Litlove has saved you all from a rambling post about nothing in particular by tagging me with the Five Reasons Why I Blog meme. I’m not sure my answers can approach the of eloquence hers, but here goes.
- I began blogging on a lark. I had heard about blogs and for some reason thought it would be fun to give it a try. My first blogging endeavor lasted about two months and then I gave it up for a whole year before starting fresh with So Many Books. The second time around I thought it would be fun to maybe find a few people with whom I could talk books all the time and they wouldn’t think I was nuts. I also was trying to get into the habit of writing everyday because I had delusions of becoming a published author and thought blogging would help. I now write for the blog six days a week most weeks, but I no longer have a burning desire to be a published author.
- So maybe a good question is what has kept me blogging? The fact that I found more than just a few people who love books and like to talk about them. Sometimes when I hear the gloom and doom reports in the media about how books are going the way of the dinosaur I get a bit sad. But then I turn on my computer and suddenly it seems everyone who is anyone is reading and I am reminded that I am not The Last Reader on Earth.
- Blogging makes me a better reader. When I read something, no matter what it is, always have in the back of my mind is a question: What am I going to say when I blog about this? I don’t blog about everything; you don’t want to know my opinion on how well written the ingredients list on my box of morning cereal is. But when I read a book and know I will be writing about it, that knowledge heightens my awareness and makes me read deeper and more thoughtfully.
- It’s fun. If blogging weren’t fun I wouldn’t still be doing it. It’s lots of work and takes away from my reading time. But it’s so much fun it never feels like work.
- Maybe the main reason I blog is you. Is that a smarmy sentimental cliche thing to say? I don’t care if it is because it’s true. When I first started blogging I told myself it wouldn’t matter if no one ever found my blog or left a comment until someone did. I’d be kidding myself if I said I’d still be blogging if no one stopped by to say hi. Your comments are thought-provoking, supportive, friendly, inspiring and honest. I’ve never met any of you in person but yet you all feel like good friends. And who knows, maybe someday we’ll bump into each other in a bookstore.
Let’s see, who else wants to play? Anyone can, of course, but Danielle, Sylvia, Iliana, and Dark Orpheus, consider yourselves tagged.
Great answers! The fun of blogging keeps me going too — and that fact that people stop by now and then.
I’m with you that blogging makes for a more careful reader. Indeed, I think that is absolutely the key reason for me to keep blogging: to keep getting better at reading.
I knew I would love your answers. You’re spot on about blogging making one a better reader. I love reading with some half-notion forming in the back of my mind of what I might write about. And I’m still hugely tempted to try and organise a blog meet, just a short weekend somewhere with a couple of discussions and lots of free time to just hang out and chat books with other bloggers. I think it might be a lot of fun.
Great answers! I’m with you all the way about the serendipity of finding other book lovers. I have friends who read and like to talk about books but other book bloggers are the only people who like to read and talk about books AS MUCH as I do. I have really come to treasure the discussions and passion of other book bloggers.
Number five isn’t smarmy at all, because you’re one of the main reasons I blog as well. And I can relate to #1. Somehow, the more I blog, the less interested I am in becoming a published author.
Thanks Dorothy! My Grandma always used to go “visiting.” I like to think that “virtual visiting” sort of carries on the tradition in a way.
Mark, it’s nice, isn’t, that we can always keep getting better at reading, that there is no end to improving.
Ah Litlove, thanks. A blog meet would be loads of fun. We could all compare books we brought in our luggage to read on the trip
Verbivore, yes friends that read are one thing, friends who like books as much as we do are few and far between in the everyday world.
Emily, you’re so sweet. I haven’t quite figured out how the blogging has led me to be less interested in becoming an author but I’m glad I’m not the only one for whom this is the case otherwise I might think it was just another excuse!
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Those are great answers! I am behind in blog reading, so I just saw you have tagged me–thanks–you have given me something to write about today (which is a good thing as I have been feeling completely uninspired lately…).
Thanks Danielle! I am always glad to provide a something when bloggy energies are low.
Thank you for the tag Stefanie. Now I need to come up with some good answers
I feel confident that you will have great answers!
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Nice post! I agree that blogging can make one a better reader and probably a better writer as well. As to bumping into a blogger I know at a bookstore, it would be a thrilling experience. I recently talked to a friend’s wife and discovered that she blogs about cooking recipes, and it was wonderful.
Thanks Polaris! Just meeting another blogger like you did would be fun. Maybe when we go to bookstores we should have some sort of identifying mark so we can know the bloggers–a scarlet “B” or something that we can pin on our clothes.