Blog about Blogging!

See: McCandless was a man in the hole... Or maybe Cinderella?

Just skimming over my blog posts, I immediately noticed that they seem to get shorter every week. At first, I thought this was just me getting lazy... However, as I began to read, I realized that this was also actually me getting better at keeping things concise and to the point. For example, in my very first blog post, "You are what you have...?", I had an over-abundance of details and examples. Way more than I needed to make myself clear. In my most recent post, I used only one example to explain that Douglass was a big believer in God, which is a big claim to make. I can attribute this to the fact that I have gotten better at finding stronger examples. Still, if I'm really trying to compel my reader, an example shouldn't stand alone. This, I can admit, is in fact me getting a little lazy :( . In my blogging, I have to work on finding something in the middle of these two extremes so I can convince my reader without overloading them with unnecessary detail.As I continued to read, I also noticed my voice becoming a little weaker. For example, when I was reading my first post, no joke, I cracked a smile. In my earlier posts, I wasn't afraid to joke around a little with the reader and use my sarcasm. In my most recent two posts, however, I started to write more like I would write for a teacher. Perhaps this is because, as my schedule gets more crowded, I've begun to view this blog as an assignment. I've started to forget how personal and real this blog is meant to be, and rereading has certainly been a wake up call. I've been given a chance to speak in my true voice, and I should stay true to that.
However, in my defense, I've noticed that my topics become increasingly unique. Towards the beginning of the quarter, I simply blogged about what we were talking about in class. For example, when we were talking about September 11th, I blogged about my reactions to the horrible event. However, in a more recent post, I talked about how I overheard my dad's friends using what I considered an offensive word towards a black person, and how this altered my view of racism. I let what I noticed outside of the classroom lead me back to what we learned in the classroom, rather than the other way around. This, I'm proud to say, is due to my new, overly critical brain! I think this is a very significant way to grow as a blogger.
I am overall happy with the way I've grown as a blogger, and it's not because I think my writing has gotten any better. I'm happy because I now take so many things I see outside of the classroom and ask myself 'What would I say if I were to blog about this?'. Not that I would actually blog about everything I notice (sorry), but I now find myself thinking critically about things I would've never thought twice about!