The Fine Art of Blogging

Posted on April 16, 2007
Filed Under Blogging and the Internet | Viewed 3123 times

I have been invited by Quasai Fictional to write for its project called, The Fine Art of Blogging. According to Quasi Fictional, Internet is a lonely place without Blogging—a fine art, also a science. Blogs are different to different people. Quasi Fictional’s project focuses on blogging basics—asking prominent blog artists to share their views on what a blog is to them, how they blog, and some personal high points in their blog life.

Quasai Fictional features different bloggers on The Fine Art of Blogging. Some of the bloggers featured include Liz Strauss of Successful and Outstanding Bloggers and The Blog Herald, Aliza Sherman Risdahl of babyfruit: The Miscarriage Blog and Motherhood Diaries, Mihaela Lica founder of Pamil Visions, Steli Efti of the Supercool School project, Sterling W. Camden of Chip’s Tips, EXSENSO and Peg Haustetter of Heavenly Thoughts, to name a few.

I am sharing this post with you.

Blogging, to me, is another form of “literary” medium, a new one, as opposed to the traditional media—books, magazines, journals, etc., in hard copy. Blogging allows one person, as the owner of his/her own blog, to freely post articles in one’s own writing voice/tone, without going through an editor. As it is immediately published, and one gets instant gratification. Blogging is a medium to share experiences with, and to reach out to people. This, however, entails responsibility, responsibility to one’s readers, and respect for other people in the blogosphere.

I blog almost every day. My readers have to get a clear indication of how regularly I blog, so that they will know when to come back. My blogging is kinda witty, light material, open, sometimes personal, sometimes funny, sometimes poetic. My favorites are my series on “The Joy of Being a Mother”.

My main objective in blogging is to put my free flowing thoughts in essays and poetry, and eventually share, educate, entertain, and sometimes inform. Blogging has done a lot of things for me:

Blogging has made retirement easy for me. No transition, no regrets, no post-retirement blues, no sadness, ALL joy. Now, I am doing what I like doing most—writing. It’s my passion. Yes, it’s true, In the past, I would write everyday: endless templated memos, endless templated letters, endless templated reports. Now, I am free, I can write anything that I would like to write about, with no templates, no rules, no boundaries. Now, I am more aware of my surroundings, creating thoughts out of anything interesting that would catch my eye, taking snapshots, scribbling notes, which I could eventually shape into the art (yes, I call it an ART), known as a BLOG.

Blogging has helped me recreate myself. Slowly, I have made a career out of writing (content, research).

Blogging has unearthed for me new friends—they’re my latest finds, my latest gems. Diverse interests, different personalities, all ages (doesn’t matter at all) living in different parts of the planet, sharing experiences, expressing thoughts, crazy thoughts, sane thoughts, concocting out whatever is in their minds, new recipes, amazing photographs, anything, accepting me for all my writing worth. Sometimes, I wonder–are they really from this planet? are they for real?

Blogging has made me keep my old friends. In the past, I would have daily lunches with best friends and weekly drinks (those margaritas are unforgettable!), mostly blah blah blah of daily toiling and bickerings. Now with thoughts passionately written, hilariously explained, secrets bared, I am sharing more than what was shared in daily lunches and weekly drinks.

Blogging has helped me find classmates, former colleagues, former neighbors, even the dead.

Blogging has made me understand my children more better. When I was not into blogging yet, I would PEEK into their blogs and other social networking media (friendster, my multiply, tweeter) to catch up with what they and their friends are up to. Now i would DIGEST each sharing and each emotion expressed.

Some tips on blogging: Be yourself, think about your readers. If you want to reach an international audience, use English. Mind your grammar, at least subject-verb agreement should be correct. Interact with your readers.Give personal touch in responding to comments. Visit other blogs, too, and make meaningful comments. Do not plagiarize, do not post photos of other people without either asking their permission or acknowledging their source, do not smear other people’s reputation.

Here are some personal high blogging points in my blog life. When a reader sends me an email or a comment saying that I have touched his/her life, I am happy. Each time I see my daily statistics come up is a high for me. Each time I receive a comment, I am happy. High point in blog life is when others link me, others discuss about me in their blogs. When the big wigs/pioneers in blogging write about me or acknowledge my work, I am happy.

About earning money? My primary reason in maintaining my blog is to share my thoughts and experiences with my readers. I also keep my blog because it is one way of networking and introducing myself—of telling my readers that hey, here is a writer. It also showcases my writing skills. Through this blog, I was able to earn money—it has caught the attention of some people who wanted help in writing and research. I have adsense, though this is not much. I have learned from a recent local blogging summit that blogs can be monetized. I am trying to learn about how one can get passive income or residual earnings through the blogs.

See the full article here.

