I've been blogging for almost two years now, and some of the charm has worn off a little bit. At first I blogged just for the challenge of writing. I have over my life struggled with my self-confidence only on one score -- my writing (thanks to Dr. Bernstein and his single-spaced typed comments on my college essays). In all other matters of my life, I am perhaps over confident, but in this one arena I doubt, oh, how I doubt.
In my early days of blogging, I would spend Saturdays and Sundays at a coffee house, researching for a book that I have had in mind for no less than 7 years, but never actually writing it for fear of getting off on the wrong foot. I would write several pages but always abandon them and go off in different directions. So a blog seemed a fearless way of allowing myself to write. After all, despite the permanency of the world wide web blogging text means little. Particularly when you have very few readers.
Later I thought of the blog as a means of updating friends and family about the happenings in my life. And as I finally convinced my family to actually read my blog, that purpose was realized. And with the arrival of Maddie, it has seemed easier to update my family with pictures rather than words. As an interesting turn of fate, my work is now about 60% writing, and generally is received well by my various audiences. And I don't have time to write a book, but the thought is still there.
But that leaves me searching for a skeleton of purpose for this blog. I have something in mind, but am loathe to commit to anything at all given the many things that claim my time and my changeable nature. Rather I think I'll play a little bit and challenge myself to write in new directions. Stay tuned... perhaps I can follow through with a resolution.
2 comments:
i titled my blog randumb for a reason. someone commented on how random my blog is. no idea if it was sarcasm. sarcasm needs it's own font. but i digress. my point is, blogs are purely selfish. i don't think they need a direction. and if you care about what readers will think, then your writing takes a different direction than what you might have intended when you started. i heard a successful author once say he writes everyday. i think that's important for any art or sport or whatever goal you are committed to. it doesn't matter how much or what the content is, i'm sure. you don't have to share it with anyone. just write something everyday for a while, and maybe your confidence and ideas will come together? write for yourself, not an audience. if you write it, they will read. haha!
I agree with Sarah K. Practice makes perfect!
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