Those of us who class
ourselves as bloggers engage in this activity for a variety of reasons. I’d
love to know why you do it, or, if you have a particular viewpoint, why you
don’t.
So, as usual, I’ll start
off with why I do it.
There is a pervasive
theory that a modern writer needs a platform. It’s unproven. Some even go so
far as to say it’s rubbish. The jury, as they say, is out. But it’s the reason
I started blogging, along with running a very extensive website. The website
died a natural death when technical issues prevented me from updating it. I
still play with the idea that I will resurrect the website. And, since I’m due
to retire from the day job in the near future, who knows? I might find the time
and the energy to do that. However, it was very time consuming and seemed to
make no impact whatever on my book sales.
Does the blog help in book
sales? Who knows? I get stats and detailed analyses of the activities that stem
from the blog, but none of these show any direct correlation between blogging
activity and book sales. However, I do think it’s important for an author to
have a place potential readers can visit and find information about his work. The
blog is a useful platform for that.
But long ago it ceased to
be a simple author platform. I spent a year or so interviewing other authors,
giving them space to promote their writing. Those interviews proved very
popular with visitors, but, again, they were very time consuming and ate into
valuable writing time. I spent a good deal of time in producing a daily word
spot where I explained correct usage by giving examples for many different
words. I love language and words so this was a labour of love. Once again,
however, it took serious chunks out of my writing time.
These days, I do a weekly
post on writing and/or reading as a way of stimulating discussion on topics
that interest me and that, hopefully, engage my readers. I post reviews of the
books I have read, in the hope of encouraging the act of reading in general
terms. That’s why my reviews are so varied. I read widely and I’m interested in
a good many things. Some folk seem interested in only a narrow area of reading,
but I feel that such a concentration on a single genre is hardly likely to
introduce a reader to new topics and ideas, so I diversify. I also keep a table
of details and links to Writing Contests (see the tab above), which I update
fairly frequently. It’s another time hungry occupation, but, as I use it personally,
I thought it made sense to offer it to readers here as well.
And, from time to time, I
allow my passion for a subject to encourage me to let off steam. Usually this
is on social issues. I’m passionate about injustice, believing that justice
(not the law, which is narrow and frequently stupid) is what potentially might allow
most people to lead lives with equal opportunity. I’m something of an idealist,
but I have pragmatic leanings.
Will I continue to post
along the above lines? Probably. But my world is about to alter in fundamental
ways that must impact on my abilities, freedom of expression, time and energy,
so who knows what changes will accompany that move from regular employment
(albeit part time) to active retirement? I shall, in future, be doing one job
instead of two. And I hope that such concentration will allow me to produce
more and better writing. It’s certainly my intention. Time, of course, will
tell.
So, there you have it. The
reasons I blog. Care to share yours? Just as a matter of interest: to those who
blog on topics that merge with my own, consider this an invitation to approach
me as a guest blogger. If you have something to say that I can accommodate on
here, I’m very willing to consider it. You can contact me very easily through
the link at the top of the page that says, ‘contact me here’. Please do. And,
for the rest, please leave your comments below.
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