Comments

31 Responses to “The Fine Art of Blogging”

Toe on April 16th, 2007 11:41 am

That is also what I like best about blogging. It allows me to do what I like to do best which is to write. Congratulations on your article Sexy Mom!

sexy mom: same here, dear Toe, writing is my passion!
Liz Strauss on April 16th, 2007 12:24 pm

What a lovely piece. I so enjoyed reading it. Blogging is my joy and passion too. Thank you for making the end of my evening so refreshing.
Liz Strauss

sexy mom: thanks, Liz, you also made my day. you know, i read you at Blog Herald (i am better known as JAngelo’s mom).
vk on April 16th, 2007 4:29 pm

hi dine,

i say too, here in blogging, it helps me a lot….......my homesickness, my loneliness, my Stress, mawala, kung uupo ako and facing my laptop….......then everything-forgotten…..

here i can laugh, smile, make or know some friends, express my ideas, share my ideas and thought….....

blogging, internet life helps me a lot…..

thanks, i found out, that i am not wasting my time, facing my laptop….......

thanks for sharing, you make my day more glowing….......have a nice sunny day there….......

sexy mom: i know how it is to be away from home. and you dear are lucky, you have your family in Germany with you. you are right, facing the laptop, blogging away is not a waste of time. again, one of my highs, receiving your wonderful comment “...make my day more glowing”! thanks.
annamanila on April 16th, 2007 5:18 pm

I wrote a comment but I wrote it in the other “foreign” site. I said it was funny because i just told you about my “blogging boohoos and woohoos” which I’ve had for weeks in draft form discussing more or less the same issues. hahaha. I congratulate you Dine for your wonderful and well-written insights into blogging and your personal take on why you blog. I think i also said that blogging as art can be as fine or as crash as the author wants it to be.

sexy mom: i saw your comment there, dear. and yes, do come out with your “boohoos and woohoos”. we continue to learn, you know!
annamanila on April 16th, 2007 5:19 pm

i meant as fine or as CRASS. Sorry, fat fingers eh.
Mihaela Lica on April 16th, 2007 7:20 pm

I am so glad to see that Dio’s project is so successful and I am certainly pleased to get to know so many “fine” bloggers through the Quasi Fictional world. Your entry is as beautifully written as all of your posts. I have reasons to thank Dio for introducing you to us. You bet I’ll come back here for more…

sexy mom: oh yes, that’s a fine idea by Dio. thanks to him, his site connects one blogger to another!
malaya on April 16th, 2007 7:29 pm

I agree with u sexy mom. Through blogging we can meet different people from all walks of life. We can share different ideas, thought, sympathy, experience etc. We can go where we want and be what we want to be.
These are the joys of blogging but we still have to be responsible of what we blog about and how we blog it.
Keep on bloggin!
Anyway, i’d like to add you in my blogroll. Thanks a lot!

sexy mom: and through blogging we share experiences and learn from other. yes, also sympathize.
Kyels on April 16th, 2007 7:29 pm

One of the best things about blogging is you get to meet friends from the international network and somehow get your writings recognized too.

(:
sexy mom: true, Kyels, not only writings, but photography too (and that is you)
jhay on April 16th, 2007 8:01 pm

Blogging has been the best thing I had since highschool.

sexy mom: wow! jhay, that’s a long time. i started blogging 5-1/2 months ago only.
pining on April 16th, 2007 8:20 pm

hi sexy mom

Thank goodness for blogging- for where else can I find wonderful people like you, eh? Blogging also helped me to while away the sadness of being far away from home and friends…

Keep blogging Dine, coz you’re a gem!

sexy mom: then we call it “the joy of blogging”. you’re a gem, too, dear Pining! haven’t seen a new post lately.
Tiffany on April 16th, 2007 8:53 pm

blogging has done some of them for me too!

sexy mom: hi, Raein!
julie on April 16th, 2007 11:05 pm

Blogging is the reason I “met” some interesting people, including you Dine! Blogging knows no boundaries whatsoever.

sexy mom: and meeting you, too, Teacher Julie!
melai on April 16th, 2007 11:13 pm

blogging makes my world go round and round and round and round and round and round..too bad that I cannot blog again… the way I used to cause real life is waiting for me soon….hiatus muna for a while.

sexy mom: hiatus may be the word now, but once a blogger, always a blogger. you’ll come around again!
Gina on April 17th, 2007 5:13 am

Isn’t blogging wonderful???!! I read your article and I find myself agreeing on all the reasons & benefits for/of blogging! So you blog away, Sexymom and be assured that you’d always have interested readers looking forward to every new post. You know, I may not comment on every one of them, but I do read ALL of them =P

sexy mom: oh, dear, that’s so sweet to hear. one of my highs in blogging!
feng on April 17th, 2007 8:20 am

and i say Quasai Fictional should be commended for its project “the Fine Art of Blogging”. true, each of the individual bloggers i’ve came across in the Blogsphere have different views on what Blogging is to them/how they blog.

