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Why Do You Write? Email Print

By btyarbro
11/11/2005 11:12:31 AM EST

We all know that blogging has had a significant impact on political climate, legislative action, and government accountability, particularly over the last two years.

The Cortex, a "citizen's think tank," provides an opportunity for bloggers and non-bloggers alike to check in, browse, read, offer opinions and research, receive feedback (in the editing and voting queues), comment, provide suggestions, and enter the portals of political discussions that they might otherwise avoid.

But we're also interested in WHY people blog.

The progressive blogosphere is a liberal community offering lots of choices for community participation.  Unlike most sites that align themselves with the Bush Administration or the right side of the aisle, progressive bloggers generally lean strongly toward community-based interaction, democratic discussions, and free-flow of ideas, whether or not posters agree on a specific issue, policy, candidate, or strategy.

[It's Friday and a holiday: kick back and follow me after the jump.]

Partly because of the tone-deaf, disconnected, isolated "bubble" the current Administration fosters, protects, and encourages, and partly because of the disturbing shift in our economic, military, diplomatic, and political direction over the last five years, reasonable people have sought rational and fair responses--thus the explosion of progressive community sites. Others were inspired by the lack of what was known in Edward R. Murrow's day as investigative reporting.  The Downing Street Memo is one example of a site birthed by a document.  AfterDowningStreet was a direct result of "mainstream journalism" (those already staked out in print or broadcast media) NOT doing its job.

If you want the largest audience available, with more diaries than you can read or catch, you go to DailyKos; if you want the latest on the Niger forgeries (now than Social Security privatization is dead), you check in at TPM or head over to their Café. If you are outraged, have a personal rant, or need to unload, beat a path to My Left Wing. If you like to read good writers on a variety of domestic or international issues, take a trip to Booman Tribune, or stop in at the Froggy Bottom and introduce yourself.  If you're an election tracker and have been blogging since the beginning, you probably got your start at MYDD.  .  . And the options keep growing.

Here's my question:  Why do you write?  What pushes your buttons?  What sets off your bells and whistles, causing you take time to post your opinions, research, notices, or news?  Motivates you to post a diary?  Inspires you to respond, comment, or add links? Or scan photos?

Obviously, no poll could accommodate the range or multiplicity of reasons people blog or participate in community conversations.  No doubt there are some we've never even thought of.

Only YOU know why. Please share your reasons here. (Or just tell us why you think OTHER people do.)


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< GOP Congress Running Against Itself | Open Thread: The Fall of the House of Bush >
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Why Do You Write? | 13 comments (13 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
I Write... (none / 0)
...online because my local newspaper hasn't had the good taste to hire me as a columnist. And I'd like to be a political columnist because I want to shape others' views on issues that I think are important.

Further, I want to combat right-wing writers who are perverting politics and, subsequently, the country.

by S M Dixon on 11/11/2005 02:03:40 PM EST

Dunno what your local (none / 0)
newspaper is, but I any number of other newspapers would welcome your stuff in Op-Eds!

Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle. FDR

by btyarbro on 11/11/2005 02:06:07 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Yer makin' me blush, woman! (none / 0)

by S M Dixon on 11/11/2005 03:22:55 PM EST

[ Parent ]
We liberals (none / 0)
tend to do that!

Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle. FDR

by btyarbro on 11/11/2005 03:27:08 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Variet y of reasons (none / 0)
When I first found blogs, I was drawn to the amazing array of voices and views. I lurked for a long, long time before daring to post my first comment. Everyone seemed so much more articulate than I was.

I found I was far better informed from blog-reading than those around me. And I grew to recognize and love the voice of many of the different bloggers.

Then I ventured into commenting and loved the community aspect of it. I love the back-and-forth, the very-near-real time conversation that develops. I find my own views clarified or changed by the challenge of other writers/commenters.

Now I guess I write because: (a) the people around me in real life are sick of hearing me, yet I can't quite shut up; (b) the process of writing a full essay takes clarifying my thoughts one step further; (c) I love engaging with the commenters since I almost always learn something or tweak my view of a matter.

I also like the fact that, unlike print or broadcast media, there is no deadline. You can post at midnight, you can put off something to let it simmer for a day or two. There is no "publication" deadline to meet, in general, and I've found this vastly improves the quality of what I write and my enjoyment of the process itself.

