More Thoughts About Blogging

Since launching into this new endeavor, I've been thinking about how blogging differs from other writing forms. Although I write fiction, I've also written poetry, considered essays or opinion pieces, and I journal regularly. (And, of course, I love e-mail.) I also do those writing exercises given in writer magazine articles and in books on writing.

But, quite apart from the advised promotion of your work, (which is what inspired me to blog), I think blogging offers a bit of everything above, without fitting any of the above.

Unlike journaling, which is an ongoing conversation with yourself, blogging is open to outside comment. Therefore, you might get a new slant on something you've been thinking about but haven't had a chance to talk over with anyone.

Unlike essays or poetry, there is no formal form you have to follow, but you can still think of nuance, and imagery, and search for a crisp way to phrase your thoughts.

Unlike an op ed, you don't have to drive a point home; you can actually muse "aloud" and leave it at that.

Unlike an e-mail, or passing conversation, you can expand on an idea without a sense of "monopolizing" the interaction. After all, no one has to read a blog, and no one has to respond, unless they are interested and want to. (If they do, they can take the space and time they want and you can read at your leisure. )

Still, like any writing that might be read, you do have to watch spelling, grammar, punctuation, and not be content with the scratch-outs, asides, and asterisks that mark the privacy of journaling. (A good discipline always, and a small price, I think, for an endeavor that opens up so many new possibilites).

So..., I'm a bit charmed by the discovery of "blog".