Sunday 18 September 2016

Why blog?

Tom Stephenson on his post yesterday queried reasons for blogging and why some posts are more popular than others.   It is an interesting subject and I have been giving it a bit of thought since reading his post.

Why indeed do some of us blog?   I suppose we all have different reasons.   I blog because I have a need to write.  In my working days I wrote for various educational publications.   I would visit some site of interest - I lived in the Midlands then and there were lots of places to visit - and then write about it from an educational angle.   After retirement I would write for one or two magazines - mostly articles about foreign travel - China,  Russia, Samarkand for example.   But now I no longer go long distances and I no longer have that much interest in education, but I do still have an interest in writing and I don't want to let it moulder.

As to whose blogs I choose to read.   There are various reasons - I love to read about the American way of life so I have quite a few American and Canadian posts that I enjoy (the farmer loves it over there and always says that if he had been younger when we began to go to Canada he would have started farming over there).  I love Heather's posts (Ragged Old Blogger) because for many years I did a lot of handwork of various kinds and her work is exquisite- each book she makes and shows on her blog makes me green with envy.   I enjoy going round Derek's (Letters from Sheppey) because he walks round a reserve and I enjoy the wildlife he talks about.   I read Rachel's blog (Rachel in the Ukraine) because we have had our ups and downs but are pretty firmly fixed as virtual friends.

Cro (Magnon's Meanderings) puts some delicious recipes on his blog and I often try them.   John (Going Gently) takes me round his village or involves me in the doings of his various menagerie and provides me with a laugh most days.   Others - too numerous to mention but all on my side bar blog roll - take me on countryside journeys, or visit ancient churches or remains.


So, if you have time, and feel like an adventure without moving from your chair, you could do worse than scroll through my blog roll and read them all.   You may well find a few new virtual friends lying in wait there.

22 comments:

Derek Faulkner said...

Pat, my reason for blogging is the same as yours, I've always loved writing and need to do it, whether it's any good is for others to judge. What I do find hard to understand, as I've mentioned to you before is how some blogs can get huge amounts of responses on a daily basis and yet others, which are just as good, get very few, as do mine. What I also find hard to accept are those blogs that seem only able to accept comments back that agree with everything that they have said, rather than debate an issue.

Wilma said...

Your love of writing shows, Pat.

I started blogging as a way to share the direction of my life in Belize with my Mother who was too frail to travel with us to Belize before we moved here. She did enjoy reading my blog and felt more temporally connected to us than international snail mail from a developing country would have provided. Phone calls were not a good option due to her deafness. I continued blogging, not just because I love to write, but also because it creates a public journal that is a record to which I sometimes refer. I keep a private journal, too, that includes dull details and personal matters/opinions that I don't want to broadcast.

Like you, I read blogs to get a glimpse of real people living elsewhere. Not too different than voyeurism, but from a distance and with clothes on! I also read blogs to learn about nature and wildlife around the world. The new armchair traveling.

donna baker said...

Connecting with others in different cities and countries to glimpse how lives are lived. Kind of like a modern day version of pen pals. I've been doing it for 8 years and have moved and wondered from many kinds of blogs. I really do enjoy it, but no longer post as much. My friends that do other mediums, i.e. Facebook, etc. don't get blogging, but I don't get Facebook either; they are all constantly on their phones.

Frances said...

Dear Weaver, my blogging experiences began with leaving comments on blogs that I enjoyed reading. Most of those blogs were posted from places far away from big cities. Some of those folks encouraged me to begin writing my own blog. It seemed natural to write about real life in a large city. After I purchased my digital camera I was able to both show and tell which changed the form of my posts.

I love reading your posts because you generously let us know so much about what it is like to live in beautiful Yorkshire. Your site is authentic and unique.

Even though many bloggers have traveled off to the land of Instagram, I still seem to encounter interesting new blogs, usually by having read interesting comments, like those left by Derek and Wilma. I'm going to click over to their posts. now.

Happy Sunday to you and yours. xo

Rachel Phillips said...

I like writing. I like being part of a blog community of both bloggers and those who visit but dont blog but join in. I like bloggers (or commenters) best who write everyday because it keeps the friendships live and on-going and part of my life.

Heather said...

I started a blog to make virtual contact with like minded textile nerds, but from there it grew to anyone whose blogs were interesting, for whatever reason. I am honoured to be mentioned in your post and will certainly visit some of the friends who appear on your sidebar. I always read the comments they leave you. Happy Blogging.

