On Blogging

In the interests of economy, I sometimes copy my facebook posts onto my blog -- if they seem as if they might be of general interest. I did this today and read through my recent blog posts. They were not bad. I usually think I'm an awful blogger. I do it to maintain a certain level of visibility. If people google my name, they get to my blog, and there is an email address there, in case they want to contact me. But this time -- reading through the recent posts -- I thought they were okay: a pleasant mix of weather, what I've been doing, politics and economics. There should be more bird watching, but I haven't been out bird watching. I need to bug Patrick to go to Crex Meadows or down the river to look at migrating birds.

There are a couple of keys to good blogging. One is to know your topic and write clearly. Examples are Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy and Erik Klemetti's Eruptions. These are go-to blogs if you are interested in astronomy or volcanic eruptions. The other key is good chat: a writer who comes across as fun and interesting. John Scalzi is a master of this kind of conversational blogging.

I have felt my blogging was stiff and not very interesting. I've been trying to become more relaxed -- since I am doing a conversational blog, not an expert blog. Maybe I'm getting better at this. It's not where my heart lies. I like facebook better, because it actually is a conversation. Most personal blogging is a speech going out into silence. But many years ago, I lost the chance to have something reprinted in Harper's Magazine, because the person in question could not find me. I will never be unfindable again.