Do you remember? Do you remember a time when people would ask, what’s a blog? And it was explained that they were “web logs” and really just, like, a public diary or a notebook on a certain theme. I wondered, back then, why people kept blogs. Often, it was a good way to keep far-flung friends and family in the loop. Communities sprung up around blogs, too, and people began to connect over shared interests and experiences. Okay, I guess I can see that, I thought, but it still sounds like a whole lot of work.
That’s probably because I’ve always viewed writing as a skill, a talent, a means of communicating real thought and ideas, and a sell-able commodity or service. I’ve never used writing for therapeutic purposes or kept a personal journal (for more than a week at a time). I’m a crummy pen pal, too. I get hung up is my problem. I notice syntax and worry about sounding cliched and write slowly and deliberately. It was after the birth of my first baby, when I thought I might like to pitch some story ideas to parenting magazines and realized that every person with a kid and an english degree had the same idea, that my husband first suggested I start a blog. What the? Huh? Why would I want to do that? Blogs don’t pay.