from the inside out
April 5, 2009 12:19 AMWhy do I have a blog? What does it do for me? Who am I speaking to? Who do I expect to read?
That's changed through the years, but here I am, still keeping it alive. I don't link it as much as I used to, but that's because I don't really like the whole world being up in my business. People that find it, will find it. I show people occasionally if I want to show them something I particularly enjoyed writing or that they might find enlightening/taining. In this post though, I told my friend that I would address his comment he left here a while back.
I guess I just want to give a little insight to what is going on in my mind when I think about what I want to say. First and foremost, one of the reasons I love blogging is that it's whatever I want! I don't have to tell you about my day, I don't have to explain what I'm talking about, hell, I don't even have to write! Sometimes not writing for a period of time has a lot more impact on your blog's personality than writing in it consistently everyday. Flexibility is key here, and you shouldn't ever feel too compelled to write. When something becomes a chore, well, it's a chore.
Whenever you write a piece, you have to think about audience. Who am I speaking to? What do I want to say/how do I want others to receive me? Blogging is a little tricky here. Netiquette is a good skill to pick up (not that I am a master of being socially graceful in any manner) and you should always be highly aware of the sensitive things you can say. Remember that it's the Internet, and anybody can find it. Now flip that pessimistic viewpoint, and remember again that you're talking to the whole world. Potentially, the whole world is reading what you're writing. Look at you, hot shot.
You should always be proud of what you write. What you write should reflect you; your words should be outlet of your emotions and thoughts. In any sense, what you blog defines a large role of who you are.
Life is vague.
-Mr. Purdom
It's supposed to be vague! Nobody should ever understand everything that you mean. If they do, you're spoonfeeding it to them. That's fine and all, but have moderation when doing so. Spoonfeeding your life to somebody else is a tedious job (and becomes a chore) so don't be disappointed when nobody understands you. Nobody is going to click with you 100% of the time, so bear that in mind as well.
There's not much for me to say. There's no secret to blogging, it's just what you do. I write in the same manner that I'd say this all to somebody. Make it personal; don't detach yourself too much. This isn't expository essay writing, nor should it be. Your personality and voice should be pouring out of each word. Developing that voice is all practice. Practice conveying what it is that you wish to say. Reread! Always reread, make sure that whatever you write is what you're satisfied with.
Now this is one thing I like to do, that maybe some people don't. Don't edit too much. A blog is supposed to be a progression. It evolves and morphs as you do (or should.) If you read something that disgusts you grammatically and you just didn't notice it at all, then change it fast. But don't hide yourself. Don't be afraid to be yourself in your writing, and just let go of judgments and how other people receive it. A blog is for yourself so much more so than it is for your friends. Ultimately, it's what you want to do, so don't be quick to relinquish that power!
I digressed, but I never delete. I don't like deleting what I said before even if it makes me cringe because I know that back then it made some sense to me. It's interesting to look back at what I wrote before and see how differently I think. It's amazing, really. So just be you for that day, and capture yourself, put it into bytes and publish that shit. I would really rather not read someone's blog if they went and revised everything the moment they had a personality shift. That's just boring. If I read a post from two years ago but it's exactly the same as the person is now, you'd wonder how flat of a person that guy must be. Be you, that's all I can really say.
When nobody's telling you to do anything, what you choose to do is very suggestive of your character and personality. Explore! Push your boundaries, find out what blogging means to you, this is what it means to me.