To blog, or not to blog

I’ve read several blogs recently in which the blogger explains why they blog, why they started blogging, and why they continue to blog.  I found their insights very interesting and it lead me to question my own reasons for blogging.

I had a blog, but hardly ever used it.  I think I was excited about the idea of blogging, but I’d blog for a couple of days, then forget about it for a few weeks.  It wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be.  I didn’t get any visitors to my page.  I knew nothing about how to attract visitors.  I’d never kept a diary in my entire life, because I’m a private person, and I really wasn’t sure what to talk about anyway.  I didn’t have anything of interest to talk about.  My life was boring and mundane, and I didn’t want to get too personal.  So, why should anyone want to read what I had to say?

Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to blog.  I wanted to have something interesting to say.  I wanted people to be visit my page – which brings me to one of my questions:  Why would I want people to visit my page?  If you blog, which no doubt you do, then there must inevitably be some degree of narcissism involved, even if it is only a sight degree.  You want people to be interested in what you have to say; you want people to like you; you want to show off a skill you have, whether it is your skill as an author, an artist or a musician; you want validation; you want recognition; you want to promote your cause; you want to educate people, but there is also some degree of wanting people to learn from you, or be interested in what you do and what you have to say, and I have to include myself as one of these people.  I’m not saying that it applies to everyone, but I think it probably applies to most of us.  We want to get along with people and we want to be included.  After all, we are only human.  It’s in our nature at a very fundamental level.

I gave some thought to this yesterday in class, when I was watching a video of the artist, Gary Hume.  He talked about how the artist generally dislikes the work they create, as if it were inherent in creative types.  Yet the artist still creates. The artist wants affirmation that they are good at what they do.  They want people to like their work.  This lead my group to agree, that as artists there has to be a narcissistic streak within us, otherwise why would we bother creating art?

I initially started my blog to focus my mind on drawing, but I also wanted people to be interested in what I was learning, and about how I felt I was developing.  As many of you know, I’m a relatively new artist.  I had no clue how to draw until about 5 or 6 months ago.  I was determined to learn how to draw, and I signed up to Drawing Tutorials Online in order to make it happen.  However, even though I had this yearning to learn, I found that I also lacked focus – I would draw for a week continuously, and then not draw for another week.

One day I came across an article about NaBloPoMo, where you have to blog every day to participate on their site.  This was exactly what I was looking for!  I started posting every day about my drawing.  I found something that I could write about and it gave me the push to draw every day. So here I am 3 months down the line, and I’m still blogging almost every single day.  I no longer need the focus to draw each day because I am doing an art & design course, which means I have to draw and paint on a daily basis.  However, my reasons for continuing to blog have changed.

People started visiting my site, some started commenting.  My stat counter was gradually going up.  I was ecstatic when I was getting a few visitors a day, and it has been steadily increasing.  I had one subscriber – a friend – until recently, when I checked my subscription count, and found I had 30 subscribers!  I couldn’t believe it.  I thought my blog was boring, and it will be to many, but some people liked what I was writing about or liked seeing my artwork.  It has really spurred me on.

The reason I keep blogging? Because people are genuinely interested in what I’m doing, what I’m learning, and the work I’m creating.  I have made new friends as a result – I’ve found some great blogs and bloggers. I’d have given up long before now if it weren’t for the encouragement and the kind words I’ve received over these past 3 months.  It is they who keep me going, and who I hope will continue to do so.

In short, I love my blog…and I hope that you will continue to find it interesting, and perhaps you’ll learn something along the way.  I know I’ve learnt a lot.