“Five Reasons Why Blogging Improves Your Writing” are advanced at Daily Writing Tips:
- You’ll get into the habit of writing regularly;
- Instant feedback lets you know how you’re doing;
- Having readers for your work is a big motivation;
- The more you practice, the better you will write; and
- Blogs are an ideal medium for experimentation.
Not so fast, according to Miss Write, who lists reasons “Why Blogging Doesn’t Necessarily Improve Your Writing,” including:
- Practice doesn’t always make perfect;
- Bloggers receive Insufficient constructive feedback; and
- Blogging is frequently done in an informal setting and manner, lacking standards and expectations.
Both articles assert arguments with which I agree and disagree.
Blogging regularly does provide an opportunity to practice and develop good writing skills, but the type of feedback bloggers receive generally differs greatly from the criticism provided by a writing teacher or via peer critiques. Miss Write correctly points out that readers do not highlight grammatical, punctuation, usage or other errors in blog posts: “Comments rarely contain corrections, and if they did, theyβre probably the seeds of a flame war.” If you read a blog regularly, it is common to see the author make the same mistakes repeatedly. For instance, one blogger comes to mind who regularly confuses “lose” with “loose” and has written several posts about her efforts to “loose weight.” Thus far, it appears that none of her readers have stepped forward to correct her error.
In fact, the Daily Writing Tips article actually lists reason number four as “Your writing will improve.” Above, I paraphrased the rationale offered in the explanatory text rather than setting forth the subheading verbatim because, as phrased, it merely restates, but does not advance the argument.
Having an audience is a motivating factor, but keeping readers interested is just as important. Cultivating a regular readership requires that you offer a high-quality product. How many times have you visited a blog, read a couple of posts and, because of the poor writing quality exhibited, closed the browser window and never returned? I do not have time to wade through a poorly written post in search of the message the writer clumsily tried to convey. There are simply not enough hours in the day and far too many well-written blogs competing for my attention. So while practice does generally lead to improvement, I am of the opinion that anyone who seeks to be a truly great writer needs more guidance, feedback, and direction than can be derived from the readers of one’s blog.
The style of writing found in blogs is frequently extremely informal, especially in personal blogs. “Blog-speak” is common and abbreviations abound because entries are often completed an published in a hurry without being proofread or edited. “A blog post, . . . is quick to write and free to publish: if it fails, youβve not lost much. Blogging gives you the freedom to experiment, to try out something new,” so Daily Writing Tips advocates adopting a new form or style of writing. That’s an excellent suggestion because the blogosphere is a wild, untamed frontier where writers have the freedom to find or modify their unique voice. However, even within the various genres, overarching principles of structure, form, and technique still apply. And a dieter is still on a crusade to lose, not loose, weight.
What do you think? Is blogging one way to become a better writer? If you blog, what has your experience been? Do you believe that blogging has improved your writing? If so, how?
29 Comments
Hello, thanks for this great article! I am a blogger, too, and my writing skills are better than before, because I blog everyday. I have a few blogs on different topics and everyday I learn something new and I write about it. Thanks for the great read.
I agree and do not agree. π I agree that it makes you to write everyday and to tka feedbacks.But, you only write about what you are interested in. For getting more information about something., visiting the other blogs may be benefical.
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I think it does make you a better blogger for the reasons you mentioned and other. You become conscious, aware, enlightened to how your words are put together and the affect they are having on the reader.
Thanks for provoking thought!
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awesome blog would love to add you to my list of blogs that I read. π
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Blogging allows me a place to practice my writing and share some of it with friends, but it does not make me a better writer….in fact when we write for the online world we tend to abbreviate more, create a more precise article than a true story.
A true writer must practice and hone their craft elsewhere, but blogging does not persay hurt them.
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Bloggins has improved my writing and discipline. I am fortunate, because my husband is my editor (he is great in grammar) and is very quick to point out my mistakes!
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I’m torn, I feel that blogging has improved my writing, or perhaps my creativity, but not my grammar and proper usage. One thing it has made me do is proof read and edit. I find it embarrassing to post an article or story, then locate an obvious error.
The wonderful comments I receive, inspire me to continue, however, they are not designed as constructive criticism. I have my sister for that, she regularly copies my posts, highlights my mistake’s, and offers suggestion.
