I started to ask myself, "Why do I blog? And do I really keep a journal online?"
I've mulled over these thoughts every now and then for the past few weeks and have come to a few conclusions about my blogging.
My main fascination with the blogosphere is the art of telling stories. I love stories, and maybe one day, I might actually try to write something that people would want to buy. But for now, I like the idea of writing things that would go in Reader's Digest. Sometimes, it's funny. Sometimes it's serious. There are lots of pictures. I try not to spend a lot of time complaining or bragging. It's all about entertaining or educating.
As a result, some of my tales are embellished. They are based on real events, but they are told from the perspective of a narrator. I might mix up the chronology to make the story more interesting. I don't tie myself down to the preciseness of journaling. When I keep a handwritten diary, I want to look back and remember exactly what happened that day or that week. And to some extent, I can do that with my blogging, but I leave out a lot of boring details in my blog posts. I try to keep one consistent theme running through my post which means I have to edit out a lot of the stuff that I would put in a journal.
Also, I always write a blog post with the understanding that complete strangers will read it. I write with an audience in mind. So I leave out specific names or else I change them. I try to make my sentences easy to read, grammatically correct and a little more polished than what I use in normal conversation. I spend a lot of time editing my posts. I try not to get bogged down in detail or background information. I try to keep it interesting.
Anyway, I've enjoyed thinking about this topic. I've probably left out a few things. (Like the fact that I had chicken pot pie for dinner last night and a yummy spinach salad. Yes! I do remember!) Anyway, what are your thoughts? Why do you blog? Why do you read blogs? What did you have for dinner last night?
