I started my blog almost a year ago. After writing regularly for 11 months, I’ve noticed some patterns about the responses that different types of content generate.

When you start blogging, your first inclination is to write about what you think people will value. You give tips and try to be instructional. You want to be a resource.

Early on in your career, you don’t know enough to be a definitive resource. You’re inexperienced, so your unique advantage doesn’t come from the mastery of a field. It comes from the emotional journey in pursuit of that mastery.

I use my blog largely to document my learning. I have valuable tips and strategies to share, and I do sometimes, but I mostly write about what I’m going through in a transparent way. People who follow my blog are able to read about my life as the story unfolds, and this gives them more value and inspiration than any instructional post I could write.

Your first instinct is to be private. It’s uncomfortable sharing details about your life to the public. But the posts that garner the biggest response are just updates about my life. They aren’t targeted towards any sort of audience and there is no clear intention to provide value to the reader. They may as well be journal entries.

People gain value from stories. It’s the reason biographies of successful people are so inspiring and fun to read. Stories engage your emotional brain and your logical brain at the same time where hearing instructional tips alone don’t touch your emotion.

You learn how to craft a narrative and you make connections with people you otherwise wouldn’t have known in the process. Blogging gives you a platform to tell your story and in doing so you will inspire the people who read it.