But the bottom line has always been the community that builds around political writing. That's what keeps me coming back and keeps me going, even in times when I don't feel like writing myself.

by SusanG on 11/11/2005 05:13:21 PM EST

Why I blog (none / 0)
A friend of mine says it is an outlet for me, to keep me from exploding, I think he means.  I post to other blogs to share information.  I post to my own to start a dialog in my community.  I used to send e-mails out to folks when I found something really interesting or shocking, but people got tired of getting e-mail from me.  So I just tell them to read my blog.
I have this really delicate balancing act because I am a town official, elected.  But it really doesn't seem to matter what I say, and I think people respect me for standing up for what I believe in.  The nice thing this year is that I am up for reelection, and I will run again because people want me to, but if I lose I have about a million other political and good cause things I want to do.  My position is a lot of work and I don't really enjoy it but people say I am good at it.  I know we have changed the tone and the direction of our town in the past 3 years and I think I had something to do with it, if only recruiting some good people for boards and committees.

We believe in prosperity & opportunity, strong communities, healthy families, great schools, investing in our future and leading the world by example.

by nhselectwoman on 11/11/2005 05:13:56 PM EST

Outstanding. (none / 0)
I think blogging is a healthy outlet for you and a bonus for those who get to read your words.

Obviously your concern, expertise, and passion are all points of respect and admiration from your constituents.

Come back and post a diary.

Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle. FDR

by btyarbro on 11/11/2005 05:29:53 PM EST

[ Parent ]
The Well and the Trained Seal (none / 0)
I know why I blog.  What I don't know is how to stop.

I sold my first short story in 1991.  My first novel in 1993.  Both very gratifying experiences.  I've repeated the novel sale another thirty times (some of those a lot less fullfulling than others).  The short stories... several dozen.  And maybe two hundred articles.

However, here's something they don't tell you when you're taking that creative writing course: feedback is almost zero.  You spend weeks or months writing a novel, and you send it to an agent.  Then you wait weeks before the agent reads it and decides what to do with it.  Then you wait more weeks, months, or even years while the book makes the rounds at various publishing houses.  Then, assuming you make another sale, it can be more months or years before it hits the stands.  In all that time, the only response you're likely to see is from a copyeditor.

When the book shows its head in the stores, you get a handful of reviews.  Maybe.  If you're lucky, a few letters trickle in.  Then silence.

On the other hand, you can spend a few hours putting together a blog diary, post it, and get hundreds of comments in a single day.  I've seen more response to things I assembled in an afternoon than from novels I lovingly crafted over a year.

Of course, the advantage the books have: money.  People pay me for the books (especially for the ones I'm not proud of, like the ones that went out with someone else's name on them).  If the blog gave both feedback and money...  Ahh, perchance to dream.

by Devilstower on 11/11/2005 05:39:28 PM EST

Wow. (none / 0)
Wonder if I have read any of your novels??

(The ones you're proud of, of course.)

I know exactly what you mean, though. Academic journals are the same way. By the time you hear anything about it, it's old or you're sick of it.

One of the most attractive aspects of blogging is the interaction. You don't have to "talk" if you don't want to, if you're too tired, or you want to come back to it. It's your CHOICE.

And you can always find a conversation.

Political sites are particularly fascinating because it's a little like visiting a lot of state caucuses or town hall meetings without having to leave home.

Cheers.

Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle. FDR

by btyarbro on 11/11/2005 08:25:48 PM EST

[ Parent ]
I saw a cartoon... (none / 1)
...not long ago...like a New Yorker cartoon.

Two dogs were sitting next to each other and one said:

"I used to have a blog, but I gave it up and went back to mindless, incessant barking."

I blog because I can't bark.

The Albany Project. The best damned blog about New York State politics.

by NYBri on 11/11/2005 08:03:10 PM EST

Check my sig [n/t] (none / 1)

Pointless, incessant barking since 10/31/2005 03:16:11 PM MST

by Blue the Wild Dog on 11/11/2005 08:24:11 PM EST

[ Parent ]
cool... (none / 0)

The Albany Project. The best damned blog about New York State politics.

by NYBri on 11/11/2005 10:23:45 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Actually, (none / 0)
I believe some of your articles are available for perusal. And, are worth the time I might add.

As for reasons to participate, that seems to change. Keeping peace in the family is one. Sharpen your arguments by reading and learning is another. Never learned how to SHUT-UP. General education from very talented writers, all over the world. And, new things that had never, and were probably never going to cross my threshhold.

Sincere Thanks!! to all.

Common Sense is not Common

by RustyBrown on 11/11/2005 11:14:08 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Why Do You Write? | 13 comments (13 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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