Focused on a niche subject. Wrote with humor, brevity and (unearned) authority. Was strategic with visual and verbal tone: styled the blog to reference institut

Focused on a niche subject. Wrote with humor, brevity and (unearned) authority. Was strategic with visual and verbal tone: styled the blog to reference institutions like NYT, wrote with the voice of authors I respect and/or enjoyed. Most important, I think, was writing for being pleasurable and nourishing to the reader rather than egoistically trying to impress with wit, domain knowledge, and, worst of all, personal anecdotes – the boring, herpetic poison that oozes from most blogs. Like art, you're assembling a puzzle with no preordained point of completion. It didn't come easily but seemed clear when it was done.