In the Spring of 2012 I will be entering the real world; searching for a job and living in my parents' basement. I'll be looking for a career working with words, whether in the literary publishing field or the journalism route. Needless to say, these two fields are very often mentioned in the same sentence as blogs.
People say that publishing on a blog isn't really publishing, and bloggers aren't journalists. However, blogs are changing journalism and publishing, and no one would deny that.
Here, a blogger at successful-blog.com debates whether a blog can be literature: http://www.successful-blog.com/1/blogging-as-literature-why-not/ but I would rather think about what a blog can mean to someone who is looking to launch a literary career. A blog offers a writer a place to get their work out into the world. Instead of sending a short story or poem directly to a literary magazine, a writer can post it on their blog and see what people think about it. It's a better version of handing a manuscript to a friend and asking for feedback. People will be more honest online, since they likely don't know the writer and can hide behind the veil of anonymity. Real, honest feedback is so important to a writer, and a blog's comment field is a great place to get that feedback.
As for blogging and journalism? Most journalists have their own blogs now, so obviously there is something to it. Print journalists can criticize home-body bloggers all they want, but at the same time they know it is changing the game. Like a writer looking to be published, blogs can do the same thing for a beginning journalist or a freelancer. Blogs are a free way to get your words and your name out to people. Why not sell your article to a newspaper, and then publish it on a blog? Thenextweb.com has a nice piece on the blogging vs. journalism debate: http://thenextweb.com/us/2010/08/18/blogging-vs-journalism-the-ongoing-debate/
Ahh yes, the honest feedback is essential to the writer. Asking your best friend never works - they will always tell you it's great. Honest feedback will definitely help because the publishers don't care about your feelings, they care about dollar signs. Great observation on the utilization of blogging for writers and journalists.
ReplyDeleteI actually wanted to tell you in my first comment here, but realized it got too long and so shrugged the idea off. Haha!
ReplyDeleteYes, the honest feedback is important to every writer. But, from what I've learned and gathered over the months since graduation and starting my first real job, I realized the subject you're writing matter to you, as a writer, too. I enjoyed writing at my first job because it was most food-related, but I was somewhat unhappy there because of all the politics, corporate mess and whatnot; therefore, I left. Now at my second job, the company offers a better, more liberal environment (of course, every company has its own issue and culture, which may or may not suit me). I took it up mainly for the pay, but haven't been enjoying writing there because gaming simply isn't my cup of tea (it's part of the highly lucrative Asia gaming industry - think of games like DotA and League of Legends and of that sort). I dread through the process oftentimes. *Sigh*
On the other hand, everyone blogs for different reasons. I've seen, in my opinion, terrible blogs as well as good blogs. Those that look terrible to me may not be the same to others. Funny enough, even within the blogging world of the same interest, take food blogging for instance, there's politics, too. *Faint* What's wrong with the world, man!
So, yes. Please, please keep writing on a blog, but do it at your own pleasure and your own pace, since we have other commitments in real life, too. (Working is a good excuse! Haha!)
By the way, thought of telling you, I used to be a staff writer for the Northern Student (September 2008 to April or May 2009). I hope they still keep my work there. Haha! Emily Halla (now writing for a Blackduck paper, I think?) and James Foster were the editors-in-chief while I was with the paper. Still keeping in touch with James via Twitter occasionally, as, you see, he doesn't tweet as much.
I wonder if you know Ryan Schwingler and Becky Boe. They were the presidents at the Student Senate. Becky and I were in the same classes, and now all of us are good friends who still stay in touch via emails and Skyping. In fact, they've just reached Bangkok yesterday to start teaching English for 10 months, and during which we hope for a reunion, too. (Malaysia and Thailand are neighbors.) That gave me the idea that, hey, you can perhaps consider looking for a writer or similar position here upon graduation. If I'm not wrong, the U.S. job market hasn't still fully recovered yet, huh?
I remember vividly I didn't know what to do with myself upon graduation, since the market was tougher here back in 2009. Now I know I want to keep the "writer" title with me my whole life. And I've also realized the market for writers, journalists, and the like is a niche one, and we're in demand. Well, as long as you write decently and have an excellent command of English and whichever other languages in question, over here, you can qualify yourself as a writer of some sort. Most of us here are either bi- or multilingual, so English often winds up as a second language -- just like how it is to me -- and isn't something everyone is good at. It took me years to master it, since young. All the best to you anyhow. Stay in touch!
P.S. Is Prof. Louise Mengelkoch(?) still there? Prof. Carl Sewall? Virgil Bakken? If I'm not wrong, Valicia Boudry has left BSU. She was my fave professor, the one who taught to use descriptive verbs.