Will Kostakis is a journalist, blogger and YA author. Initially set up to shamelessly promote his first book Loathing Lola, his personal blog has evolved into so much more, leading to a career as a web producer. He has spent the past 6 years conducting creative writing workshops for a range of diverse audiences. His latest novel is The First Third. Will answered some of our questions about blogging.

1. What are some of the key things that make for a successful blog?

Successful blogs are well-read, and key to that is consistency – consistency in terms of content (so there is a clear tone and subject matter) and in post frequency (so readers know when to expect new content from you).

2. You’re a novelist as well as a blogger. How do the two types of writing differ?

The wonderful thing about blogging is that there is no set way to write a blog. You could write a blog like you do prose. Then, it would be very similar to writing as a novelist. You could write reviews, which is more journalistic in its style. You could write it as a journal, which is more confessional. I balance all three on my blog, and write whichever depending on my mood. The big difference between novel writing and blog writing is, an audience is assumed to stick with a book for tens of thousands of words, whereas on a blog, there’s nothing stopping them clicking away and abandoning a post halfway through… You can’t afford to take your readers for granted, it’s so easy to be distracted. Luckily you can distract them with videos and images and other things authors can’t use…

3. What’s your best piece of advice for writers starting their own blog?

Commit to writing at least one post a week. Set time aside on a day and be consistent. Every week.

Will Kostakis is running the course Blogging for Beginners at NSW Writers’ Centre on 2 x Saturday mornings: 7 & 14 May, 10am-1pm. Limited places left: Please call us to book on (02) 9555 9757