My Love Affair With Blogs

I've been reading blogs since I was about 16, and now they're a huge part of my life. The first blog I ever read was called 'mo pie' which was essentially a blog about a woman trying to get healthier, as well as find her sense of purpose. Mo Pie sadly does not exist anymore, otherwise I would direct you there, but it provided me with hours of reading entertainment - I loved how honest she was as a blogger, how much of her life she shared.

Mo Pie got me hooked on blogs, so I hunted around for more blogs to read, often stumbling upon great ones by accident. I once found a terrific blog by typing into google 'David Tennant is gorgeous' [which is not something I'm so sure about anymore, but hey people change] and after a year of reading her posts, I actually ended up buying the blogger's book [I would highly recommend it by the way] since I liked her writing style so much! This proved to me the power of blogs; effectively this woman I'd never heard of persuaded me to buy her book by making me laugh on the internet - I felt connected to her even though I'd never met her.  

Actually he is still quite cute...

The main difference between blogs and books is that blogs feel like a conversation, each time they post, a blogger is essentially trying to communicate how they feel about something. Obviously authors are trying to do that as well, but in most cases the author feels separate from the reader, but when I blog I do feel connected with you guys, writing this blog feels more intimate than writing my novel did - I often feel like I'm laying myself bare on here.

 Even if a blogger isn't talking about particularly personal things, you still get a fascinating glimpse into another person's mind whenever you read a blog - it's all laid out for you to explore. Blogs are very individual, and just from reading a few posts, it is easy to see what inspires a blogger, what they like, what they don't like and what they stand for. In case you were wondering, I like books, I am inspired by creative people, I don't like people who are unsupportive and I stand for being true to yourself as an individual and nurturing creativity. This is a book blog, but I like to think it gives an insight into how I'm wired as well.

Another thing I love about blogs is that you can see a blogger evolve over time, admire them as their posts become more focused and start to reach bigger audiences - you can go on a journey with them and effectively grow with them [whoops, sound a bit trite now...oh well, it can't be helped]. When I look back on my own blog, I can see that I've improved in the space of a year, though I've still got a long way to go.

I'm working out more and more what I want this blog to be as I go. For instance, in my earlier posts, I kept promising to review books, but I never did, because actually I really don't enjoy reviewing books and there are tons of book review blogs to be found, which I have recommended myself in the past. In writing Candle and Book, I've realised that I want my blog to be a bit different, I want to discuss books and writing and life without analysing each book I read to death or writing boring essays. I want my blog to be fun, and I want it to be something that I would enjoy reading as well. I also I want to put my own slant on things, and I think I have managed to do that.  I can't wait to see how this blog evolves in the future. Gosh this is an ego-centric post, isn't it? Oh well, we've all got to do some navel gazing from time to time....