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S/SW blog philosophy -

I credit favorite writers and public opinion makers.

A lifelong Democrat, my comments on Congress, the judiciary and the presidency are regular features.

My observations and commentary are on people and events in politics that affect the USA or the rest of the world, and stand for the interests of peace, security and justice.


Saturday, August 11, 2007

Writing for the blogosphere - #1 of Series

As bloggers most of us just "go for it." Every blogger has a different motivation or combination of motivations. Most writers of blogs want their works to be read.
Some of us - want to express our views. Some want appreciation. Some want notoriety. Some want to make money. Some want the give and take of dialogue. Some want to make a difference in the world. Some just want to "share."

Writers - sometimes compose for catharsis. Some write merely for the creative process. Serious blog writers, however, can be more introspective, and dig more deeply inside themselves as part of the creative process.


Today's post is navel-gazing with a purpose. Since the launch of S/SW on March 29, 2005, I have often written about blogging - sometimes about my own process, and often about that of other bloggers.
For this piece, Blogger's wonderful "label" feature allowed me to gather all "blogs-writing" posts. What did I discover in the navel-lint? I looked at "writing" posts to glean and share at least one important and unique idea from each of the pieces.
The following paragraphs list the writing topic, the date of the previous post, its title and quotes from the original post:
Critical questions to you ask yourself - All of what I have learned about blogging comes as a result of observation, trial and error, help from others, or reference writers on the subject. On 7-16-06, I explored the subject of Blogging questions and answers for quality. After reading what the experts had to say, I asked myself some questions, which I quote:

The questions . . . prompted me to question myself about the quality of my blogging. Am I serving my readers as well as I can? Or am I just going in the direction of my own whims?

About my recent blogs and comments - I asked myself, what is the pattern of my recent blog topics? About what topics have I been consistently writing? Have I paid enough attention to quality and readability? AM I following my own rules? Have I been a responsible member of the blogging community?

. . . Quality check: For the most part the answers are affirmative to these questions I asked myself: Is the spelling correct? Are the links approtriate and correct? Am I meeting my blogging purpose; and do I write about what I love to an audience I understand and respect? Is the post distinctive and easy to read?
Meeting your blog's purpose - . This post focuses on how whether my blog meets or does not meet what I have stated is the mission of my website (the subtitle material that follows the name of my web page). I take each element of the statement and analyze whether I have stayed on track with it. Doing this exercise is a good way to decide whether your mission statement needs to be changed, or whether you are straying from the mission in which you still believe. On 9-17-05 - I wrote, Expanding on my prospectus.
. . . If a tree falls in the forest who besides the birds hear the crash? (to coin a terribly mixed metaphor). Writer/birds do not like like the idea of our chirps going out into a black void. So we write, rest, get up every morning or afternoon, or go to our keyboards at night. . . or not. It is still stimulating, interesting, unpredictable, too predictable, maddening or frustrating. My goodness; it is just like democracy.
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