Blogging About Blogging

Last Friday, I got a text message from my friend Lori, who maintains an excellent food blog. She informed me that she would be a guest on ANC Life on Sunday, the topic being her food blogging. I replied that I looked forward to it, and would try to catch it. G’s birthday celebration was that Sunday, and I wasn’t sure that I’d be free enough to catch the show.

Fortunately, I was able to catch ANC Life last night, and listened as Lori talked about blogging, about how she started, and about why she writes about dessert. And it’s been very good for her. In less than a year, she’s been able to capture the attention of a lot of web surfers, even earning her a mention in the prestigious Wall Street Journal as a blog to watch.

What makes her blog a joy to read is the passion for food, particularly for dessert, that she’s able to infuse, both in her writing, and in the very vivid photos she takes herself, and posts in the blog. For example, her last few posts have focused on her trip to the U.S., and the various restaurants, markets and food-related shops she visited on the West Coast. The posts are replete with such eye-catching photos as huge strawberries, elegantly arranged courses, and colorful market displays. One can almost imagine being there through the narratives and photos.

I remember talking with Lori about blogging a few weeks before her blog went up, and I’m proud of her progress, and look forward to the next mouthwatering post.

* * *

My own blog will be two years old this June, and, like Lori, it’s been a great hobby. It’s also been a bit of a workshop for me, helping me practice and develop my writing skills. One of the advantages I like about blogging is that I’ve been able to get my thoughts published without having to submit it to an editor, and run the risk of my work getting rejected. Also, I’m able to write about what I want to write; there’s no one to tell me that I should write about a certain topic. I control the content.

I do enjoy the active participation of those who take the time to comment on my posts (yes, it’s a shameless hint, I know.). It tells me that: one, someone is reading my blog, and two, I’ve struck a nerve that reverberates with the reader.

Of course, there’s a bit of discipline involved. I still have to be aware of my grammar, and my style. Furthermore, what I write must make sense; I have to write sensibly and logically. Otherwise, what the point of people coming to my blog, if all that I write doesn’t make sense?

I have noticed that I tend to focus on certain topics; my take on the people’s initiative is one such focused string. In general, politics, movies, food, and reminiscing take up a good amount of my blog; the remaining parts are filled up by the occasional narrative about my life, and the various tests/memes that I wind up posting.

I’ve been mulling on maintaining a more focused blog, like what Lori and the other two guests have done. I mean, it’ll be easier for other people to look for specific thoughts, and it’ll remove some clutter from my blog. I could spin off my thoughts on politics into a focused political blog, so that people who read my blog for those posts can follow a more cohesive thread of thought.

But … will I be able to devote enough time, what with everything else I’m doing in my life? Ah, there’s the rub. With various writing sidelines, a daughter who's a handful, and another baby on the way, there simply isn't enough time to do everything I want to do.

Soooo ... until I figure out how to shoehorn my available time to manage several blogs, I’ll just have to keep on plugging away on this one, and keep on plugging away on a regular basis.