This year, the most repeated question I have heard from people is why do I blog? I asked myself many times: why do I blog? Should blogging be my career or should I continue to blog as a leisure time activity?
On my first blog, I got a lot of positive feedback and comments from my friends, family, mentors and colleagues. I had many views on three of my blogs. But, I still had many doubts in my mind:
“Am I a great writer? Why I am writing these blogs? There are many other great writers in the world why I am bothering myself? Will my blogs be read by intelligent and competent people? The world is full of knowledgeable people, then why I am struggling so much to do this? Is my blog stuff is good or not?”
I Had A Chat With Myself
Many other questions like these hit my mind everyday. After all these unanswerable questions, I had a serious dialogue with myself one day. I started to wonder how far I have traveled in other areas of life.
Before blogging, I was not a good commentator, but now I can speak out on many topics and issues. I was not punctual before writing blogs, but now I am punctual enough because I have to work everyday to develop new thoughts and opinions for my blog.
After a discussion with myself, I finally got rid of this query: “Why am I blogging?”
The ultimate answer I got after long discussion with my inner self was that I am blogging because I am not a good blogger. Therefore, I need to practice a lot. I can see it while constantly writing on various topics. The topic of the blogs matters a lot. One has to be very clear about the topic of their blog.
I was not very clear, to begin with. I wrote on social issues, career building stories and political issues sometimes. By writing on various topics, I learned that I am on my way to become a better blogger in the future. All of the above mentioned reasons are why I blog.
Blogging also helped me to improve on many other things. Blogging empowers me. By blogging, I learned that conquering oneself is the best feeling in the world.
If someone thinks that blogging isn’t challenging, then they should know that it is one of the biggest challenges in the world to sit down and write something.
I Practice Because I Want To Improve
Before writing, it is obligatory to develop a thought which will help you throughout the process of blogging. Sometimes, I feel very sluggish and it’s hard to push yourself to do an activity which your mind is not ready for. One can simply become better in any area by constant practice.
As we have learned since our childhood: ‘practice makes a person perfect’. Encouraging oneself by practicing self-discipline is an amazing feeling. One can feel the charm of these feelings whenever they become willing to attempt any task.
I used to write on a daily basis because I thought it would be helpful and beneficial to do so.
It will lead to the development of new thoughts and opinions for your blog. If you want to be a write you must do two things above all others. These two habits are: read a lot and write a lot.
Before starting to blog, I do a lot of research. I read lot of books, I listen to many podcasts, I attend many online lectures, and I write a lot on basic topics concerning my everyday life so that I may get some meaningful topics for blogging.
I have learned many things in the process. It’s really interesting to know how much content is there online, for us to learn from.
Besides this, I learn things better through teaching. Teaching is one of the best ways to learn. The most delightful experience I have had during the last few weeks, was realising that people were paying attention to my writing.
I learnt of this while talking to my friends and teachers about the blog posts I wrote.
In many of my conversations, I even asked the people I was connecting with, to visit my blog because I have tried my best to explain topics. You can get a complete idea through my blog about the topic I am writing about.
This gives me the right to say: “Hey, I wrote a blog on this topic so you can read it and gain more insight about this topic.”
Listening To Feedback Is Important
One of my mentor is still criticising me for writing long sentences. He often rebuked me for writing unending sentences. This helped me to become a better thinker. I have started to work on my sentence structure.
I think about the quality of content now. I have to make a decision on my blogging format, and the wording of paragraphs needs to be corrected.
One of my friends has a notion I have to work on punctuation marks. Some are of the opinion that I must work on the length of my blogs. Some want it to be longer, while others want it to be shorter. So, writing in that sense allowed me to become a better thinker.
Blogging helped me develop healthy habits. I spend my spare time reading books and articles that give me pleasure or interest me. I have also started listening to podcasts and watching videos on how to become a competent writer.
Daily, I used to devote an hour in my day to listen to the interviews of one of my favorite writers, Arundhati Roy.
By watching her interviews, I became more passionate about writing. Having a personal blog really empowers me to showcase what I am passionate about. It also allows people to know more about me and stay connected with me through my writings.
Writing About People’s Pains And Pleasures
Being a blogger is another stage where we can connect with all sorts of people. We can give opinions on many issues. These opinions may provide a solution to someone.
I totally agree with NR Hart, who said:
“As a writer you try to listen to what others aren’t saying… And write about the silence.”
These lines shows how a writer can be well-acquainted with the suffering and sorrows of others; how they can help humanity by discussing their pains and pleasures.
My biggest aim as a writer will be to talk about the problems of people, as well as their emotions and feelings which they can’t express directly.
I want to make my writing a source for such people to express their pain and pleasure… those who haven’t had a chance to express their feelings openly.