5 reasons why I blog

There's apparently a new writer's meme going around, and Harmony (Writer in the Making) tagged me for it. The point is to list five reasons why you blog. So, here goes - five reasons why I blog!

1) I love blogging! Personally, I think that's the best reason for blogging, and it's definitely my biggest reason.

2) It's like journaling. There's some debate over whether it helps you write or helps you procrastinate, but journaling is often prescribed to help get the creative juices flowing. Blogging is like that for me, except that it serves more purposes than simply journaling would.

3) It's a great tool for attracting traffic. The vast majority of my website traffic comes in through my blogs. I'm not sure whether the traffic is helping my business, but it's definitely making me better known in the writing community...which brings me to my fourth reason.

4) I like being involved in the online writing community. There's no substitute for the feeling you get when another blogger talks about you as though you're some kind of celebrity. I also think our thriving writing community gives us an advantage in our business lives, as it keeps us connected to one another, gives us the strength to say "Screw You!" to clients who would take advantage of us, and helps to remind us that if even if we work alone, we are not alone in what we do.

5) I like the idea of helping out other writers. Two years ago, I had just started freelancing on the side of a full-time technical writing job, and I was clueless. When I decided to take a chance and freelance full time, I had a better idea of what I was doing, but my only connection to the writing community was Angela Hoy's Writers Weekly. Over time, I started reading blogs written by other writers. The writer I am today can be attributed to a combination of trial and error, and advice from other writers. My blog is my way of "giving back" to the writing community.

So there you have it: five reasons why I blog. I am tagging the following writers to participate in this meme:

Kathy Kehrli, of the infamous Screw You! blog
Debbie Ridpath Ohi, of Will Write For Chocolate and Inkygirl
scriptgirl, of the Writer's Confidant Blog

Have fun!