The Process of Blogging

The Process of Blogging
By Mary Hamilton

Andrew Sullivan was ambivalent about blogging when he started. When he first began blogging, he only posted his past articles and columns. Quickly, he found blogging to be a lot like journalism: "We blog now--as news reaches us, as facts emerge." As a journalist, Sullivan began to appreciate blogging and began to write articles and posts soley meant for his blog. He found it a liberating experience--it was immediate and unedited. He could write raw posts without waiting to publish it and without having an editor polish his writing. "The simple experience of being able to directly broadcast my own words to readers was an exhilarating literary liberation."

Not only was publishing immediate, but also criticism was immediate. Sullivan's readers corrected him, argued with him, and trashed him. At first, he was shocked: "Now the feedback was instant, personal, and brutal." Eventually, he learned to use his readers' challenges to edit his blog, improve it, and enrich it. His readers would give him stories, information, and ideas. He used the different perspectives his readers provided to improve the quality and texture of his blog.

Sullivan recognized that blogging was "superficial" and more "colloquial" than print journalism. But he also realized that he could reflect on his own writing and gain a clearer, more defined truth. His process of public self-reflection created better "print writing." "But being forced to order (my thoughts) in my head and think about them for a longer stretch has helped me understand them better and perhaps express them more clearly." Already an accomplished writer, Andrew Sullivan's blog gave him direct access to his readers, let him learn from the process, and become a more aware writer.