When I sat down and decided to write something for more than just my own benefit, I started reading more blogs and articles for writers and aspiring authors.

There is a ton of information out there.  Posts on craft, character building, voice, and proper grammar.  Then there are the posts on querying, synopsis writing, getting an agent. And don’t forget the countless posts on marketing, social media, blogging, and building your brand.

Talk about information overload.  Like sipping from a waterfall.

One aspect that I find interesting is advice on blogging.  How to do it.  Why you do it.  As a writer, it would appear that it is all about creating your “brand” as an author.

I’m not knocking that idea.  Really.  I get it.  If you want to sell a product, you have to build up interest.  When you write, you are that product.  Blogging is one of the ways you build interest.

Because of this, there is all sorts of advice about how to blog.  Some of it is stuff I already do.  Some of it is stuff I have no plans to do.

Why?  Why buck against the advice out there?

Because I don’t blog to create a brand.  

So why blog?

It’s cathartic.

Sometimes there are things that I want to say.  But I don’t necessarily want to say them to any one person.  I just want to get things off my chest.  Maybe I want to complain about the barista that hands me a scalding hot coffee and the coffee cup sleeve separately. Maybe I want to discuss how a girl from Jersey Shore and a Kardashian can get a book deal while far more talented people struggle to get someone to look at their work.

It’s therapeutic.  And cheap.

Hand in hand with the relief catharsis brings, having other commiserate with me is sort of like therapy.  People listen and respond.  Some even offer words of encouragement. Doesn’t cost me a dime.

I love to write.

Blogging doesn’t get in the way of my writing.  It’s just another part of it.  My WIP (work in progress) is one outlet for my writing.  The little bit of freelance work I’ve done is another. They are all different expressions of something I enjoy doing.

This post isn’t meant to say that people shouldn’t blog to build a brand. I won’t deny that one day, if/when I am a published author, it will be great if the readers of my blog convert into readers of my book(s).  And I don’t deny that the larger the blog audience, the larger the potential audience for anything else I write.  But I like to think that those readers will be reading because they enjoyed what I wrote here, and not because of any formula I followed for blogging.

Maybe that means I won’t sell as many copies as someone who “properly” built their platform.  Maybe that means I won’t be a New York Times Best Seller.

I’ll tell you a secret.  I don’t really care.  No, really.  I don’t.

I just want to write.  And know that someone is reading. 

So, thank you to those of you who read this blog.  The subscription numbers keep climbing, and last week the blog hit 10,000 hits during the 3 month period I’ve been blogging on WordPress.  Thanks for reading what I write.

Thanks for being part of the reason I blog.

Why do you blog? Do you enjoy it?  Or is it a necessary evil in your life?

Currently Listening to: The Salteens