JOURNO BLOGGERS: Chip Scanlan on “Why I Blog”
Chip Scanlan, author, writing coach and member of the Poynter faculty, has been blogging since January 2006 at "The Mechanic & The Muse" (a blog I recommend to all writers). Here is "Why I Blog."Here are seven reasons I joined the millions who communicate through a form that is part reverse diary, commonplace book and soapbox.Read the full item.1. Blog items respond to a rapidly changing media landscape. I like the way blogging lets me tackle multiple topics in a day or through the week instead of focusing all my time and energy on one weekly column. It’s the difference between being a beat specialist and a general assignment reporter. I can write on subjects that draw my attention. I’ve written about journalistic subjects and pointed readers to repositories of stories that represent best practices. But I’ve also written about fiction and memoir, two forms that are passions of mine. Like Cream, the ’60’s mega-group, sings, "I feel free."
2. When I blog, my standards are lowered, always a key element in producing writing that can be revised, even after it’s published. A blog, by its very nature, is more informal than a column and less freighted with the expectations that a metro or sports column can impose. Blogging hasn’t made me indifferent to revision or accuracy; it just makes the process of generating words less susceptible to the inner critic.
