In Defense of Blogging

A few weeks ago I had lunch with writer friends. While we were waiting for our orders, "Nancy" asked what I’d been writing.

"Blogs," I told her.

"Oh. Well, that’s nice," she said. Then later, half-way through her sandwich, she said she never had time to read blogs and certainly had no time to write them. How could she possibly write something every day? That would be too much pressure. Had my one-word answer put pressure on her?

Then this past week I attended a writers’ group meeting where the topic for discussion was blogging. One woman said, "I don’t see the point of blogs. Why spend time writing something that maybe only ten people might read when you could spend the same effort on an article for a magazine that might have a circulation of several thousands?"

Good questions. My thoughts, for what they’re worth:

I have a friend who writes romance novels. I know a man whose wife writes westerns. I watch made-for-TV movies. My husband prefers reruns of Seinfeld. Some people read blogs. Others don’t. Different strokes for different folks.

The rule for blogging is to make entries on a regular basis. Some people blog daily, some weekly. Some of us break that rule by writing when the Spirit moves us. I blog when I have something to say. I can do that because I’m over 50. You can get away with a lot if you’re ancient.

Writing regularly, like in a blog, is a good discipline. It’s evident I’m discipline-challenged, but I’m working on it. I love to write. Blogging gives opportunity for writing.

In Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg tells about one writing practice she followed. She’d set up a table, someone would give her a topic, and she’d write a page for a dollar. Some of what she wrote she thought was very good, but she let the writing go. There were more words, she said, where those came from. Blogging is good writing practice. Words held on to have little influence. The more practice we have in letting our words go, the easier it is to overcome self-consciousness and seek print publication.

I don’t know if this has ever happened to you, but often when I get on the internet, I end up at sites and have no idea how I got there. Many of those sites are blogs. One blogger last posted in 2005. I didn’t even know about blogs in 2005. The photos on the site were beautiful, his words inspirational, words sitting in cyberspace four years waiting for someone to take a stroll down a side-street off the super highway. Surely I’m not the only person in the past four years who found his piece of the internet. If I write from my heart and ten people read it, if one is encouraged, then I’m gratified. I understand regular posts produce regular readers. I get that. But that’s not why I write. I write because I have to write. I’m a writer. A blog gives me a place to do that.

I have three blogs. The first I started because I attended some meetings where a leader was publicly criticized by people who weren’t even there. I felt the need to speak up to let those who were interested know what happened from the perspective of someone who had been there. I started this blog because I have a heart to encourage writers. My third blog is somewhat unfocused. I need to work on that.

The woman at the writers’ group who questioned the value of blogs made me consider I could have more influence if I sought publication in periodicals. I agree I need to more actively seek print publication. And I will, thanks to her encouragement.