Why I Blog

I started a blog in June of 2002 because I wanted to practice my writing and editing skills. Writing a public weblog ensured that I’d write, regularly. This regular writing has also helped me to get over writers block. Best of all, though, it’s helped me become a fairly fast writer and editor. I’m writing a teen novel, and am nearly through the fourth draft. Today, during a lovely long nap that my son Drake took, I was able to write another 2800 words, as well as edit the almost 4000 words I’d written over the previous two evenings.

At different points in time when I’ve had other things going on, I’ve thought that I should, and even tried to, take a break from blogging. It hasn’t worked. What I’ve found is that writing begets more writing. The more writing I do, the more writing I want to do, and the more writing I’m able to do.

For a long time in my life I fancied myself a writer, though I hardly wrote at all. Writing a weblog changed that. Now hardly a day goes by that I don’t write something, somewhere. Blogging gave me the structure for a writing practice, so I could stop just talking about being a writer, and actually get down to the messy business of writing itself.

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