Why Blog?

Susie Lindau posted a blog this week about blogging and platform-building, and it got me thinking. Why do we blog?

I started blogging because my friend Kristen Lamb told me I needed to. Didn’t know what I was doing, but I started in. The idea was that blogging would build a platform, getting my name out so people would recognize it and buy my books.

Possibly God doesn’t honor such blatant ulterior motives, because in a little over three years of blogging, I haven’t seen a rush of people demanding my books. And you know what? That’s okay.

Like many other writers, I started out with the idea of making millions of dollars on book sales. In fact, I held to that dream for over 20 years before I realized it wasn’t likely to happen.

As I realized the big money was unlikely, I also realized that I enjoy writing. I love it when readers comment on my blogs and when they buy my books, and I certainly wouldn’t turn down an influx of money, but I write because I like to write.

Since I began blogging, I’ve made many cyber friends—some through the blogs, some through Twitter, and some through Facebook. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a number of these people in person at writers’ conferences. I’ve met with one friend on my way through her hometown on vacation, and I hope to meet two others that way this summer. Each of these people has enriched my life.

By blogging and reading the posts of others, I come to know them—and they me—better than we ever would just from reading 140 words on Twitter or whatever we might post on Facebook. I feel like I really know people like August McLaughlin and Marcia Richards and Renee Shuls-Jacobson and many others, whether I ever get to meet them in person or not.

As my expectations have changed, so has my blogging methodology. I used to force myself to post three new blogs a week on defined subject matter, until I realized I wasn’t enjoying what I was doing. I was writing because I felt like I had to instead of because I enjoyed it. When I cut back from three a week to two, I relaxed a lot.

Those of you who read my posts with any regularity know that on Tuesdays you can expect something relating to Christianity. These are usually things I feel God wants me to say on those particular days. On Fridays, I may do anything. Family photos, short blogs about something funny I read or saw, occasional rants. Fridays are sorta like open letters from me to you.

Why do you blog? How often do you like to post blogs? What do you hope/expect to get from your blogging?

——————————————

WANA: We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

——————————————

For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.