Friday, January 13, 2012

Why do I blog?

I’m excited to have been asked to join the Blogversation, an online conversation with insightful, talented writers, initiated and moderated by Colleen Newvine Tebeau, a force of nature, writer, and fellow Michigander. I secretly aspire to be like her when I grow up.

So here’s the deal. Each week, Colleen or another blogger will pose a question to the group and we’ll all jump into the conversational mix. This week, Colleen kicks things off by asking, “How and why did you become a blogger?”

I wish I had some great story that involved inspiration or an epiphany or some sort of movie moment. The truth is that I started blogging as a business strategy.

I may have started blogging out of a need to market myself, but I’ve continued to do it for more personal, complicated, varied reasons. I initially called my blog Prairie Tales, to complement my book, The Prairie Girl’s Guide to Life. I wanted to discuss the inspiration behind my books, my struggles of being a farm girl turned city slicker, and whatever blew my skirt up.

And let’s face it. I wanted to show off. My writing and my wit, to be exact. But something wonderful happened along the way. I may have already had a voice, but blogging honed it. I discovered things about myself. I was able to showcase not only myself, but the amazing things that my friends and family were up to. And best of all, I tapped into a community, created a whole new circle in the Venn diagram of my life. I am educated, entertained, and inspired by a whole passel of like-minded folks. I started another blog, a snarky piece of work called Things I Want to Punch in the Face, for things that chap my hide on a daily basis, and found more of my peeps. I am tickled beyond belief by the comments from my punchy readers, and the immediacy of the feedback is something I could never get from my books or magazine articles. I earn no money from these blogs, but they feed me in other ways.

I started to blog for my business, but I continue to blog because it feeds my spirit.

How and why did YOU become a blogger?

1 comment:

Colleen Newvine Tebeau said...

If you aspire to be like me, and I aspire to be like you, then I think the whole universe is in danger of getting sucked into a black hole of mutual admiration!

Glad to have you as part of the Blogversation, Jen.

A sampling of my books