Yesterday, Kiersten White did an interesting post about how her blogging experience and style has changed over the time she's been writing it. She ends the main post with the sentence: "The day I start thinking of this blog as just a tool is the day I'll stop writing it." This post sparked some thoughts in me.
It occurs to me that some bloggers are using their blogs as a medium for getting their name and their work "out there" or as a means of building their online platform to help their getting an agent/getting published/getting readers once their published. So, for some writers, blogs are tools. For some, they're very successful tools, even. Lots of readers know this persons name and will recognize it if/when the book is sold. Then again, a well-used tool is still a tool.
I, for one, don't think of my blog as a tool. It certainly wouldn't help me develop the sort of great fame that could make me famous as a writer, especially because I am not, in case you haven't noticed, using my legal name. Thus, I don't think I'm likely to achieve The Gospel According to Larry-type blog fame or suddenly become the next Harry Potter ("Hey, look, over there! Next to the tall kid with the red hair!" Hey, look, a purple blog! Somehow connected to the pretty, pink blog! Unlikely. (And yes, I know, I've read those books too often. I admit it.)) with this blog. That's okay with me.
I see my blog as a means of connecting with the other interesting members of the blogosphere. Y'all are fascinating people, and you're always coming up with neat and informative things to say. You're what makes the web worth it for me.
I'm with Ms. White on this one. The day this blog becomes a tool for garnering fame, is the day it should probably be shut down.
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To be honest, I do consider my blog a tool...but of a different sort. I'm not using it to drum up recognition or build a platform, but rather as another way to improve my writing. Write something everyday is a battle-cry I take to heart, but there are days when I can't bring myself to open up my manuscript or work on a short story. So I write a blogpost instead.
ReplyDeleteThat simple beginning has blossomed into something much much more (why else would I be here reading your insightful offerings), but at the end of the day my blog is meant to further my creative growth...but not through fame.
Amen! I think you can usually tell when people aren't having fun with their blogs and they just think of it as a tool, and honestly, those are the blogs I don't like as much. I try to just entertain myself, and hope that I entertain others in the process.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you partly. I blog to connect with other people and to share my journey. I would never want my blog to become just a tool, but I do think it can be useful in getting your name out there. That's not why I blog, but if it does happen to help get my name out there, then great! It's an added bonus.
ReplyDeleteI've been blogless for a week now, cold-turkey, no reading... or writing *wails pitifully :(
ReplyDeleteI've missed writing the blog, almost as much as I've missed reading other people's.
DL -- That's an interesting perspective. I've never thought of my blog as part of my daily writing, but I guess one could construe it as such. Thanks for weighing in.
ReplyDeleteTiana -- I certainly find your blog entertaining. Thanks for commenting.
Susan -- I concur, getting your name out there can be an added bonus of a good blog, so long as it's not the only goal.
Elaine -- I know what you mean. Giving up the blogosphere would be very hard for me. I'd miss y'all much too much.