Lesson #1: Writing - Which Language Should I Choose?

The process of writing a blog actually starts BEFORE you have written even one single word. The reason for this is that you have to decide whether or not to write in your native language (possibly spoken and read by a minority of the world's web users) that you can write more fluently in. This of course makes the task of writing easier, but you probably won't be read by as many (unless you are fortunate enough to have one of the biggest languages as your native one).

Since I'm from Sweden (Swedish is a minority language) I early on decided to write in English, a language I'm not quite as proficient in - for natural reasons - but a language that can be read by most of the people online.

I will try to sum up the two choices by doing a "pros" and "cons" for each of them

Writing in your native language

Pros:
- More fluent, bigger vocabulary
- More attractive to others from your country (that may include your friends, parents etc. so you early on have to decide whether you're writing for yourself and the ones closest to you or whether your hoping to reach the entire world)

Cons:
- Only attractive to people from your own country
- You won't develop your second language

Writing in a global language

Pros:
- You can reach A LOT more people
- Great language practice - you develop your second language

Cons:
- If you're not very good at the other language this obviously will restrict the level of your writing.
- Probably easier to "disappear" among the innumerable blogs written in this global language, which means:
- You will probably have to spend more time adding your blog to blog portals, participating in forums etc. at least if you're trying to reach a wider audience

To wrap this first lesson up the most important things to ask yourself BEFORE you start writing is:

What is the purpose of this blog?
Which audience am I hoping to attract by writing it? You are obviously writing for someone more than yourself (otherwise you might as well stick to a classic diary). Who?

Of course this can be decided by simply writing and seeing who reads it. BUT, from my point of view it is important to decide how many people you wish to include/exclude in sharing your posts. If you feel comfortable writing in - or wish to really improve - a global language I would encourage you to write in this. Especially if you are aiming for that HUGE audience.

Hope this post has been useful to you. Feel free to comment or mail me.

Best wishes and good luck with your blog
/M