Keeping a blog for a few months has been very interesting;
it has been a great contribution to my development as a writer. You see? A blog
is very different from a journal, or an essay. For me, a blog feels like a
conversation. I intend them to be as if I was telling someone about something.
It has to be personalized, not formal. I’ve enjoyed writing these entries
because they are not directed instead they are my opinion. I can truly say that
this blog represents me and is completely honest!
Up to date I have about 15 entries, including this one. Doesn’t seem like much at first, but considering I’ve had this blog for only a
few months (5 months to be more specific) those are quite a lot entries! I always kept them between 300 to 500 words in order to make them short and precise. If
there is one post that I really enjoyed it would be my personal “Who’s the
girl?” entry. In this entry I had the chance of expressing who I am. It was
kind of my “first impression” kind of entry. It was a chance for readers to get
to know the blogger and understand my background, which was going to be the
base of my future reflections. For me, that blog post meant that I was exposing
myself to the world. I was revealing the things that made me who I am and if
you think about it that is pretty darn scary. As a person that is afraid of
judgment and feels like she should please everyone, exposing something that I
can’t change was scary for me. Being yourself is something you can’t really
please people with. Nonetheless, after the post I felt great! I said to myself:
“OK. Now that that’s over I can actually be myself and make this blog mine!” It
was a nice feeling.
As I mentioned before, a blog seems like a conversation to
me. If I compare it to my journal I can definitely see the differences. In a
journal, I write for myself. I don’t have to explain myself. Contrary, in a blog I have to make sure the reader
understands what I’m trying to say. A journal is not meant for someone to read,
a blog is. However, I did notice that for both writing methods I wrote
casually. If something sets apart a blog from an essay or a novel is the style
of writing and the way it’s meant to be read. A blog is supposed to be read
more easily and to be more dynamic, with the format of the text, pictures and
fun links.
Which reminds me, now that summer is coming you’re probably
thinking about vacation. What’s that? No budget this year? Don’t be that same
person next year and try out this 52-week challenge for saving money! I already
started mine!
Anyways, another fun part of this blog was the comments! I
have to admit, having to comment on each post of each of the members of my
group was dreary, not because of the content but because it was a lot of work!
Nonetheless, if it was constructive advice I was happy to do it. Commenting on
each other’s posts gave us support. All of my teammates comments were useful
and helped me learn and write better. Their comments showed their respect
towards my opinions. It was interesting to see how many of them related to what
I said and how my post also helped them
personally. The tips on commenting based on Peter Elbow were very beneficial,
as they helped me create comments that weren’t general but specific and
personal. I believe my colleagues also based their comments using Elbow’s
guideline.
After all, it was a hell of an experience. For the longest
time I have reminisced on the idea of creating a blog and having this one
certainly gave me an idea of the way a blog works. Therefore now I am even
surer about the next one! If you were or are thinking about creating one I
encourage it to do so. Don’t be afraid! Your entries don’t have to be anything
fancy or wowish. Just write about
what you know and after a while you’ll get the hang of it. Trust me! If you don’t,
you’ll always be left with the thought of what
if? Just try it!
