I hate writing but love to blog….why?
It’s funny how when you spend time like I have the past 3 days to make a point to comment on others that you start reflecting and things start clicking.
I left a couple comments that ended this way.
I hate to write, but love to blog!
The question is why? I’ve never been a good writer, I’ve hated writing for as long as I can remember. With my penmanship writing is like kryptonite to me. Was never a great Language Arts teacher, but I don’t think I was that bad…having struggled with writing my whole life and being up front with my students about it actually, I think, helped those reluctant learners to keep trying and plowing forward.
So why is it that I hate to write and love to blog?
First, I think a lot of it has to do with the computer and word processing. As I type this in my Firefox extension Performancing every misspelled word is underlined in red for me, giving me instant feedback on what I have misspelled. Does it catch all my mistakes, heck no, but you should see a post before it actually goes live.
Secondly, I can type faster then I can write…about 45 words/minute and you can actually read what I’ve written when I’m done.
Finally, I don’t see blogging as writing…it’s idea generation, it’s the free flow of ideas between people and it is a conversation. I love to talk (if you have a hard time writing you usually do…coping skill). I would rather stand in front of a group of parents and give a presentation, or have a face to face parent conference than write a letter home.
Because blogging is a conversation, a idea generating machine (the way I use it anyway) it speaks to me. Sure sometimes my ideas are way out there, but that’s how we work through them, how we start conversations, how we move forward and continue to progress as a society. Blogging gives me an audience, just like giving a presentation…I almost feel that way sometimes…like I’m presenting information, my thoughts rather than writing. It could be a podcast, a video, or blogging…it’s about having an audience. I wonder if I would have blogged in school, given the chance? It would have depended, I bet, on how the teacher used it as a tool. Was it a reflective journal to layout your thoughts, or did every period, capital and ‘ie, ei’ combination have to be perfect. If that was the case I’d have hated it.
Blogging is different…it’s not writing in the sense we think about it. People ask me why I blog and I truly can’t give them an answer…I just do, because it’s an outlet for me. I’d bet that I’ve blogged more in the past year then I wrote my whole life leading up to it. It’s been that powerful for me as a tool, and I see it in my students as well. In myspace and youtube…this networking, conversation, sharing atmosphere is contagious!
