I’ve been blogging for a while. I don’t see blogging, yet, as an end in itself. So why do I blog? Here are my ten reasons why I blog, in no particular order.  #whyblog?
1. Boredom
I started on the Microsoft blog site, I forget what it was called and it doesn’t exist anaymore anyway. That was late at night 7 or 8 years ago. Waiting for systems to quieten down at night so we could start the data update process on the silent, semi-dark 8th floor with the rest of the team 5 floors below me, it struck me I should check this new thing out. Then came Blogger and finally WordPress. finally a year ago I consolidated 3 blogs across Blogger and WordPress into this one.
English: WordPress LogoBoredom is also the reason I started smoking. (I gave up in 1985 so don’t bother to send me literature on the evils of tobacco).
2. Keeping up with the Jones’
By 2006 plenty of people I knew were talking about it. Colleagues were chattering at meetings. As a one-time techie I did not feel I should be left out.
3. Love of the English Language
I fell in love with the language a long time ago. Extensive drills in grammar through school and a grounding in the classics gave me a tool I could savor and enjoy. My father’s extensive library of everything from Victorian greats, Shakespeare, Tennyson and PG Wodehouse to mystery and crime fiction including Erle Stanley GardnerErle Stanley Gardner, the author of Perry Maso... provided me with an unlimited supply of joy.
4. Love of Writing
I just love to write. Putting sentences together, using words to bring out nuances, to paint a picture, describe an emotion, to bring tears, to enlighten is what I can do and do do to calm me down, to make me feel good. There is no joy quite like the joy of a sentence that just feels right, sounds right and looks right.
5. Vanity
Let’s face it. Vanity plays no small part in the rationale that bloggers apply for their blogging. I mentioned in a discussion on a post by Bottledworder that I am narcissistic about my writing.
I think a low level of controlled narcissism is necessary for writers to succeed.
6. A Cause?
No. I don’t have a deep, defining Cause with a capital C. I’m not selling religion or talking about the plight of marginalized members of the global community. I don’t suffer from a terminal disease other than allergic reactions to cats. Oh ok, dust as well. But mentions of cats and kittens causes readership. No one reads about dust. I have made some attempt at commentary on topical subjects, such as politics. These have generally not done well.
I do have a cause with a small c. I’m teaching myself how to write interesting items and provocative posts. It’s a personal cause.
7. Acceptance
This blog is a year old now in it’s present form. Since then many have come and read, some have commented and become regulars. I even have followers, although some of the “followers” seem to be ghosts whose blog has broken WordPress policies or are selling get rich working from home schemes. Now it is harder to stop writing.
8. Learning
I have learned a thing or two. Dialogues are hard to write. Cats and kittens will see an upsurge in visitors. Recipes work very well. Breaking a long post down logically and making readers come back for more works as well. Blogging more often definitely helps, just like they said it would.
9. Sharing
I have tried sharing my feelings with mixed results. Sharing expertise is an area I have not yet got into but would like to. I just don’t have the confidence yet to turn on my other professional job-related blog yet. I’ve read many bloggers who do this well. They’ve taken their core skills and built a blog that teaches. I’m still unsure whether my normal style will work in a technical / professional blog.
10. Interaction
When I am not on contract, I work from home and meet no one other than family most of the time. I’m not considered a very social, warm person. In fact, most people think I am introverted. Put me in front of a group of people with a presentation behind me and / or a whiteboard and ask me to speak, however, and I have no qualms about it. I don’t have to resort to “naked-with-black-socks” or any other public speaking ploys. So I have no idea now whether I am introverted or extroverted.
These are my reasons? I’m reasonably sure your reasons will be amongst the ones I’ve listed. Are there any reasons I’ve not considered?

Comments are Free, so go ahead!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This Post Has 0 Comments

  1. ladyofthecakes

    Ah, the “junk followers” – I get about five more of these every single day… I must admit, I find it a bit annoying, I don’t want to by any of their crap! The content of the spam folder, on the other hand, amuses me no end 😉

    1. TheLastWord

      Spam for me has traditionally been people wanting to teach me about SEO. I suspect it’s the same people pushing their search engine optimization techniques, probably for a price, of course. But the last set of five spam comments were all in Chinese, at least that’s what they looked like to me.
      There are days, when I’m feeling particularly vulnerable, that even the spam counter makes me happy! Ahh, the trials of a little-read writer 🙁

      1. ladyofthecakes

        I’ve had a lot of Japanese spam lately.
        Some of it is hilarious… I do remember one about “bear strippers”…

        1. TheLastWord

          heh heh! I suspect it’s a question of “bare / bear” tripping them up, especially if they’re selling stripper services. I wish mine were as interesting!
          Unfortunately, I can’t read what they’re saying.

