Logic Escapes Me





Fact: All bloggers are writers, but not all writers are bloggers.

I think that’s a true statement. I follow maybe three dozen blogs and I can say with some certainty that all of them would be considered writers by nearly any definition.

hmmm… definition…

Oh look! Here several are now from Dictionary.com:

–noun

1) A person engaged in writing books, articles, stories, etc., especially as an occupation or profession; an author or journalist. (It says especially, not absolutely, so even if you don’t do it for a living, I think it still qualifies.)

2) A clerk, scribe, or the like. (“or the like” - I need to use that in a novel, I think.)

3) A person who commits his or her thoughts, ideas, etc., to writing. (Hello BLOGGER!)

4) (In a piece of writing) the author (used as a circumlocution for “I,” “me,” “my,” etc.): The writer wishes to state…. (Really? Did this warrant a definition number all by itself? Talk about yourself in the third person and all of a sudden you are creating dictionary definitions. Please. This is a subcategory of #1 at best.)

5) A person who writes or is able to write. (That’s the nut of it right there. If you write, you are a writer.)


There are some terrible writers out there that some talented writers would argue should be restricted from using the term. This is mostly subjective. Who am I to judge? Judge not lest ye… well, you know. If you don’t have a basic grasp of spelling, grammar and sentence structure, I may not read what you write. But that doesn’t mean you didn’t write it. Yeah, I’m a hippy at heart. It’s all goooood, man.


Anyway, I’m going to go ahead and assume that all bloggers are writers. So why don’t all writers blog? As my lady (screenwriter) told me last night, “It just seems like play time.” And she’s right. It’s a way to stretch our writer muscles, know what we put down will be read by at least a couple of people, possibly get some accolades about what we’ve written and maybe even notch up our skill set. That’s a win/win/win/win as far as I’m concerned.

Here, Mr. Letterman, are the top five reasons a writer is not also a blogger:

1) Too Busy… finishing their best-selling novel… again.

2) Nose in the Air…and unwilling to give away the milk until someone buys the damn cow.

3) Bad Fit…because they write tech manuals for HP Printers or in secret spy code.

4) Lazy…or playing with the Wii sounds like a lot more fun.

5) Scared…and Velma forgot to bring the Scooby Snacks.

If you would even begin to call yourself a writer, and you haven’t yet tried this blogging thing, I strongly recommend you give it a shot. Don’t even post at first if you’re out of canine courage crackers. Just do some free-writing and see what comes out. Maybe you’ll post your fifth or sixth attempt. It’s easy, it’s fun and (gasp) you might just get recognition from a total stranger.

Course I’m preaching to the choir, aren’t I? And that brings me to another fact. All blog writers are blog readers, but not all blog readers are blog writers.

Most are though.

Thanks for reading, off to write!

Cheers,

Casey

P.S. – canine courage crackers…that’s pretty good. I love it when those writer muscles come out. All alliterations are poetic, but not all poems contain... oh never mind.

Comments

  1. Vodka Mom8/2/11 16:58

    I adored this post. I agree that we are all writers- but do we all write well?

    That is what we are all thinking, hoping and striving to do. We want to touch those people who read us- to make them laugh, or wonder, or shake their heads.

    And to feel the words tumble onto the page and turn into something wonderful? it's a joy. A pure joy.

    xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Suzy8/2/11 17:04

    I read an article that said Bloggers reported on their daily lives and were really diarists, not writers.

    They defined writers as people who re-wrote their words over and over until they got it just right, and did not just pound it out to get a post up.

    In that case most everyone who blogs, or at least 97% of them, are not writers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. WeaselMomma8/2/11 17:12

    Thank you. As a blogger and a WRITER, who is yet unpaid, I appreciate the validation of the words that I script.

    I do not myself claim talent but the words that I script and post are writing in it's purest and most unadulterated form.

    Now if only I could find a way to get paid for doing what I love.

    Thanks for this post.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lynn MacDonald8/2/11 18:12

    I can't either write or blog. I just throw words out there and hope somebody reads that shit!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Joanna Jenkins9/2/11 20:05

    I've yet to ever call myself a "writer". I stick with "blogger" instead. Maybe if I had some Scooby Snacks I'd step up and actually commit to writing.

    Interesting post, Casey. Thanks. jj

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bhargavi10/2/11 18:38

    nice post. most of your observations are true.

    ReplyDelete

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