I jumped into the world of blogs a few years ago. I was really quite in the dark about the whole thing. Moms with little kids don't have time for that stuff...well...until they discover this said world and then maybe they make time. Either way, I realized early on that many of the blogs that I seemed to connect with were from moms. They are sharing experiences, giving me tips and posting ever so perfectly posed pics of their ever so perfect worlds. I found some other blogs about food which make me happy as well. I started a blog as a way to journal a new thing I was attempting to do each day. That was back in early 2011. I am closing in on 2012 and have kept the tradition alive. Lately, I am trying to decide if a third year will happen. I am leaning towards yes. When my blog started...I noticed a surge in other blogs. Friends that I had known were giving it a try as well. Almost a dozen new ones popped up and few are still being written. Most are dusty and sad like the paper journals I used to attempt to keep. We all have our ways to map out our journey and paper and pen was my weakness. For some reason this works much better. I found myself looking for the musings of my pals each night and as the entries grew scarce I felt disheartened. It also made me realize that this "writing" thing is tricky. It is a muscle. It can be developed. It does take spirit to continue on. I am not disappointed in those that stopped the process at all....but I am quite proud of myself. I don't always follow through. I often leave a book half read. I sometimes just don't finish. But hundreds of posts later here I am.
I mentioned a dinner two posts ago where I got to talk to Paul about his blog. He was expressing some of the same concerns that I have heard from others. We are all so scared of being "right" in our writing. We are worried about grammar, punctuation, tense, topic and controversy. I do it myself. I edit...sometimes a little too much. I found myself giving him some sort of pep talk. He was worried that he might offend people or bother them to which I responded..."then they don't have to read it". Blogs are ours. We do it for ourselves or for the people with a similar voice or for those who need to hear a new one...but nobody should make us feel badly about our story. On this day I followed two new blogs. They are written by men and I am excited to see where Tom and Paul take me. I bet there might be more cinema talk and less recipe chatter and that will be a nice addition to my reading. And Paul...have a voice that is true...the only crime would be to do anything less. To the rest of you who worry about "looking" a certain way or creating the oh so perfect paragraph...just write what you feel. The rest will all work out eventually. Happy writing.
P.S. For those who have recently expressed your encouragement in a process that many have probably abandoned by now (because my daily thing might get annoying to some) I thank you from the bottom of my blank white screen.
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