Yep, I’m a writer.

Myself, I have never been a “professional” writer, and I am just getting into blogging. For me, I am not so sure I see a difference.

Blogging in most forms all starts with a thought and putting pen to paper, or keyboard to screen. No matter how you shake it, you are writing… authoring content for the web.

So when you say writing vs. blogging, can you have one without the other? Sure you can “video blog” now… and I suppose one would not constitute that as writing, unless you are scripting it out ahead of time.

I suppose the distinction for me would be professional vs. non professional. Paid vs. not being paid for your written word on blogs, in magazines or for a TV sitcom or movie.

Sure, there are a lot of folks who may not agree… some who have had professional training etc… but I am just answering the question as asked.

- Doc

iGoByDoc´s last blog post..Twitter Elf Christmas Disco Performances

I see blogging as a subset of writing – a platform in which to concisely present a point of view, and as many have said, to elicit opinions.

When I think of writing in broader terms, I find myself splitting it into what I do for pleasure (poetry, personal correspondence) and the PR writing I do professionally. They are separate and distinct from blogging as far as I am concerned.

As for why I have not blogged…well, that’s a sore point for me. I find I have been blog-shy, thinking that there are already so many great bloggers out there, and is there room or even a need for another voice.

But I have decided I will take the plunge, largely due to what I have learned through the Twitterverse. Let’s just call it a before New Years resolution. Wish me luck:-)

Also, a blogger intends to initiate and/or stimulate thoughts and ideas, but they don’t necessarily have to be able to complete the thought or idea on their own. This post is a great example of that. A writer intends to tell a story or develop an idea. They have to be able to initiate the thought, tell the “story” (or develop the thinking) and draw the conclusions. They have to make all of the writing hang together cohesively. A blogger gets to see where it goes. So writing to me seems like a different craft.

Do bloggers sometimes write that “complete thought”? Sure. But in blogging brevity rules and completion is not required – you just want to fuel a conversation. As a writer you are the only one talking and if the conversation isn’t interesting people stop listening.

In the end I think blogging is making one of the essential goals of a writer, to captivate readers, a lot harder. The desire to interact is an itch we are becoming accustomed to scratching!

So now I find myself asking was I just blogging or writing? I say blogging because I am still in the inquiry – opinions yes, but conclusions not yet! What do you think?

That’s just MHO, though…

Mine is that blogging and writing are both technically “writing”, however, blogging is more… writing as you would talk. Whereas, writing you generally analyze it after it’s written.

Interesting to see that some bloggers don’t consider themselves writers – I think that would be one area where I’d say that all bloggers are writers, regardless of writing “adequacy”. However, I also see why this might not be the case – which is what makes each view so interesting.

@ Jason. Ha, cheers – I can but hope…!

The main difference between the two, IMO, is that when I’m writing an official news article, I am unable to put my opinion into the article… when I write a blog on the other hand, it’s clearly noted as a blog, and my opinion is all over the place.

The only thing I don’t like is that bloggers are getting media badges to a lot of tech shows, and they aren’t held to the same rules and responsibilities that we have to deal with. I won’t give out specific examples, but anyone who follows tech shows probably can think of a couple fine examples of how bloggers can screw things up for regular journalists.

But I appreciate bloggers, but wish they would handle themselves with a bit of professionalism.

Cheers!

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