Writing controversial blog posts can boost your blog numbers into the stratosphere, but sometimes not in a way that you’d like. For this reason, it’s important to properly consider the type of blog post that you want to write. You need to ensure that the topic fits neatly into your niche, that you care about it, that you hold a controversial opinion and that you can back up your reasoning with facts.
Strong opinion pieces have been used in media for many years. Think back to the op-ed section of your local newspaper. Many op-ed pieces are written to provoke, to get people talking, and to bring a controversial opinion to light. Often, the writer is sharing something close to their heart that they feel the majority is getting wrong.
There is an art to creating a controversial post, taking the minority viewpoint, and still having friends later. One of the most important is to be able to back up your opinion. Here are some ways to ensure that you can back up your opinion so that your controversial blog post gets the kind of attention you want.
Keep Your Focus Tight
First, ensure that you keep your focus tight on the issue at hand. Think of this as writing a five paragraph essay for school. You must stay focused and not go off on a ledge. Try outlining the controversial blog post first to ensure that you cover all the elements that you wish to cover, and give yourself a tight word limit of about 750 words.
Keep Your Tone Kind
As you’re writing, you don’t want to sound harsh. Keep your tone kind, and simply state your opinion in a respectful way. Interjecting some humor along the way can counteract the fact that you’re probably ticking off a few people within your niche as they read the blog post. You want people to read your opinion and respect it even if they disagree with you.
Don’t Vacillate
Beating around the bush is not the way to write a controversial blog post or to share your opinion. You should have a clear point of view on one side of the issue or the other, and when someone reads your blog post they should have no doubts as to where you stand.
Be Clear
Keep your language direct, using active verbs. Don’t use a lot of double meanings in your words. Tell what you think the majority believe, then say what you think, back up what you think, and move on. People will respect that more in the long run.
Use Authoritative Sources
It’s imperative to use the right sources when you write any type of opinion piece, whether controversial or not. Using the right sources is an important aspect of any type of writing. Choose sources that your English teacher would be proud to use. Find statistics that support your point of view in scholarly journals, and from government and private organization data. If you can provide real-life case studies to support your viewpoint, all the better.
When you can prove your ideas with evidence from stats, facts and figures, you’ll write a better controversial post. By using facts as well as your individual expertise to back up your opinion on any topic, you can show your readers that they can trust what you say – because your opinion has a factual basis and reasoning to back it up.
