The nature of blogs

The word "blog" comes from the words "web" and "log". Since a log is a journal of sorts, shouldn't a blog be a journal, online?

Well, not exactly.

Blogs express something meaningful. They should not be simply a run-through of a day. A blog is something unique. Have you ever read something on a blog not even remotely like anything else? A blog can contain essays, it can contain musings, but most of all, it should be unique.

I only recently discovered this. Look back at some posts at Stiricide that I've linked to.

A post from February

A post from two days ago

Compare and contrast them. You'll see how different the two posts are. The one from February goes through my day, and it does not bother to connect these common daily activities with anything broader or deeper. This is vapid, and definitely not any different from anything else. On the other hand, my post from two days ago was interesting (if I do say so myself), despite the fact that the topic is generally overused by me. I also went through my day; however, it was more interesting because I put spirit into it. I have improved my blogging skills.

Through blogging, I have also raised my overall writing level as well: see the posts again. The first one was all over the place; although the topic was interesting (a list of grievances against braces) and I used some cool words, I had no focus. The second one: the topic was plain (endangered species and school activities, to be precise), and I did not use extensive vocabulary, but the entire post seemed more alive.

Bloggers: I know I'm not in any particular position to give advice, but: make blogging a different writing experience than normal school-essay. This is easy to do because the entire blogging process seems casual and simply carefree. Soon, your other writing will also emit that "alive and well" vibe.