Reverb 8. Why indeed.
Posted: December 8, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized 3 Comments »Dear Kittens,
Today’s assignment for Reverb Broads is: Why blog? Why do you or why do you like to blog (recognizing that these are not always the same thing)? Kristen
Okay, so now I will tell you a story. YOU ARE WELCOME.
I started my first blog December 31, 1999. In case you do not know your numbers, that’s a long time. My first blog was at Diaryland and even though I grew to hate Diaryland’s founder, it was a wonderful place for me for many years. I met many wonderful people through Diaryland. I am getting a little verklempt thinking about how many amazing people were brought into my life because of Diaryland.
I started blogging because I had this penpal friendship that was really meaningful to me. That relationship ended and although I missed my friend, I found that I missed the writing even more. At first I tried just journaling on my computer and that did not fill that hole. I quickly realized that I didn’t just want to write, I also wanted to be read. Diaryland was PERFECT for me. It was a super small community of people and blogging was brand spanking new.
I’ve always had a public blog, I’ve never hidded it from anyone in my real life and I’ve always done my best to use my real “voice” and be as honest as I could stand to be. I’ve had to explain why I blogged a lot and even all these years later, I still cannot come up with a good enough reason that makes non-Internet people understand. Screw those non-Internet people, though because they don’t get it and they never will. This is what I’ll tell you, sharing my story all these years has been a deeply rewarding experience and even though I’ve been in something of a writing slump for the past couple years, it’s still something that I value quite a lot. I will also tell you that if you read my blog, you know me. You don’t know every single detail of course, but when you meet me, you will not be surprised by what you get because this is me.
And now I will tell you my top 5 PRO TIPS in blogging:
1. Do not tell me what you wrote is boring. If you start out a blog post telling me that it’s boring, I believe you and I will not continue to read it. If you leave out that disclaimer, I might still think it’s boring, or maybe I will enjoy it!
2. Write with your authentic voice. Kittens, read what you write aloud. Does it sound like you? Yes? Good job.
3. Include stories of your pet’s imaginary lives. Everyone loves that. Okay, maybe that’s just me, but man, I really love to read about cats with lives that their owners know nothing about.
4. Only write positive things about your partner, unless you want everyone to hate them.
5. WRITE ABOUT YOUR LUNCH. I love Maggie Mason, but the real truth is some of us ARE interested in what you had for lunch.
Love,
Catie
“I will also tell you that if you read my blog, you know me. You don’t know every single detail of course, but when you meet me, you will not be surprised by what you get because this is me.”
Yep, me too. Which I think is why, when I meet people I’ve known only online, there is an instant feeling of, “Oh, it’s you, this is completely relaxed.” And it’s wonderful.
I need to read more stories about cats’ imaginary lives!
Having met you both in real life (or having known in Bethany’s case)…I agree 100%! I was going to leave a comment and pluck out exactly the same quote Bethany did, b/c it so true. I don’t think there was anything I was super surprised at when I met Catie because you totally use your “real voice”. I don’t think people do that often enough.
Two things. Thing the first: I’m so glad this is the real you and now I want you to come here and call me “kitten”. Thing the second: Amen to the lunch thing. Little details like that fascinate me. Bonus thing the third: Bethany’s right. When we met it was as if we’d been hanging out in real life all along.