Friday, April 15, 2016

Throwing down the gauntlet

OK, so the title is a bit hyperbolic. 

Here's the setup. A friend on Facebook recently opined that she misses blogging, and her circle of blogging friends (of which I am happy to say I am a part).  But she also challenged us--let's get back to blogging.  (Here's a link to her blog....heh heh, that will get her back to blogging!)

Another Facebook friend, and blogger (her blog) threw down the proverbial gauntlet by providing a prompt to get us bloggers back to blogging.  The prompt: think and write about why we STARTED blogging in the first place.

So, here goes.

The first several blogs that I wrote were about  a trip my husband and I took to Spain, in 2006.  By beginning to blog, I took a new approach to the traditional travel journal. I try to write a journal on any long vacation trip, to capture some of what we saw and did, and to save place names and events so I can identify photos.  Blogging provided a nice intersection of the two--write about it, and show some pictures of the trip.

Very quickly, my blog became a vehicle for writing about my childhood, my family, my past.  

Writing is a bit like breathing for me. I majored in English Literature in college, and loved READING (the companion of writing).  I spent the first 8 years and the last 7 years of my working life teaching college composition.  So I cherish writing.  Grammar matters to me. Knowing how to craft a well-written sentence matters to me. Knowing how to write in different tones--formal, informal, narrative, humorous, etc--matters to me.

When I was teaching writing, students would ask--how do I get started in writing? That was always a tough question for me to answer, because as soon as my fingers touch the keyboard, the words start flowing.

Now, given that free-flowing of words, you might wonder why has my blogging slowed down. I have not stopped blogging, but I acknowledge I have ... shall we say, slowed down. Oh, lots of reasons. Part of it I explained in the blog post immediately preceding this one. Part of it just plain being distracted. Too many frittery things to do--read Facebook, played Scrabble or Words with Friends, play a game or two of Free Cell, take photos, walk the dog, work in the flower garden. And on and on.

But I am up for the challenge--so there you have it. I write because I must. And I began writing my blog because...well, because it seemed more accessible than writing a book.

By the way, I can guarantee that those of us who want to get back to blogging won't run out of prompts. I have a whole file full of them from when I was teaching!


8 comments:

LauraHinNJ said...

Of course Blogger ate my first comment...

The easily accessible collection of photos and memories that my blog has become is one of the nicest benefits. I was never a journaler or a diary-keeper, but used to scrapbook as a way to record significant things, but that's so time consuming!

Are you a person who writes a Christmas letter to family and friends? You seem like the type who would.

Anvilcloud said...

I never stopped, but I did slow down. Mostly, I post pics two or three times per week.

Jayne said...

I've always enjoyed coming here from Fb links to keep up with you, my friend. Sorry, but I did make my blog private, except to those in the group, so your link won't work for the general public. Now, I'll continually worry that you are reading what I write and thinking, "Dang, what's with all the ellipses?" LOL! XO

Jayne said...

OK, so I changed the access to public, but hid it from showing up on Blogger's home page or on internet searches. For some reason, I was having a hard time adding specific people.

Anonymous said...

It's so good to reconnect! Looking forward to some interesting prompts!

Ruth said...

Nice to connect again, Donna!

Ginnie said...

I get a great deal of pleasure just writing down my random thoughts and actually having people comment. I keep a small notebook with me at all times so I can write down things that seem bloggable ... how's that for a new word?

Climenheise said...

I like writing, but I find that marking papers takes away writing energy. Sermons are good too, but they really are a different form than writing. A good sermon hears better than reads.