Thank you Sexy Mom for sharing your thoughts on what blogging has brought you. I couldn’t agree more with all the points you stressed.

sexy mom: blogging has touched a chord in each of our hearts.
Mari on April 17th, 2007 8:28 am

What a wonderful insight on blogging. Yes, we find new friends here on blogging…I found you, you found me. LOL I find you as a good blogger, you never turn your back on commentators no matter what their background is. No matter how bad my English is, I’m linked already. Hah! LOL Anyway, great work Sexy Mom.

sexy mom: and that is what we call “interaction”, blogging does not define any limits in age, sex, religion, grammar
Sidney on April 17th, 2007 8:34 am

Congrats! You are in good company!
Blogging is addictive but nice!

sexy mom: and one of the good things is seeing photography in so many ways
verns on April 17th, 2007 10:35 am

Congratulations Sexy Mom.

Ahhh blogging…I cannot imagine my life in the office without it hehe

sexy mom: wow! in the office
Lazarus on April 17th, 2007 2:46 pm

Indeed, blogging has made us recreate ourselves. And even discover ourselves.

sexy mom: yes, self-discovery, too.
tin-tin on April 17th, 2007 3:06 pm

congrats! blogging also helped me in a lot of ways. it made me meet new and sensible people also

sexy mom: yes, meeting a lot of people and interacting.
chase on April 17th, 2007 4:36 pm

Blogging is indeed wonderful and I met new people and friends through blogging!
Maia Jose on April 17th, 2007 7:22 pm

I had to read the rest of the article after the appetizer you left as a comment to my blog Well put, indeed. Many will surely identify and agree with it. I have been blogging for barely a month but I have already caught the fever. I have been tagged to answer the question “Why Do You Blog?” and will have to say my piece on my next post. It will be hard not to echo many of your words. As an established blogger who has made her mark on the blogosphere, you are an inspiration to newbies like me.

sexy mom: thanks, dear Maia, i started blogging in Nov 2006, makes me kinda a newbie too. i’m sure you will be a seasoned blogger, faster than many others, given your writing experience. impressive!
Shoshana on April 17th, 2007 9:09 pm

Blogging’s great for other reasons too…where else can someone read someone else’s diary/memoirs without getting into trouble?

sexy mom: yes, true!
di0genes on April 17th, 2007 11:54 pm

I am happy to see all your friends here. I am going to call on them.

sexy mom: nice move, Dio! and thanks for inviting me at Quasi Fictional.
Thelma Bowlen on April 18th, 2007 12:26 pm

great article, sexy mom! so very true. i’m glad i ‘found’ you. when i grow up, i wanna be like you. fulfilled, squeezing every ounce out of life, and blogging still.

cheers!

sexy mom: thanks Kyera! please hello to your Mom, Thelma, for me.
Toni on April 19th, 2007 8:49 am

We share the same passion in writing. Isn’t it lovely that our passion helps us create connections with other people too?

sexy mom: yes, Toni, it feels so good to share so many experiences, thoughts, etc. through writing
eric aka senor enrique on April 19th, 2007 4:46 pm

Congratulations, Dine! Blogging is surely fun, especially when done from the perspective of being of service to others. As with anything else in life, if loved and enjoyed, money will follow.

And as Oprah said, just do it and throw it to the universe, and let the universe reward you later on Love it!

sexy mom: i would have loved to have even a small part of your photo talent!
KK on April 19th, 2007 10:33 pm

Hi Sexymom,

I love reading your blog because you are a woman of substance. I learn a lot from reading your blog. I guess it’s also that you are so motherly and I miss my own mom. You are such a gifted writer.

sexy mom: thanks, Tina, for the nice words.
haze on April 22nd, 2007 5:41 pm

I see blogging as an expression of one’s self without barriers ! Share and learn process – a two way communication that contributes to our daily lives. We cry, we laugh, we stressed out, we feel sad, we feel proud but the end point it makes us happy and gaie !

In short,we can write anything and everything under the sun !

sexy mom: true, haze. and i enjoy your your sharing experiences in france.
princess on April 23rd, 2007 7:04 am

Enjoyed reading your take on blogging. It makes me enjoy blogging more. CONGRATULATIONS for being featured. Your posts are truly a “work of art”. I may have the same thoughts but for the love of me I know that I can not impart my thoughts, in writing, the way you do!! I bow to your talent and skills, Dine. More power to you…
Princess

sexy mom: thanks, princess, we all are gifted, you know, in many other ways.
Flor P. Velasco on April 23rd, 2007 10:54 pm

I am always delighted reading your blog…I am hoping to see and meet the Family Blogging Dynasty someday…

sexy mom: thanks, who knows our paths will meet someday.