Wrapping Up

Blogging has kind of been a plot twist for me.

I had never written anything like a blog before. Not a formal essay for an instructor, but not like a personal letter to a friend. Not even something in between the two. It’s just you and your thoughts about whatever writing to everyone and no one.

My biggest fear was making the mistake of “thinking that everything that happens to you is interesting,” as Anne Lamott hilariously related in Bird by Bird. But by nature blogging says that, on some level, its author and what they have to say is interesting. So I had to learn to care what people think, but at the same not care. If that makes sense. At some point you just can’t please everyone, so you might as well try to write something that pleases you.

Blogging was a challenge. All of the sudden I had to consider what a larger audience would find interesting to read about. I had to write when I didn’t feel like it and when my topic was drier than my skin in January (both were probably my fault). I had to put that invisible filter on that allows me to write with “blog voice”- a touch more sophistication than a journal and more transparency than I would have chosen. And I had to do it twice a week (?!?!?). This lazy writer got some much needed discipline this semester.

But I also got to write for a larger audience and learn what others find most engaging. I got to receive amazing feedback from my peers and from them build up confidence in my writing. I got to learn what is easy for me to write about and what is harder. And I think I’m a better writer for having run this blog.

I’m glad I had to make a blog this year. Will I keep doing it? Probably not. Well, I don’t know. Maybe someday, when I can focus on one particular type of blog content and build a more targeted reader base. It’s a little bit all over the place as it is right now. We’ll see.

peace