As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been thinking really hard about blogging in general, and my blog in specific. I started blogging to grow as a writer (and other reasons, but that was foremost).* I was told that “blogging will improve your writing through practice” and I’m here to ask, does it really?
Doubtless, everyone has their own experience, so I cannot speak for all – but I think I can safely say, YES and NO. Yes, blogging can improve your writing skills, but NO that does not mean it will.
Why?
WELL, FIRST OF ALL, BECAUSE IT’S MORE ABOUT YOU THAN ABOUT BLOGGING.
*the other reason was because I wanted to be like the Cool
Kids who blogged and now that most of those Cool Kids I followed don’t blog
anymore I’m feeling like, “maybe I should stop.” Just kidding. Sort of.
Let me explain.
HOW BLOGGING AUTOMATICALLY IMPROVES YOUR WRITING SKILLS:
- You get the practice of putting words down on paper (or on the computer). This seems simple enough but IT REALLY ISN’T. Sometimes, if you’re a newer writer, or unfamiliar with writing constantly, it takes a long time for you to put that draft down. Blogging helps to free you of your apprehensions by giving you the chance to PUT WORDS DOWN OFTEN.
- Blogging helps you to think of your audience. Identifying an audience is such a huge part of writing and blogging really reinforces it! As you grow a readership, you’ll automatically start thinking of them, what they like reading, and what you can write to help them. It’s really great.
- You get into the CONSTANT WRITING habit. Everyone agrees that if you want to be a writer, you need to write a lot, constantly, even if not every day. Blogging is a wonderful motivator for this – at least, it used to be for me. Setting a blogging schedule is really encouraged, so most people come up with “I’ll post once a week/twice a week/once every two weeks”. When I started, I did it twice a week and at first it was such a hassle! It felt like I was cramming for an exam all the time, but that was just because I had not been writing that regularly before. In no time I got the hang of it. So blogging is great for creating a writing habit!
ALL OF THESE STILL DEPEND ON YOU, OF COURSE. If you’re serious about blogging, then
these should follow automatically. Of course, if you get lazy or give up
after two months – these benefits will
not be yours. Obviously lol. BUT IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BLOG AND STICK WITH IT,
you’ll start to notice how you get better at putting words down quickly,
thinking about your audience, and writing more constantly.
NOW.
HOW BLOGGING DOESN’T AUTOMATICALLY IMPROVE YOUR WRITING
SKILLS:
- BLOGGING WILL NOT DEVELOP YOUR WRITING VOICE OR STYLE. The thing is, we are mostly concentrating on GOOD CONTENT and BEING ON TIME so we kinda forget the writing style. The sentence structure, the essay layout, the prose. We don’t pay much attention to that. It doesn’t help that most bloggers write very, very casually – the way they’d talk.
- It won’t really improve your grammar. This goes along with the former, but my grammar ABSOLUTELY SUCKS IN BLOGGING. I write run-ons and fragments as if that were what I was taught in school. And throw in a bunch of texting slang like lol brb hahahahahaha tbh XDD aka all the ***** hashtags and adkfjdsahfdshfauhfsdjkahfd. My elementary school English teacher (aka my dad) would be so so horrified. If I still were his student he might delete my blog. Yeaaaaah.
- Due to your binding schedule, you may easily fall into the trap of WRITING ONLY WHAT YOU’RE USED TO/COMFORTABLE WITH. And this means – only those posts you’re fast at, only your dreadful grammar, only things you can whip up in one day. I fell hard into this rut and I’m trying to pull myself out. They say that if you aren’t stretching so much that it hurts you aren’t stretching enough – and I mean it in regards to writing. If you’re comfortable for too long and having it easy where you are in your writing journey, it means YOU NEED TO MOVE ON.
- Blogging may take time that you could use for your other writing practice. For me, blogging has turned into a thing separate from writing. I have writing and I have blogging. And is my blogging real writing, in my opinion? No it isn’t. Because I’m being far too casual at it. But does it get my priority? Oh yes. Blogging takes priority because you all are waiting for my posts.
As you can see, blogging will NOT AUTOMATICALLY MAKE YOU A BETTER WRITER. It
seems to aid you in the basics, and THEN IT STOPS. You get comfortable and you
stop stretching. At least I did.
In the end this is what it really boils down to.
BLOGGING WON’T MAKE
YOU A GREAT WRITER. ONLY YOU CAN DO THAT.
Blogging is a tool, and you must make sure you are using
that tool well. You decide whether you’ll use it to improve your skills or not.
Blogging CAN improve your style, your grammar; it can widen you horizons - but
only if you intentionally decide to do so. All improvement and growth and
learning is intentional and takes work! Writing included. And blogging can
become a crutch – but only if you let it.
So, what I’m trying to say is – blogging can help you, or
hinder you, but that’s up to you to decide. What are you going to let it do? What
are you going to use it for?? I’m going to use it to improve my writing,
starting NOW. With this post.
^^ (Which, btw, I typed in a Word document, not my blogger draft,
because typing it in blogger felt so stifling and restrictive suddenly)
YOU DECIDE WHERE YOU
ARE GOING.
And I’d just like to
point out that if you are blogging just for FUN - and your intention is just to
put words out and you don’t really care about your style because either a) you
are really good already or b) you are improving elsewhere or c) right now it’s
just not a priority – THAT’S 100% OKAY. It's about what your purpose is and I’m
just writing this post for those writers who want to grow their writing through
blogging.
Be honest with me, are
you using your blog to stretch your skills or do you feel you’re just doing the
same old thing? Do you think blogging improves writing? Give me all your
feedback below!!
xx lisa
