i started out reading "how to blog" by tony pierce because i thought that learning the rules would be a great way of easing into blogging. tony emphasizes the importance of writing without boundaries, without hesitation, and without apology. i have to say that i like his overall purpose, and that more people should vigorously pursue writing. when we write, we think, and there aren't that many people who habitually think critically. tony says to not worry about something having been said before--one just has to say it as honestly and as personally as possible.
what was weird to me was the fact that these are rules. it seems like tony places such trust in the individual and the experience that making these guidelines sets perimeters on blogging. there are certain sites and programs that he urges the novice blogger to use, certain behaviors (like linking) that seem to be preferential--it just bothers me when someone writes down (this happens in books that i read all the time...the hipster handbook, sex, drugs, and cocoa puffs...)what you should or should not do. he ended with a example of, in his opinion, a really good blogger--raymi.
i perused her blog for a while and liked how she just basically treated her blog as a diary. i was surprised when she said that someone blatantly took her picture--are bloggers the new celebrities?
1 comment:
I also read Tony Pierce's "How to Blog" and found it really interesting. He is outlining rules for blogging, and I think they are very necessary. However, I like to think of his article as more of a list of guidelines. If someone has never blogged before, they need some starting guidelines, just like any other new activity one attempts. Blogging is no different and if we think of Pierce's advice as a list of guidelines rather than rules, his article doesn't seem as stifling. A guideline is always going to be less intimidating than a rule, so how about we all just think about "How to Blog" as a helpful list of guidelines and there should be less objections.
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