Entry #11 (Eng 102) - Let the Lesson Continue!

Welcome to the world of blogging...

So here you are at the start of your English class thinking how you totally have this nailed already.  English is easy, you've likely been taking English classes for about 12 years now.  This is totally a breeze, easy A, in the bag!  And then your professor lays out what you'll be doing in your English class.  You can't help but think to yourself, "Wait what?  What did he say?  Did I hear that right?"  And like a needle getting dragged across a vinyl record (for those who even remember those), your thoughts of easy-street promptly derail as you see in the syllabus that, no, you weren't hearing things.  You do in fact have a "blog project" as a major part of your grade.  *Smiles*  It's not as bad as you might think.

So a few things about blogging.  First, it's really not a joke.  It might seem like a joke, you might make fun of it or mock it or really just think it's pointless but it's more important than you might first think.  Blogging is sort of a more relaxed way of helping you to learn how to connect what you're writing to who you're writing it to.  And it does that in a lot of little ways without it becoming this giant, neon sign of blinking arrows pointed at "AUDIENCE" to continually remind you .  It isn't some giant, stinking yeti breathing down your neck each time you write or an ACME hammer being bludgeoned over your head so you never forget about your audience.  It's subtle, it's there but it isn't in your face. 

Yeah, you're going to get tired of hearing this.  Just get used to it now, it will be repeated a lot.  A. Lot.  But that's because it's important.  I'll avoid preaching about it (because again, you'll hear this plenty in class, just wait.) but I'll touch a few points and help explain how blogging has helped with each of these.

So I already touched onto audience because that's a big part of blogging - who you're writing your blog to.  But no matter who you're aiming your writing towards, if WHAT you write is, frankly, crap then no one is going to stick around to keep reading it.  You have to find a way to make your content interesting.  This can be challenging sometimes when it comes to serious topics you might be given to write about, but it's still possible.  Finding ways to break up the monotony of endless words droning on on was something that personally I knew I would have to figure out.  I'm what you'd call.... "summary impaired" so writing small amounts just isn't... ever going to happen.  Ever.  Still, what you have to say is going to lend a lot towards drawing an audience and getting people to think about and respond to what you say.  Of course, keeping things super spiffy with lots of amusing and snort-inducing memes helps too!  Or... just... being clever in some other manner.  The possibilities are limitless.

Now, while who you're talking to and what you're talking about are very, very important, how you say it is just as important.  For me I discovered that I am clearly, clearly a heavily sarcastic person in my more free-form writing.  Sarcasm has it's place, it does, and it's not in everything.  I've had to curb it a lot in our writing projects for class.  Here on my blog though?  I've got a bit more freedom to run amok with my natural sarcasm.  I've loved exploring that too.  While half the posts made on this blog have been on topics given to me to write about, there's still a great deal of freedom in deciding how to write about whatever the topic is.  That's where a lot of creativity comes in and I've thoroughly savored each moment of it.  ....even after getting lost in the sea of memes for hours and realizing I haven't written a single cotton-picking word. 

Don't do this.  Don't.  Avoid it.  Even if posts #7 and #8 aren't due until the week that #9 and #10 are due does not mean that you want to wait and do all four at once.  DO NOT DO THIS!  I speak from a place of experience.  This is a nightmare.  You will hate yourself.  Make yourself do the posts the week they're scheduled or you will regret it.  Procrastination is an evil, evil mistress and she will destroy you without a second thought.  If there is one thing I have learned, one massive piece of advice and guidance I can offer as you start this blogging journey: DO NOT WAIT TO POST!  Especially if you want to do the extra credit posting.  Cause doing 5 posts in one day will make you want to murder people in violent and offensive ways, particularly yourself for having waited till the last minute to do them.  Save yourself the heartache.  Just do them each week they're due.  It's easier.  Trust me...

Even if no one outside of your teacher and classmates are ever going to read what you write down - take pride in your work.  I often imagine that all these people are going to stumble across my blog and I think about how I want them to read what I put down, how I want them to be captivated, to be intrigued, to be amused even.  I think of the ways that I could work to make that random person doing a web search that finds my blog to be interested in continuing reading.  I realize that it's not going to happen, but I always keep that in the back of my mind when I'm writing.  That way, at the very least, those who do read my posts will maybe get a smidgen more enjoyment from the effort I've put into it.

There's such a sense of elation that comes when I see that someone has commented on my blog.  I love the fact that others have read it and enjoyed it and felt in some way connected to what I've said.  It makes all the time spent digging around for graphic content or struggling for what I want to say or how to say it all worth it.  It makes me feel like I've done a good job and I always revel in that, in that ability to reach others, to make that connection.  Ultimately the best piece of advice I can give to anyone who's starting this blogging journey is just be yourself.  Don't be afraid to explore topics, look deeper into things and explore your own voice.  That's what blogging really did the most for me, it helped me to find my own voice, to find my own way of saying things, and to delve deeper into topics I might otherwise have never had the guts to discuss.  So, there's my two cents worth, use them as you will.  This is me, signing off one final time...