Challenge accepted

I didn't watch Sex and the City until it had ended its six-season run. I didn't read Harry Potter until the last book was published. I didn't get a cell phone until my friends finally bought me one because they were sick of me being the only one without one. I didn't join Facebook until well after it was established as "the" social networking site (and I might add until I moved far away from my home town and needed to keep in touch more easily). The list goes on, and includes life decisions as well as technology ones. My point is, I don't tend to follow the hype. I like to make my own decisions on when to enter into the current craze--and I usually prefer to enter once it's no longer considered a craze.

This is how I find myself a 32-year-old writing teacher who is just now entering the blogging world. This blog that I am required to keep for a class assignment is my first foray into the genre. And, honestly, up until a few days ago, I thought it would be my last. Not because I don't like writing. Clearly I like it, given my profession. But blogging seems to be a current craze that will stay a current craze for a while, so it kind of goes against my enter of my own accord philosophy.

But a few days ago, a friend relayed a story to me that I had such a strong reaction to I wanted to blog about it. I haven't yet because I haven't created my own "personal" blog. And then, a reading assignment for class all but clinched the decision that I will try my hand at living the blogging life even after it stops being a requirement.

Dennis Mahoney's, How to Write a Better Weblog, made me feel challenged to write in a way I haven't felt challenged before. I rarely write unless it's for a class assignment these days. Granted, I have LOTS of assignments that require writing, so I am writing on a regular basis. But, Mahoney inspired me--no, challenged really is the right word--to be the person I always have claimed myself to be: a writer. I know I can write in a journal or write only for myself--let's face it, the chances of many other people besides me and the people who already love me reading my blog are slim, so I will sort of be writing for myself anyway. But what really struck me was when he said: "No matter what your audience size, you ought to write as if your readership consisted of paid subscribers whose subscriptions were perpetually about to expire. There’s no need to pander. Compel them to re–subscribe."

I love this sentiment. I love good writing. I love when I produce good writing. Why not challenge myself to produce good writing consistently if only for the off chance that someone new will read? If nothing else, the people who love me will laugh and feel more connected even though we live far apart. And at the end of the day I will be writing. Not teaching writing; not writing to fulfill a requirement; not writing to get a job; not writing to jump on the bandwagon that I had convinced myself blogging had become. Writing because I love to do it. Writing because I need to do it. Writing because I have something to say that someone else--or no one else--wants to hear about following my own crazes.