By Jennifer Blanchard
If you’re looking for a way to increase your writing clips, while also overcoming your procrastination, blogging may be your answer.
Blogging has been around for years, but it’s starting to rev-up to full speed now. In fact, according to the Technorati 2008 State of the Blogosphere report, 77 percent of active Internet users read blogs. This is a HUGE percentage, and also a great opportunity for you to create a blog and attract some of these blog readers.
Now you may be thinking: “Why should I blog? And especially, why should I blog when I’m not making any money from it?” So here are my reasons for why you should blog:
- It will help you become a better writer–With writing (as with many other things), you get better the more you practice. And what better way to practice than by writing short blog posts every couple days?
- You can blog about any topic under the sun–Everyone has topics they would consider themselves “experts” in. For me, it’s writing (thou I have tons of hobbies that I would also consider myself an expert in). For you, it might be baseball or cooking or swimming or fashion or fill-in-the-blank. Creating a blog is an excellent way to spotlight your knowledge of a particular subject.And for you Procrastinating Writers, blogging about a topic that you’re passionate about will help keep you from procrastinating.
- You can create a blog for free–Take, for one, Blogger.com, which Procrastinating Writers is hosted on. They offer users the ability to easily write, publish and create a professional-looking blog. Another good option is WordPress.com.
- It’s a rewarding experience–Blogging can be a very rewarding experience, both professionally and personally. Professionally, it can help you fine-tune your writing skills, allow you to put your writing out there for the world to read and help you define what could eventually turn in to a full-time gig if you work hard enough at it.Personally, having a blog can help you feel more fulfilled in life, especially when you start gaining a readership.
When I started Procrastinating Writers in March of last year, I didn’t even really know what my goal was other than I just needed a place to spill the thoughts that were consuming my mind. But what I ended up getting was something that was SO much better than just a creative outlet.
I started to find a purpose for this blog. I started to realize there are TONS of writers out there who procrastinate, and I wanted to help them (and in turn, help myself) stop procrastinating and get their writing done!
From creating this blog, I also:
- Found a creative outlet; a place to just get things out that were inside me
- Have something to look forward to every week
- Developed stronger writing skills; especially writing for the Web, which is very different
- Created a readership
- Now have 5 followers
- Started getting COMMENTS!!
- Began a conversation on why writers procrastinate
- Discovered a yet-untapped niche (writers who procrastinate!)
- Learned how to stick with a project (FINALLY!), even if it doesn’t take off right away
- Finished writing my first novel
- Decided that I’d love to do this for a living
These are only a few of the things that I get out of writing this blog. And you’ll get many of the same things and more if you start a blog as well.
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So…how many of you Procrastinating Writers out there have blogs? And if you don’t have one, do you think you might want to start one? What topics do you write about/would you like to write about?
