(SiteMeter Chart: locations of the readers of Making Good Mondays)Bloggers are Internet writers who have something to say. When we begin ours writing days we have a wide variety of ideas from which to choose material. What we talk about could be as personal as a journal or as impersonal as a news digest. Bloggers usually do not write original news stories. We work off the news, second hand. But we also often editorialize, reflect, cogitate, or comment about the work of other bloggers. And sometimes we lament the state of what we call the Mainstream Media.
Different kinds of blog writing -- At my other blog, South by Southwest, I usually write about some aspect of politics, gleaning much of my news from my aggregator, Bloglines. Here at Making Good Mondays, is where I call upon my creative side. Often I write very personally, or I focus on something visual; I might even write a poem or discuss the world of dreams or space. Thus you can expect me to be more "out there" in my writing.
About blog readers -- Coincidentally my readers are also more "out there." They come from all over the world, as the pie chart illustration indicates. Many read what I say in translation to another language. Thus there is not a day goes by that I do not remember that reality. I feel a responsibility to be as accurate, truthful, authentic and excellent as I can as a writer. I have to remember that I AM the U.S. to the reader, just as the reader represents Sweden, Singapore or Sri Lanka to me. I have a regular reader in Ireland, a couple in Indonesia, and several in Canada.
Regular readers vs searches -- Most find the posts as a result of a Google search inquiry. I happen to have been fortunate enough to have developed enough "optimization" to come up on the first page of many search engine citations. This also adds to my sense of responsibility as a blogger, by the way.
The process of deciding the subject of the day's post varies. Sometimes I decide that I need to return to one of the regular themes of the blog. That might entail reading the current news about that issue or subject, either from blogs or from regular news sources. Or the opposite could be the case, with the news item or items inspiring me to post. In other cases it might mean straight writing with few, if any links to other sources. Another source of ideas is a composing tool called Scribefire (link to its support forum) that I use in conjunction with my Mozilla Firefox (multi-language link) browser. It is instantly available for drafting posts that I can then sent directly to Blogger, my web host. The subject of the day is often dictated by the calendar. My holiday reflections or memoirs-type posts fall into that category, for example.
The Five "W's" -- Writers learned the rule of 5 Ws> in our earliest English Composition classes. Who, what, where, when, and why are the questions we might try to answer in any piece of writing. I will close today's post with that exercise as it applies to me as a blogger. I am a retired woman living in Texas, USA. I do creative writing and political blogging. I write almost every day, usually early in the mornings. I try to cover items of interest to me from all around the earth, about which I have something to say. How about you? Do you only read or do you write also? What are your random thoughts? I encourage your comments and always write a comment in response.
My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about politics, no surprise .
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