5 Reasons Why Blogging is Good For a Writer – 1 Reason Why It May Not Be

I keep seeing this topic over and over in the blogosphere. The act of blogging is spreading like wildfire, and there are plenty of writers/authors out there who have jumped on the bandwagon as well. Here are five reasons why I think this is a good activity for writers, and one reason why it may be bad.

The Five Good Reasons:

1. Blogging Establishes a Routine – Face it, if you want to run a semi-successful blog, or an interesting one for that matter, you need to publish to it on a regular basis. I know a lot of people who blog whenever they can, but I think this would prove to be more difficult to manage. Establish a routine for yourself (say one hour a day) and your writing will be more enjoyable, and meaningful (your loyal readers will also thank you for the reliability). Hopefully, you can translate this routine, or learn from it, to your more enjoyable writing endeavors. I wrote a post on this subject earlier: Creative Thinking: Tip 6 - Routines
2. Blogging for Experience – I’m sure you’ve heard this one before; if you want to better your writing skills, you need to write, and write a lot. “Practice makes perfect” is the key phrase here. Think of how much practice you’ll get if you post to your blog at least once a day (keeping in mind that you want to improve)? I can say, without a doubt, that my writing skills have vastly improved in just the last four months. I’m not going to say that this blogging habit will automatically make you a great writer, or allow you to publish to magazines, but it should give you a good foundation for that.
3. Blogging Frees Your Mind – Sounds like a line from Matrix, doesn’t it? I found that my blogging routine does something as important as the first two in this list: it sets my mind at ease when I get started, and allows it to be as creative as it wants to be. Why? If you’re posting on a regular basis, well, you will need something to write about. Your mind gets into the creative mode when it comes time to post. This creativity will transfer (from your blogging) to your other writing projects.
4. Blogging Builds Friends – Over the last four months, I have to say I’ve interacted with a wide variety of people who’ve visited my blog. Some of these people are just here for research (from the search engines), while some are just passing through, best of all, however, are the writers who happen across my blog. These friends are the ones who contribute the most to my ongoing efforts to be a better writer, and my desire to help others in the process. Although not necessarily my main goal, building friends like these might prove beneficial to you later on down the road.
5. Blogging for the Future – If you actually plan to take your writing beyond a recreational hobby later, then I feel blogging could help with that. Even though there are better ways to show off your writing talents, having quality material on your blog might serve to sway the minds of your future employers.

The One Not-So-Good Reason:

1. Spending Too Much Time Blogging – Here’s the one reason why you may want to be careful in regards to blogging and writing: It can take up too much of your time. Just like a lot of things in this world, blogging may or may not be the right fit for you. How so? If you’re a full-time worker, a full-time mom, and a full-time blogger, well, you may not have the time to write those novels, articles, and so on. I’ve seen this before, and I’ve been sucked into this problem as well. When I first started this blog, this was all I did: I wrote, researched, tweaked, and wrote some more for this blog. After a short period of time, I realized that I didn’t have the time for the kind of writing that I wanted to do: fiction.  I’ve changed that now, however, and have devoted an hour or so a night to concentrating on my short-stories/novels.  Cheer up! The resolution to this is pretty simple: you just need to keep your blogging efforts to a moderate level, if you want to further your other writing projects. Now I make it a priority not to blog (or do anything blogging related) for more than two hours a day.

There! That’s my two-cents on the subject. I think I covered everything I could think of in regards to this matter. If you know of anything else to add on this list, let me know.

Comments

[miscblogger]

i'm with anders. the not-so-good reason applies to me. i just love see the traffic pouring in!

[Steph]

Real life always gets in the way of blogging... at least in my case. I wish I could write more! :)

Your blog is very informative and entertaining. You've got good tips for folks like me! I think in pictures and have trouble with words. I will have to set a writing routine for myself...

Thanks!

[Anders]

The Not-So-Good Reason definitely applies to me, but blogging is fun and it helps to establish a writer's presence on the web ... and hopefully to draw in fans who will buy that writer's books.