It’s all about ME!

Yep. Plenty of egotistical out there, but we don’t have to read it.

Furthermore, plenty of egotistical, plenty of bad writing, plenty of poor research in the PRINT world, too.

The thing about blogging is that it’s REVOLUTIONARY. It puts all the power into the hands of the writer and the reader. This is an amazing thing.

And though there are millions of blogs, the percentage of blogs that are well-written and maintained is VERY, VERY tiny. (I just saw the stats on this and can’t remember where…)

I think you can tell right away when you get to any blog whether it is a writer who happens to blog or a person who wanted to blog and so has to write.

The second group don’t last and are of no interest to me. Harsh but true. I might glance at their work but I am not at all invested.

Tess, of course, belongs to the first group.

I’m with blisschick. Because I am a wannabe writer I often feel a bit sort of … well, as if I am being superior when I consider myself different somehow from many other bloggers. But you have hit it on the head. I’m not interested in reading the words of someone who blogs but doesn’t like to write because the words clunk, there’s little life there, its like reading technical writing.

But blogs about “me”, when written well, are eternally interesting. I think of one of my favourite authors, Helen Garner (an Aussie) whose non fiction can be about all sorts of external things (like morgues for example) and what she writes tells so much about her because she filters it all through her own perceptions. I would like to see more of that style of blogging go on. I would like to see more of it within myself

Thanks for bringing all this up, Kigen. I’ve been pondering it ever since

I love the uncensored freedom of speech in the form of the written word that blogs are. As Jay Rosen said, “Blogs are little First Amendment machines.”

Long may they flourish!

as i read this post i considered one of my previous ones about “narcissism and blogging.” as i read kigen’s quote, i thought well, that pretty much sums of my blog. i think everything in life moves (hopefully) toward the direction of self-help and thus/ultimately the help of others. now, there is a fine distinction between shoving help down someone’s throat and offering it with no strings attached…but that is where the reader has the choice to click off and move on.

i am also reminded as i just completed a memoir writing class that people are not always that interested in the person they are reading about, but how their stories or thoughts or human instincts mutually intersect. we really are most interested in “me”…and again, i would say it is a fine distinction between being a narcissist who looks in the mirror and only sees himself and the writer/blogger who puts words out there hoping to share in the reflection of the world.

one final thought…if a blog is personal…who else can we write about? i can only see things through my own lens even when i am trying to be objective and keep myself out of it.

i’ll stop before i head off into my own blog post. as always, i applaud you for making me think and thereby crystallize some of my own thoughts on topics i might not have before considered. in my humble opinion, that’s good blogging

and “tess unplugged”…yea, i’d read it

A much needed self check my friend. Ever so grateful for your words, and others, particularly @kigen. As ever, I find your voice so gentle, insightful, and almost always challenging in some way.

Well, I’m late to the reply party but I’m so glad to find it this evening and to find so many great comments. Egotistical – probably, but I find that when I’m writing – although I hope someone else will read my words – I really enjoy the act of taking words out of my mind and placing them on a page. Placing them carefully in case someone else does decide to read the words, but placing them carefully in order to understand myself. I often write posts that begin about 3 pages long and as I hack away to the essence of what’s really on my mind, I feel comforted that beneath all of those words, there is a point, and through my own personal editing, I’ve found it:)! Kigen’s words were, at first reading, harsh and made me think maybe I shouldn’t be blogging. And she would probably read this now and think I was correct. BUT her words were important to read and one of the issues that I find troubling about blogs is that we do not often speak in truth back to one another – we gloss over what we think or just don’t comment at all. WIth care and lack of sarcasm, a question opposing what I’ve written is important to receive. It makes me value the sense of sharing with others who have thoughts different than my own – it makes me feel we’re – more of us – all in this thing together……..too many words – thanks for the post and thanks for all of the wonderful comments that made me stop and think why it is I enjoy writing a blog and reading others’.

Hi, Tess, I’m really late on this. I have to confess I haven’t been reading many blogs lately and I’ve been through a real blank patch with my own blog.

I’m one of those personal bloggers. I’ve nothing to sell, but I’ve feelings and experiences and ideas that need to be expressed in writing. I try not to preach – I don’t like being preached at, so why should I preach at others? But I want to share, to communicate, to interact – from the heart.

Is this valuable? Through writing and reading I reflect and learn. Self-absorbed? I hope not.

Thanks, Tess, for raising these important questions and writing your ever-stimulating blog.