The beauty and the pain of the blogging world is the concept that there are no rules. This has created in the past decade a virtual world that is as fascinating as it is large.
The word ‘blog’ is a simplification of ‘web log’ and was coined in the late 1990’s to describe the mass of online diaries that began to proliferate in the new millennium as access to the net became simpler and more widespread. Today there is any number of different types of blogs covering a whole range of multimedia sources.
Many people blog as a writing exercise, to keep their mind sharp. Pace Miller, author of the blog ‘About Writing – The Personal Blog of Pace J Miller’ (http://pacejmiller.wordpress.com), says of writing a blog “it was just meant to be a way to ensure that I write regularly and exercise those creative muscles”. But like many people in the ‘blogosphere’ for Pace it has become so much more. “I really enjoy it”, she states, “I like to write and express my thoughts and it's always good to find people online with similar interests. Sometimes it simply provides a place to store my experiences and memories”.
The beauty of the blog world is the immense freedom it creates for a person wanting to share an idea. Because a person can do practically anything with their blog site, it seems that there is no limit to the ideas and imagination that can be expressed on a blog. And there is a blog (and some) for every possible application of an idea too. Bloggers can use the written word, video and photography to express their ideas to the outside world.
Trevor Hampel, who writes a blog titled ‘Trevor’s Writing’ http://www.trevorhampel.com amongst others, says blogging is a way “of sharing my photographs of Australian birds and places I travel to”. It has also provided an “unexpected additional source of income.” For Trevor the use of Google Adsense and the occasional display ad provides an income that “is steadily growing and pays for my internet plan, plus computing needs.” For those who simply love to write and impart their knowledge such as Trevor, monetary gain is a genuine bonus.
There are some wonderful, insightful and helpful blogs out in ‘blog world’. For instance, people such as Larry Brooks (http://storyfix.com) and Lorelle VanFossen (http://lorelle.wordpress.com) have quality blog sites that can provide a mass of quality information on writing, both as an art and as a blog. There are a lot of blogs out there. It is worth sifting through the chaff to find the good ones.
When you find a good quality blog, it is a pleasure to read. It seems they are also a pleasure to write. As Pace Miller says, she blogs “because I really enjoy it.” She, like Trevor Hampel, has no problem finding content. Pace is “constantly looking out for interesting ideas and things to blog about”. And though she occasionally ends up with a badly written blog, she never deletes any of them, as it “allows me to look back and analyse my writing and see where I went wrong.”
Blogging, for many people such as Pace and Trevor, is a joy and rarely a chore. Though it can take time away from writing more serious projects, Pace is rarely away from her blog site for more than a few days. “Blogging is so much easier”, she explains. Trevor too, is justifiably proud of his blog sites, which he prefers to call web sites. He has a daily readership of 1500 people, and loves the idea of a blog “as a platform promoting myself as a writer”.
Some people just love to blog.
