Blogging Benefits

Some of the posts I've read from this year's crop of bloggers are pret-ty good; I am going to be learning so much I didn't know I should know!

As someone who has not been a big reader or writer of blogs, I am working to incorporate the benefits of blogging into my own writing - the effects of having a deadline, of connecting to current culture, of writing for a wider audience.  Of attempting to bring a fresh perspective to the topic de jour.

During the discussion today over Andrew Sullivan's article Why I Blog and What Bloggers Owe Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell, it seemed as if there is some thinking about the purpose and benefits of blog writing - at least we've started the conversation.  A couple of points coming out of today's discourse (and a few things that didn't come up yet, but I hope will after students start reading my blog) are things we all need to keep in mind:

Write!  Yes...I can write about anything - but I must also be a reader of what others are saying about my topic.

Anticipate what other folks might have to say about what I'm writing - everyone is a critic.
Honor the reader's time.  With a mind-boggling number of on-line sources available (blogs, magazines, newspapers, videos) why should anyone read what I have to say?  I am pret-ty sure a blogger gets, oh, maybe one time to impress the reader.  (Everyone is a critic.)

Refrain from regurgitating.  We aren't owls, and we aren't cows.  If you are going to write about Derek Jeter's farewell game - STOP!  How many people have already written about it?  Were you there?  Are you a personal friend of Derek's?  Are you clairvoyant?  I didn't think so.  (Now you could use Jeter's "farewell tour" and compare it to another famous one...or explain why these "lasts" are so important to fans....or...)

I won't become a better blogger/writer if I don't consciously try. Well, duh. I realize I state the obvious - but on Monday nights, when the deadline looms and the word count is only 843 for the week, is the writer focusing on genuine improvement, or simply meeting the word count?  Word count.  Duh.

We'll continue this conversation.