Chapter One:
Reading this chapter revived some fond memories of my first-ever exposure to a weblog. As an undergrad, I took this new class in January of 2004. Nobody knew what I was talking about when I said I was taking a blogging class. Honestly, I didn’t either.
When I was asked what a blog was, I was hard-pressed to define it. I didn’t know for sure. Now reading this chapter in “blogging” by Jill Walker Rettberg, I see that a reasonable definition for a blog has emerged. I am particularly fond of the idea that a blog is a medium. As a writer, it makes the most sense to think of a blog as a medium. Similar to how a visual artist (are bloggers visual artists? a question for a later post) uses acrylics, pastels, watercolors, etc. to create representations of the same still-life, so too, is a blog a medium by which a writer can create a representation of life through words. Maybe the writer would also use chalk to write a poem on sidewalk to capture that same moment in life, thus changing the medium and the genre.
My first attempt at blogging was fun and stressful at the same time. I struggled with such self-doubt. What should I say? What should I leave out? Who cares? I know it is important to invest any piece with your own personality. Being willing to expose your figurative underbelly, in writing, always makes a piece more interesting. But it is easier said than done to be that vulnerable, and even harder when that vulnerability can be viewed by anyone, anywhere, any time, including your ex-husband, frienemies, and grandmother. But I do agree with the triad: personality, brevity, and frequency. These three components are essential in creating a good blog.
