I'd Rather Be Flogged Than Blog

For years, I’ve thought about starting a blog the same way I’d think about other forms of modern day masochism, like trying Pilates, drinking kombucha, or a January swim in the Hudson Bay.

Blogging is perfectly fine for some people, but it’s not for me, I figured. After all, I've thought, said, and privately written so many things that later horrified me. Why would I want to make myself vulnerable by presenting my private thoughts--which may evolve significantly over time--in a public space where I can’t control who judges them?

No thanks, I’d say. I’ll keep my thoughts to myself.

My personal feelings towards blogging were challenged, however, when I was handed the syllabus for Business Writing. One of the course requirements is a personal blog. 

This forced me to have to think about blogging in a new way, and it has actually led me to a number of important revelations.

For instance, whether we like it or not, the vast majority of us do have a digital footprint, even if we have all our social media accounts set to private or have no social media accounts at all. Having an online presence is almost inescapable for professionals--even for professionals who would rather remain invisible--because these days most products and services are discovered (and rated) online.

Because of the reality that many of us already have an online presence, it is important to manage that presence. Having a website with blog articles allows us to shape our online identity. It actually gives us agency over how others might perceive us because we can edit and re-edit the content we author. That doesn’t mean less control; it has the potential to mean more. 

Still, for some of us, blogging is uncomfortable.

This post is dedicated to students who, like me, would rather have their hair pulled out one strand at a time than write for an unknown public. But writing for the web doesn’t have to be a painful process. Here’s some simple advice that has helped make blogging, for me, a little less daunting. 

1. Orient to your audience

What made me so overwhelmed with the idea of blogging was that I had too many audiences to consider when formulating my ideas.

Am I writing to my friends, to my colleagues, to my supervisors at work, to my past students in the Middle East, to my current American and international students based in Pennsylvania? 

Audience matters because, of course, it determines what we write and how we write it. 

Kurt Vonnegut, offering tips on fiction writing, said, “Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.”

He has a good point. Writing for the world makes the text sick, weak, and lifeless. Think about one person that you’d like to please. Write to that person.

If you’re writing for an unknown HR rep, think about an HR director that you know, or think about what you know about HR directors. Narrow down your audience.  

2. Choose your message by considering your purpose

The other aspect of blogging that made me so uncomfortable was the overwhelming question, “What should I say?” 

It all depends on your audience and your purpose.

If I were writing for my former students in the Middle East, my purpose would be informative and educational. I might try to raise awareness of Grammar for Peacebuilding, contrast various opinions on the fallout of the referendum, or discuss ways to help support the Syrian refugees in an environment stricken by donor fatigue. 

Because I am writing for Business Writing students in the U.S., the content is very different. 

If your purpose is to create a social media profile for class, then you will consider multiple audiences and multiple purposes. 

Your primary audience will be a job recruiter, and your secondary audience will be your instructor.

Your primary purpose is to create interest about yourself, demonstrate expertise, and show intelligent engagement with current trends in your field.

The secondary purpose is also to demonstrate the principles we’ve been talking about throughout the semester, such as writing with courtesy, and showing that you can satisfy the assignment requirements.   

Final Note

While blog writing is still challenging and overwhelming, I’ve come to understand that it isn’t torture as I once thought. I hope you’ll come to see that too.

And if not, you can always keep your site hidden from the public search engines.

Now go and enjoy the process. Most importantly, write about what you know and love; be creative and have fun.