I am considering posting a comment policy, stating that respectful constructive criticism is encouraged. I believe though, I will have to be very careful with that because I do not want abusive comment toward my readers or me.
Thank you for the thought provoking post.
Yes. I think it can.Blogging is one type of creative writing.If you practise this then it makes you a good writer.
on the personal level, blogging has greatly improved my skill as now I have become so used to elaborate things which I normally would try to explain everything in one sentence. However, this is me and I cannot speak for everyone.
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Since I started blogging, I’m more open in terms of interests and how I see the world. I’ve reignited my passion for photography and my cooking skills have definitely improved. I feel more confident and am bursting with ideas to blog about. A better writer? I’m not sure. But I love it even more.
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I dont know if it’s made me a better writer, in fact, I don’t think that it has but it has help to improve my typing skills. I type faster than ever and with greater accuracy. In that respect, I do believe that practice does make perfect. Thanks for the interesting post.
I think blogging does improve writing if that’s a goal of the writer. I have found that developing blogging friendships with people who have gotten to know me and my work, and vice versa, has led to constructive feedback and the encouragement. I think it’s all good.
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Great article.
Personally, I feel like I’ve improved because of the frequent posting. Keeps the mind churning. As this also said, the notion of impressing other is a big motivation to produce good posts.
I’m new to blogging so writing can be a bit of a challenge for me. But as I continue to blog on my favorite topics, I try to remember to use spell checker and proofread all my posts. I definitely pay attention to my spelling but I’m not so sure about correct punctuation sometimes.
I hope I’m getting better and with time my writing will improve.
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There are so many poorly written blogs within the blogosphere. I run away from the truly terrible examples. However I do read blogs that are written in simple conversational language. Not every blog needs to be masterfully written.
Because I write full length book reviews for my blog I do try to utilize proper grammar to the best of my abilities. Spelling doesn’t tend to be a problem for me though.
I do find that since I’ve begun writing on a regular basis my skills are improving. I hadn’t done much writing since high school prior to starting my blog.
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I’ve been blogging for 4 1/2 years but I don’t think I really started to improve in my writing until I focused my efforts on a narrow topic: book reviews. The comments I get are rarely about the skill of my writing. I think the improvements have come from my own focus and research by reading other book blogs and articles on writing reviews.
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I wonder if blogging helps with general writing skills. When you’re blogging you’re trying to write in keywords, (if you’re doing it right.) But for pure writing you should be writing exactly what you want to say, not to write around things like keywords just to get them in.
I think it teaches you bad habits
No, I don’t think blogging improves my writing skills. I agree that to improve one needs some feedback and constructive criticism which I haven’t found while blogging.
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I think blogging can make you a better writer.Its like that with most things in life the more you do it the better you get at it.
Except for my tags, which I try to keep consistent, I don’t write around keywords. I’m not trying to monetize my blog. SEO is the last thing on my mind when I’m blogging.
Sarah @ pussreboots’s most recent blog post..Moving Day
i always enjoy your dissections of blog-craft. this one caught my eye & my first response was a hearty “yes, it does.” but as i read on i realized that there are more facets to this idea & i agree with your yes-&-no approach. for me personally, blogging does improve my writing in that it is an encouragement for me to write in the first place. but it is not & probably never will be my only tool for the craft. it is too informal for one-stop effectiveness. thanks again for another terrific post!
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Knowing that somebody else is reading my blog — even just one person — is the best motivator ever to improve my writing skills. There’s nothing like it!
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It is the same with anything really. The more you do it, the better you become at doing it.
Blogging at least reveals if one can write at all. although you can get better at anything if you really keep trying hard to improve.
Yeah I think it makes me a better writer, may be not too much but at least just a little bit.
Thanks for the post buddy.
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Blogging takes out your inner words!! Expressing yourself with courage.
Thanks for the post!
I guess yes. Blogging indeed provides a relevant experience for a writer to become better. Academic writing does not differ from blogging as much, both need practice to produce good writers. Being a blogger for 3 years now I guess it really bring about the best in me in terms of writing finesse – allows me to express myself more. Nice post!
Does blogging me a better writer? Absolutely! College requires a lot of writing assignments like essays, term papers and book reports. Through blogging I am able to develop my skill in constructing coherent and grammatically correct sentences and paragraphs. More so, it allows me to connect with other students who share my interests and can give sound advice on academic life.
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