Rated E

Country Dew over at Blue Country Magic recently awarded this blog an E for Excellence. Her blog had received the award from a fellow-blogger and she passed the honor along. I'm grateful to be one of the recipients.

Now, I’m going to pass the honor along. I read a lot of blogs, and many are excellent or at least darn good. So—I had to narrow down the criteria a bit. I considered longevity, theme, writing, etc., and came up with these criteria for what I think makes for a great blog:

• Blog must have existed for over a year.
• Blog shouldn’t carry ads or try to sell something.
• Blog should have a purpose, a premise, or a reason for being—and should usually stick to it.
• Blog should demonstrate writing that’s clear, concise, coherent, unified, and emphatic.
• Blog should have a consistent style that reflects the personality of the blogger.
• Blog should generally use good grammar, spelling, syntax, diction, punctuation—unless there’s a good reason not to do so (typos happen).
• Blog should tell readers what they don’t already know—or at least tell them what they do know in a new way.
• Blog should have good photos—not clip art or photos plagiarized from other sites.
• Blog should use links effectively and appropriately.
• Blog should be G-rated—the blogger should keep in mind that kids cruise the net.
• Blog should be well-designed—graphics shouldn’t overwhelm the viewer, font should be readable (a dark font on light background rather than vice-versa), etc.

So—here are my two winners of excellence (and it was tough to narrow down all the blogs I read to just these two):

On the Blackwater. Marion’s blog captures the concerns of women of (ahem) a certain age and does so with insight and often humor. Plus she makes good book recommendations, reports on local literary doings, and shares bits of her life and the class she’s taking at Ferrum. Her blog is the first one I read every morning.

Smith Mountain Lake Mystery Writer. Sally doesn’t post as often as she ought to, but her blog carries out her “contemplations” theme, all of her photography is excellent (some is breath-taking), and the craftsmanship in her writing is evident. Her love of home and family shines through.

OK, I’ll award a newbie E for Excellence award, too: The Virginia Scribe has only existed for ten months, but Amy gives us a glimpse of being a mother, a wife, and a returning college student. She blends the diverse bits of her life together in a manner that’s interesting, entertaining, insightful, sometimes funny, and sometimes educational.

A few years ago, I could never have imagined how much enjoyment I now get from reading the really good blogs of both friends and strangers.

So many blogs, so little time. . . .