The Conventions of Blogging Part Duex.

I’ll admit my feathers were a little ruffled when I received a string of reasons of why I should follow ‘the conventions of blogging’….I guess I felt personally attacked or sought out for no reason. After speaking with a friend of mine [broken over several email, text and phone conversations] I am getting on a grasp on what he was trying to communicate to me…well, I suppose. If I missed the point again, oh well, I tried.

 

Anyway, after careful consideration & intense boredom over a 15 hour day of flying, I decided to take a friend’s advice and read up of the principals of blogging. I typically do not dive into academic reading [unless it is directly related to school since it directly concerns my major], but I needed a mental challenge. Plus being on planes for the better part of the day required some serious entertainment outside of watching the clouds roll by.

 

I believe the first article my friend gave me was entitled:

Blogging as a Social Action; A Genre Analysis of the Weblog [http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/blogging_as_social_action.html]. Although this academic article was very informative in discussing the origins of the blog, its characteristics, and a detailed analysis of the genre, it didn’t particularly tell me anything that I wasn’t already personally aware of. It was very informative though, I give it that. Yes, I agree with the article in saying that even as unconventional as blogs are, they still have conventions—only as far as things like blogs typically discuss certain topics or tell a story [through words or pictures], typically have one more authors, can be found on the internet and may have a date…all of those academic bulleted points…I’m sure if time permitted, I was in school and generally cared to write a thesis on this, I’d go on, but I’ll save anyone the boredom.

 

On the flip side though, everyone’s blogs are different. They are a personal form of expression and that is all I’ve been trying to drill into anyone’s heads since day one. You cannot tell someone that their blog has to be in chronological order [although it would be more user friendly in some environments], or has to have a certain amount of posts per page, or even follow a specific theme or color scheme. It needs to be up to the writer and what they feel comfortable with. They are personal forms of expression that open the reader’s eyes to just who the writer is as a person. Blogs are a place for the writer to openly express themselves freely.

 

I know from personal experience that I communicate better through my writing than I can through words. It’s just a simple fact. I feel more comfortable discussing the ins and outs of my life on a blog as opposed to stumbling through an awkward conversation with friends over the specific details of my life. I’m more likely to fully explain in that way than in person. I don’t particularly care to have a world-wide fan base either, in fact I  prefer to have a few close few who generally care about my well-being outside of an internet site to read my posts here and there.

 

My friend also gave me a book concerning how to write a successful blog. I read this one on my flight back from Mexico. I’ll admit I didn’t read it cover to cover, but I did read specific chapters that I found personally appealing [how to make a blog user-friendly, how to market your blog, how to make money, write with the assumption that even your grandmother may read your blog, etc.] I found the book to be useful in brushing up this hobby of mine. It helped with opening my eyes to little house-keeping things without being extremely demanding or compromising of my freedom of expression.

 

So there, I took time out of my life to sit down and humble myself. While yes, doing this did open my eyes to some new ideas, I think I’ll continue to just write as I’ve been writing….with no particular purpose or goal other than clearing my mind.

 

With that being said, onward to blogging!

 

And to my friend: The offer still stands to try out a little blogging, I’m sure you’ll fall in love with it

PS: I realize certain parts of the html transferred horribly from ms word—but I don’t care to dive in a change it.

The Conventions of Blogging

I started blogging in the fall of 2005, when several friends of mine shared their blogs with me (ironically these were also the same friends who introduced me to facebook in the previous year, against my own free will, but that’s for another entry).

 

Anyway, my initial thoughts on blogging were, “what the hell do I write about?” and “what’s the point in this?” As an English major (and a writer) this should have been simple enough, eh? But no, it actually took me a couple of go’s to, “get into the swing of things,” so to speak. I just couldn’t get used to “telling the world my story”. I’m naturally shy, and leave a lot of things about myself unexplained (intentionally). After battling a few demons, I started making unorganized, run-on sentences just listing my days in chronological order (as many would do in a diary). As time passed, these blog entries became more and more personal and reflected my general outlook on life.

 

Recently though, I’ve branched away from exposing too much of my personal life and decided to start a blog dedicated to all of the random thoughts and questions that go on inside of my head. I’m not sure how interesting these thoughts will be to other readers, but it’s worth a go.

 

Out of the blue last night, I started this blog and proudly showed a friend [who’s opinion I generally value] my first entry. To this he began to tell me the “conventions” of blogging and that I needed to read some book of his in order to “do it properly” (This coming from the person who does not blog and only reads them at his leisure —Start blogging already, kid). After thinking about it for a while, I wonder, how would you write a book on blogging? What is there an idiot’s guide to blogging? Oh and damn-it, just googled it and sadly a book of this nature does indeed exist:

 

idiot's guide to blogging

 

 

 

I’m page-breaking in the middle of an idea to prove a point here—I’ve never been all too “conventional”. Just ask any of my friends, family members, co-workers….I have a fairly unique way of going through/viewing life, however, I do get things accomplished. I’m not sure what a book could teach me, that I can’t take time to learn on my own. (I’ve always been the person to put things together without reading the directions). It’s kind of like having a book to teach you how to properly enjoy creative writing, art or music. Those aren’t skills that can be learned, but more less talents that people just naturally have the passion for. Some of the greatest things you’ll learn in life can’t be taught by a book.

 

Think about it…When you learned how to ride a bike, did your parents [or other teacher] pull a book from their ass and start rambling off instructions? Like, put your foot there, hold your hands there, shift your body at such-and-such angle, look forward…and don’t forget to breathe! Haha no, I would hope not, because if so, boy were you sheltered! No, the way I learned was I had my dad stand over me, yelling at me to use my common sense and pay attention to what he was showing me and low and behold, after hitting that pavement one too many times, I eventually got the hang of it. You see, like riding a bike, blogging is one of those, ‘learn as you go’ things. It’s kind of trail and error. You write and learn. You learn as you write.

 

Some people mainly blog about their lives, others blog about politics, pop-culture, their pets, their jobs, children etc. Blogging to me is a form of expression and cannot be taught. If I had to list conventions, I don’t even think I could go that far. Aside from of course, staying true to yourself, because everyone’s goals in blogging are different.

 

So in closing, I challenge you to blog [without the use of a book] & see where it leads you. Good luck & have fun.