Why Blogging Is The Perfect Writer's Discipline

I often get asked why I dedicate so much time to something as frivolous and self-indulgent as a blog. My first answer: it's fun {usually}. My second answer: it's a wonderful discipline for anyone looking to explore themselves and their writing potential.


Michelle, author of Simple Bounty and Writer's Jam friend said that "some writers...are full of creative inspiration and the desire to express that creativity with words but busyness and life do not afford the time necessary to tackle a big writing project. Blogging offers a medium to create short, concise pieces of written word in a relatively short amount of time."

 Blogging allows everyone who wants it a chance to be a writer.

Blogging means you're published! 

Congratulations! Since 2010 I have had 540 articles published on SelfBinding Retrospect. Yay me! That's some serious confidence building right there!

There are no rejection letters in personal blogging. 

You are the curator of your own content and you are solely responsible for what gets published and what stays in your draft pile. Never are you going to see the heart-wrenching words: just not what we're looking for at this time...Blogging let's you work at getting better without the fear of failure knocking on your subconscious every time you write something new.

Blogging fosters bravery. 

It is not for the timid but it is an amazing vehicle for the introvert who has a lot to say but feels like an idiot when they open their mouth. I feel stronger in words than I ever do face to face and by actively blogging I've allowed the people around me {and people across the whole world} to get to know me on levels they never would otherwise. 

Because my blog is mine and I am the curator and creator of its content I can say whatever I want about whatever I want as long as I'm brave enough to face the response of faceless commenters who may disagree with me. {This is a hurdle many bloggers have to encounter BUT, if you do it with grace and integrity, it can only make you stronger and braver in the end.}

Blogging establishes a platform. 

The more you blog the more fingers of influence you stretch into the ether and the higher you build your soapbox until one day, just maybe, the right person will find you and want to see all the other writing you're doing beyond your blog - the stuff that you've really bled out, the real guts of your writer's heart and BAM, you're on your way to realizing your dreams!

Blogging brings immediate readership to your voice. 

Write post. Hit publish. Get read. That's how it works and that's why it's exciting. The journey of writing something like a novel is just that - a journey. It takes a lot of lonely time in which you say very little publicly because when you dream of the reader's experience of your story you don't imagine them already knowing the ending. Book writing is private and lonely and hard and exhausting. Blogging is fast-paced and forgiving and sometimes clumsy and very very public. And it gets your words into the hands of the masses as often and you can churn out content. Michelle shared that "blogging is the perfect discipline for writers because it offers a medium to regularly contribute words to the world in a visible and interactive way...it instantly engages the reader and offers them the chance to interchange words and ideas with the author." 

 

Blogging builds up a community around you. 

Put it out there and people will come and if what you share on your blog resonates with them you have just added someone else to your tribe. These are the people who will wait for your big projects with anticipation because you've already shown them that you have things to say that they're hungry to consume. These are the people who will buy the first copies of your books or who will email you encouragement when you share about your struggles. These are the people who will push you to be a better writer because you recognize that if they're setting aside time in their day to read about yours, you do not want to let them down with half-baked ideas.

Blogging forces new content. 

You have an obligation to your readers. They want to hear you so you'd better be hollering! A blog usually only finds success if the author is uploading regular content. I enjoy the pressure of blogging and the expectation of my readers. It's a thrilling compliment to know people are waiting to hear from me and I hate the idea of dropping the ball.

Kristina, another Writer's Jam friend and author of Unashamed Grace shared that "...even when you don't feel like there is a story you often find that there is...You know there is an audience and you know it affects your SEO so you just have to sit down and get the words out."

 

 

Blogging helps make words happen!

Even if you have no other writing projects in the works, it still gives you a reason to write. I started blogging as a discipline. I wanted to write but I had no firm goal in mind. Blogging gave me the outlet I needed to make words happen and it turned into something I really love. I think of it as my training. My blog articles are relatively short. I can churn one out in an hour or two. It keeps my fingers and my brain nimble for the crazy marathon of writing a book. "Blogging makes you look at the world in a different way too, I think," Kristina said. It forces you to look for "stories in common everyday things". It helps you appreciate your surroundings, to learn how to plumb your own depths for content, to experiment with style and voice, and to find yourself there in the midst of your ramblings.

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