go a little bit and spend more time creating content.
Let me know if you have any fun word games to suggest or grammar tools for blogging!
Sarah L says
Please distribute this post widely. I really dislike reading poorly written posts.
Those are great posters.
Maryann D. says
This is all good advice to follow. I am always looking for ways to improve my grammar.
Kelly says
I write like I talk, and get stuck on grammar often. I didn’t know there was an app that could help with it. I will be checking this out. Thanks.
Kimberly Flickinger says
I do not suck at grammar; however, I have been wanting to start my own blog. Thank you for sharing these tips, will definitely keep these in mind.
Nikki says
As someone who has spent the majority of her life writing, let me tell you a little secret: I had to learn a whole new way of writing for the internet and blogging. I was a trained writer. I went to school for journalism. I got As on all of my term papers. That said, I hate every single article that I wrote in the early days because while the writing was correct, it was dry. Just the facts, ma’am. No style, no personality or voice, because that’s how I was trained. It took me way too long to learn how to relax and just write for the pleasure of writing. How to find my voice, show personality, and write conversationally. Honestly, if you have that ability, if you can get your voice across and share a story in an engaging way, the grammar can be fixed.
When I vet writers for sites that I manage, I look at their voice first. If there are a million grammatical errors, then yes, we pass. If, however, there are just a few issues in an otherwise engaging and fun piece, I check “yes” on them because I can work with minor errors. I can’t fix bad voice.
I totally agree with having a second set of eyes go over a post, too. I edit for a living and still miss things in my own posts because my brain thinks it sees what I meant to say, not what I really said, if that makes sense.
Sorry, that was super long! I’m a wordy person, lol. I’m off to check out that Grading Game! It sounds fun!
Jennifer says
YES! I so agree about the voice. It took me forever to find my own voice on the blog. I was nervous to be myself for the longest time, so everything was very factual. Now, I am always ME — no matter who that is that day. lol And, what you say about editing makes PERFECT sense!!