“It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.” – Ernest Hemingway
Writing is one of the most wonderful, yet often frustrating occupations. It’s sometimes easy to think up what you want to write about, but to sit down and get it onto paper is another thing altogether. It takes heaping doses of persistence, perseverance, and discipline to write long term.
Blogging is also one of the most interesting activities in the modern world — and also one of the ugliest words in the modern world (in my mere opinion). And after sitting down to write this week’s blog post, I had to triple-check by counting on my fingers the number of years I’ve been blogging: 7 years. It’s unbelievable, really.
Over the years, I’ve made many friends in the blogosphere, some who have started and stopped, some who barely started and fizzled out quickly, and some who’ve gone the distance over the years. I’ll name some of my favorites here in case you want to check out their blogs, too:
Lindsey Mead at A Design So Vast
Nina Badzin at Nina Badzin
Katie Gibson at Cakes, Tea, and Dreams
Stacey Loscalzo at Stacey Loscalzo
Jessica Vealitzek at JessicaVealitzek
Julia Munroe Martin at JuliaMunroeMartin
Recently, I read a series of posts going around about why or why not to still blog. It is an important question that stands in the way of every blogger, because, when you get down to it, blogging is work. Good, old-fashioned, sit-in-front-of-a-blank-screen, hard work. It never comes easy…
…unless we have something to say.
Sweden, Fields and Sea
So after 7 years, why do I still blog?
I love stories, and love sharing them.
I enjoy noticing the small and quiet things, capturing them in a photograph, and sharing the essence of a single moment.
I think better when I flesh out an idea onto paper (or the screen).
I understand myself and the world around me better when I write.
I love to write.
I can’t not write.
I am a writer.
Jennifer, In Sweden, on the Baltic Sea
That’s the truth: I will always be writing, whether it’s here or there. I write.
From the Marketing Side of the World
I work in the marketing profession. From the marketing perspective, or in real world terms bringing ideas and products out into the world, a website and a blog are the way to do it.
Sometimes I read a blogger who says they’re giving up on blogging because blogging is dead.
No, it’s not. Blogging drives search engines to websites by having interesting, fresh, relevant content. So all products, unless they want to pay endlessly for paid search rankings, need a blog tied to their website with interesting, fresh, and relevant content.
If you’ve ever tried to say something interesting, fresh, or relevant, you know that it is hard. There is no magic button to write well. The only thing that’s ever worked is to have a real person who can write and express their personality onto the page.
So after 7 years of blogging, that is the one thing I know — the important thing is to write about something you love and to be yourself. Don’t hold back. Writing always shows something. The best writing shows someone who is authentic.
That’s what I’ll keep striving toward here in my writing and blogging — me, authentically. Thanks for joining me on the ride.
If you have a blog and want to share your web address, please do in the comments below. I’d love to meet you, too!
