Let's Talk About Writing!

Writing in General
Why do people write? To communicate through space and time. That's why writing is so amazing, because it is both space-binding and time-binding. When you talk, you can communicate only with people within earshot, but when you write, you can communicate with people far away (notes, letters, email, blogs, etc.) or even with people in the future (historical documents, old letters, diaries, etc). But there are two problems with writing: 1) unless you are passing notes in class, you don't get the immediate feedback that you do when you talk to someone, and 2) the only way your audience may know you is by your written persona (who you become while writing). Why are these problems? Because if you can't get immediate feedback, you have to anticipate the questions your audience might have to ask to understand what you want to say, and if you have problems writing, you may not be able to express the true you in your persona.

Why Blog?
Blogging is a good way to communicate with a larger audience and for that audience to provide feedback. Blogging is like a sort of online journal which gives you a chance to develop your thoughts and try them out on an audience. Sure, in a journal you usually talk to yourself (unless somebody reads your journal), so blogging is a little different. It also allows you to create a writer's persona because each writer has an individual voice that makes him or her unique. That's why people like to read different authors. If you are a mystery fan, then you know that not all mystery writers sound alike. After you read a few books by one author, you become able to recognize that author's style or voice. So blogging should give you a chance to find your individual writing style or voice. And it's more interesting to try out style and voice on an audience than it is to talk to yourself.

Finding Topics
So what are you going to write about in your blog? That's for you to decide; although if you are having trouble coming up with some ideas, feel free to follow my lead. Some possible topics are about your life, or what you like to do in your spare time (if you have any), or books or movies that you like, or memories you might want to share. Think of blogging as a kind of conversation, and since we are all just getting to know each other, we can talk about some of the things most people talk about when they meet for the first time. So what shall we talk about? It's up to you!