11 Days: The Value of Blogging

In my Early British Literary History class today, we discussed the emergence of periodicals and newspapers during the 18th century. It was the first time (due to the ease of printing and widespread literacy) that people were publishing for the general public on a regular basis. We talked about the results that came from it; namely the fact that when you know you're going to write something regularly, you feel a bit of freedom to write complete crap once in a while. (The professor's words, not mine.) Since we like to make connections between history and our own developing literary culture, we talked about how blogging had turned into the same sort of thing - publishing for a general audience on a regular basis.

Man, did this lesson hit home!

With less than two weeks to go before finishing my 100 Days of Blogging challenge, I was prone to reminisce about what has happened because of my writing every day. Yes, I'm sure I wrote complete crap on occasion, just trying to put some words on the screen so I could go to bed. But, as we discussed in class, there is value in saying something every day because you'll frequently end up recording some thoughts that would otherwise have been considered unworthy of a blog post.

I can't tell you (though my family will attest to it) how many times I've plopped down in front of the computer, stared at the keyboard, and whined, "I don't have anything to say!" And yet, I have filled these pages to bursting over these last few months. I have written some really great stuff out of boredom, or out of a new perspective - because when you know you're going to have to write a blog post, it can lead you to see the events of your day differently.

And if you take all of my last 90 posts (I'm up to ninety after today, right?) and lay them out in front of you, I think you'll be able to see the real me. My posts are erratic, unorganized, and diverse, but there are bits of me that carry through the weeks. I'll bet that if you averaged those posts together, you would get me, in as pure a form as literature can portray.

So, in honor of blogging - and of the last ten days to come - here are a few of my favorite posts from during the 100 Days of Blogging Challenge:

Guest Speakers (97 Days)

Recreational Writing (93 Days)

Obscure Talents (79 Days)

Failing Literally (77 Days)

More Pithy Literature (67 days)

Rag Doll (65 Days)

The Voices (62 Days)

Sleepy . . . (53 Days)

Shakespeare and Stephenie (34 Days)

From the Writing Desk (24 Days)

A Private Letter (21 Days)

 Can you believe how long I've been doing this? I have put words on digital paper every day for three months! And some of you are still reading this! That's the part I don't understand.

So how about it. What are some of my posts that you've liked? Anybody have any favorites?