Blogging...to be or not to be...that is the question. Over the past few months I've developed a bad case of blogger burn out. This burn out led me to begin reading more personal blogs of other educators to get a little perspective. I concluded the following:
1. Bloggers Tend To Scream-- As I read many of the posts, I felt the emotions of the writers just jump off the page right at me. It literally felt like they were screaming at me. Now, reflecting, I know that I do that too at times. But, when do I do that? Well, often when I haven't spent the time to develop my ideas, or have someone else read them. Writing is a process, and that process takes patience. (Pre-write, draft, revise, edit) These are the recursive stages of the writing process. Once, that is done, and done well, it's time to press publish.
2. Bloggers Risk Becoming EgoCentric- I believe in today's world of social media, it is hard not too fall into the trap of, "Look at me! I'm awesome, and I've got something awesome to say!" I do think it's important to have a voice, but I think bloggers just need to be careful. It goes back to the writing process again. If we want to produce quality work--then we must revise and edit. Bloggers don't need to post everyday, or every week for that matter for their voice to be heard. Blogging too much can create noise. It loses something- like it's just not special anymore.
3. Keep It Simple: When I wrote a blog post for The Nerdy Book Club, I had to keep it within 800 words. The editor sent the post back to me at least twice for suggestions on how to improve the post. It took extra time, but it was well worth the effort. The best writers know that they must seek out editors who will take a critical view of their work, and offer solid suggestions for improvement. Creating quality content with fewer words is an excellent goal.
As a writer, I don't want to give up on writing. However, I do believe that I need to get back to my roots. It's time to slow down, and follow my own advice.
Happy Writing!
3 comments:
Thanks for the reminder to take a periodic objective look at ourselves whatever we are endeavoring to do! You are great at reflection and then moving forward.
Thank you. I'm assigning you as one of my editors by the way. :-) love you
Glad to do it! And, fyi, even as simple as Buddy Bear seems, I spent hours on the phone and email with the editor assigned to me at Linguisystems before the books were actually published. I agreed with most of the changes, but had to surrender on a few things. That's just how it is!!
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