  2. impudentmarti

    I see blogging, done right, as a revival of the essay form. Very few blogs these days are like personal journals. Blogs have evolved from the Dear Diary style, through the Let Me Sell You Something modality, to today’s wide range of topics, news, opinions and information. An essay is a difficult form – you need to have a point, something you want to convey, and be able to do so cogently, clearly and interestingly.
    And any blog I read which starts off with “Sorry I haven’t posted lately, because I’ve been swamped/busy/humblebrag…” I immediately click out of and never return. I don’t care if they haven’t written recently. What have they got to say to me now that they ARE writing?
    Keep up your lovely efforts, Slo. I look forward to what else you have to say.

    1. TheLastWord

      Thanks for taking the time to comment. I agree that blogs, the good ones, are either editorials or they tell a story.
      Thanks for kind words. I hope you find plenty to read here that is interesting and thought provoking.

  3. josna

    I enjoyed reading this, and it got me thinking about my own reasons for blogging. I share at least 5 of yours: 3 (Love of the English Language), 4 (Love of Writing), 5 (Vanity), 9 (Sharing), and 10 (Interaction). If you don’t mind, I may write a piece on the same topic–and will credit and link to Slo-Word when/if I do.
    For me, I think that the Interaction for which my blog serves as a kind of forum is one which brings together my far-flung worlds, if only virtually. So three generations of family and friends from India, England, and across the world and the U.S. can post responses and comment on each other’s posts. People can meet–say, one of my Indian cousins and one of my English cousins–who aren’t likely every to meet in person. At times it can be pretty lonely being an immigrant, and blogging makes me feel more connected, and somehow more meaningfully connected than, say, Facebook.
    Oh, and one more reason–for me, my blog allows me to write a sort of memoir piecemeal, to tell stories I might like to pass on.
    Thanks, J

    1. TheLastWord

      Oh – please, by all means, do link to this piece, or any other you find interesting. Lord knows I could do with some readership 🙂
      I am writing (trying to ) a book on the side actually and so far it looks very autobiographical. The stories I share will probably not go into the book, or so I feel at this time. Thus have decided to share them anyway. Who knows if the book will ever be written, far less published.
      I see your view on interaction as very interesting. I hadn’t thought of it that way at all.
      As always, thanks for continuing to read and your participation in the conversation.

  4. Dawn Sievers

    I couldn’t wait until this weekend to visit! I tend to be one of the emotional content writers, but I don’t have a firm platform, either. My goal at my blog to is write about topics and concepts that touch me and cause me to view the world in a different manner. I do my best to translate my impressions and interpretations in a way that might touch others, or shine a light, or prompt a laugh, or let someone out there who is struggling know they’re not alone. None of us are – we just have to find those like-minded souls. I appreciate your thoughts here so much, and I especially enjoy your candor. I will be back to visit!
    – Dawn
    P.S., since my blog is in Blogger format and WP no longer allows me to post comments w/ that designation, here is my blog link:
    http://healingmorning.blogspot.com/2013/07/fabric-of-reality.html

    1. TheLastWord

      Dawn, thanks for visiting and commenting. As far as candor goes, a post like that will not work if you are not truthful. There are other posts where I have deliberately changed names (or removed them) and embellished a tiny bit with dialog that may not have actually occured.
      I did visit you blog and read and commented on your adventure of a trip to see Kim.
      I hope to see you here more often just as I plan to visit your blog more often.

  5. sheethalsusan

    We all share some similar reasons for blogging…. esp the love for the language and writing. I started my blog something like an online journal and a place where I could write whatever I like. And finding fellow bloggers who read what we write and acknowledge them is sort of an extra blessing.
    http://rambledscribblings.blogspot.in

    1. TheLastWord

      I agree. On WordPress, the blurb icon goes orange whenever someone comments and becomes an orange star when someone “likes” a post. Whenever that happens my eyes light up.
      I’m delighted to have conversations with people I’ve never met.
      Thanks for visiting and the comment.

  6. Vidya Sury

    Right you are, Ajesh. Every blogger must admit to one of these reasons, at least, at some point of time. You know why I blog. The cats and dogs phenomenon works for viral videos as well. Not for me….but for the majority of readers/viewers anyway!
    Good to meet you!

    1. TheLastWord

      Nice to meet you too. Thanks for dropping in.

  7. neildsilva

    I blog for people to know how I write. It is very difficult to get your written word out there, but the blog works as a sampler of what you are all about. All your points resonate with me as well. (Even the smoking one! I gave it up completely in 2007, even the one or two deathsticks I’d light up once a week; was never addicted to it anyway.)

    1. TheLastWord

      Sampler my blog is not. Not of my fiction writing. For some reason it is not reflective. I did write about my smoking cessation in a blog post called “How to Stop Smoking” 😉