Sue in Suffolk said...

I'm like you just have to keep writing something somewhere much like I have to keep reading something.
But unlike you I'm not eloquent enough to write anything other than letters or blogs!
Hope you've had a good weekend, there may be some good news next week!

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

I love to write, I love to read, I love to travel to different spots without having to drive or fly there. I think my favourite bloggers are those with a sense of humour, but I also very much enjoy peeking into people's lives. That makes me sound like a voyeur, but I've always played a little game in my head where I imagine how life would be different (or similar) if I lived somewhere else. I love farming blogs because I grew up in the country. I enjoy seeing that someone has written a new post for me to read. I admire (or aspire to be) those who beautifully decorate their homes, or make wonderful food. I do not participate in facebook or Instagram or other forms of social media for my own reasons, so blogging is my way of "meeting" new people. A tiny piece of me dreams of making money somehow through writing (perhaps some day). -Jenn

John Going Gently said...

Your blog reminds me of Albert.
Vitl and important and beavering awa in the background

Yorkshire Pudding said...

I am glad I stumbled across you Mrs Weaver. It's nice to picture you in your lovely farmhouse on the edge of the lovely Yorkshire Dales, with your flat-capped farmer, your little dog, memories of your past life and your enthusiasm for the present and the future. Your manner of written communication is pleasant, straightforward and interesting. These are the reasons I keep coming back.

Acornmoon said...

I think blogging us like writing to a pen pal. I have been visiting you and the farmer now for so many years that I feel sure we would be friends if we met. Long may you continue. X

galant said...

I love your blog Mrs Weaver, and I also read some blogs on your sidebar. I've just started to blog myself, after years of reading others' blogs. Why? Because I've been persuaded into it by some who have read my comments and have suggested I should have a blog of my own - some perhaps have suggested it to get rid of me, har, har, and most because they genuinely enjoy what I have to say and have been complementary, and for that I am very grateful.
And so a month ago I started my own blog. It is just another facet of my writing (as I write for magazines). Indeed, I like the "diastole and diastole", as those two gentlemen of letters, *Rupert Hart-Davis and George Lyttelton, referred to them, of letters between friends. I think of blogs as almost letters between penfriends, like-minded penfriends and sometimes unlike-minded when someone else offers a totally different response or viewpoint. More than 30 years ago I belonged to two correspondence magazines - blogging is very much like that. You send out your letter (aka blog post) and then wait for various responses from people whom you've never met but whom you have certainly got to know.
(*The Letters of Rupert Hart-Davis and George Lyttleton (in 6 volumes, all of which I've read and thoroughly enjoyed.)
Margaret P

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

I like writing and nature, figured it would be good to combine the two and also practice for a hypothetical writing career, one that I finally now have, sort of. Also I like bringing nature sights to my friends, who may have no idea at all what they can see on their own doorstep.

Barbara said...

I am glad I found your blog, Pat, since it led me to so many others. I love reading bits about other people's lives that are so very different from my own.
I started my blog partly because I like to write and partly to record our history for the future. I didn't count on all the interesting folks I would meet and opportunities that would arise as a result of sending my thoughts into cyberspace.

Dawn said...

Interesting post, I blog as a record of our journey through our new life, it also lets family and friends keep up to date with what we are doing, one of the things I love is how its encouraged others to have a go no matter how small, keep blogging Jean :-)

George said...

I feel a bit like you, Pat. I love to just write. I suppose that's a holdover from my days as a practicing lawyer. I also enjoy exploring other blogs. It's just interesting to see how other people compose their lives — what matters to them, what kind of creative life they have, who inspires them, etc.

Cro Magnon said...

Writing is also discipline. Most of my laptop based activity is done early morning, and I couldn't imagine myself just mooching around in bed with nothing to do. I also find blog-world a highly intelligent group of people, with a lot of interesting things to say. You never know what's coming next!

John Going Gently said...

Beavering AWAY in the background...damm this ipad

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks to you all. You certainly are an inspiring lot.

The Broad said...

I love discovering and meeting people from the 'inside' first... I wish I were more disciplined about writing and greatly admire those who are blogging every day.

Midmarsh John said...

As my family is zero and most close friends have either passed away or moved away I use my blog as a way to show my photographs.

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

Like you - I love learning about how things are different - and how they are similar - in other countries. I have friends in the UK, Tasmania, Japan, Africa, Canada (which is only 20 miles from our home), Africa, Sweden and many more. It makes for very interesting reading.