Blogging lessons from fairytales

It’s Day 2 of our Travel Blogging Expedition in Costa Rica. We’ve been having a great time. And learning a lot, too!  Today six-figure blogger Paula Pant highlighted several lessons that three popular fairy tales can teach you about blogging. When you’re starting your blog, think back to these stories from your childhood for guidance: 1. Cinderella After her father dies, poor Cinderella is left to live with her cruel stepmother and stepsisters, basically functioning as a house servant, always covered in cinders  (hence, the name).  But when the prince holds a ball, she transforms into a beautiful belle with the help of a fairy godmother, some furry friends (mice), and a large pumpkin (for transportation).  The prince falls in love with her at the ball, and even though she has to run out before midnight he eventually finds her again, thanks to the glass slipper she left behind… and they live happily ever after! Blogging Lesson: Be human. Don’t try to be perfect on your blog. We connect with Cinderella because she’s a simple girl with problems and woes and we want her to come out on top. Not because she’s perfect.  Stories of travel mishaps are usually more entertaining than trips that go exactly according to plan; it’s all about the journey. And the same is true for your blog.  Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and/or poke fun at yourself.  You’re human.  We all are.  Give us a real story and we’ll relate. 2. Goldilocks A young girl goes for a walk in the woods and stumbles upon a small house.  Inside, she finds three bowls of porridge; the third is just right — so she eats it all up. Then she sees three different chairs; the third is just right, but she breaks it when she sits in it. Finally, she finds three beds; and again the third is just right so she falls fast asleep. When the three bears return, their porridge has been eaten, their chair is broken, and baby bear’s bed is occupied.  Goldilocks wakes up abruptly and runs out as fast as she can before they can catch her! Blogging lesson: Publish just enough and no more. Too much and you’ll bore your readers.  Too little and they won’t come back.  Write just enough to make your point and cut the rest. What you keep is just as important as what you cut out of your posts. 3. Snow white Snow White (named for her beautiful, porcelain skin) takes refuge in the woods with seven friendly dwarfs after the Queen, her evil step-mother, tries to have her killed.  Disguised as an old woman, the queen convinces Snow White to take a bite of a poison apple that puts her in a deep, deep sleep making the queen, once again, the fairest in the land until a prince wakes Snow White with a kiss and the fleeing queen (chased by the dwarfs) falls off a cliff. Blogging Lesson: Nobody likes the queen.  Remember: Blogging isn’t about you. You’re not the star, you’re the steward.  While you are the author of your posts, ultimately you are writing for your readers, so your posts should have some value or take-away for them.  Write about things with value.  Give your readers something to learn or a take-away they’ll remember, and they’ll reward you with their readership. Share on Facebook [Editor’s Note: Learn more about opportunities to profit from your travels (and even from your own home) in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel.  Sign up today here and we’ll send you a report, Get Paid to Travel as a Travel Writer, completely FREE.]