Is Blogging Devaluing the ‘typed’ word? Part V
I find the easiest way to address this is to quote Melissa’s concise response to my question: ‘At what point do you believe that written work becomes worthy of a monetary value?’ She stated simply, ‘when it is well written.’ (See An Interview With Melissa Foster). In many ways this sums up my research. The ‘word’ will always have an inherent value to it. Whether it be written or typed a value will always be there.
Filed under Scribbling a Path
Is Blogging Devaluing the ‘typed’ word? Part IV
It is difficult to gain any clear-cut evidence to support a claim into whether it has a direct effect on one’s publication chances, my research found. For instance, 62.5% of those I interviewed – who had been published – suggested that blogging had no effect on their chances of publication. With 32.5% claiming that their publication was of a direct or indirect result of their blog. Therefore the evidence, suggests that one cannot simply advocate blogging as a direct link to publication; however, neither can it be dismissed as irrelevant to the process, based on the results that I gained.
Filed under Scribbling a Path
Is Blogging Devaluing the ‘typed’ word? Part III
The question now becomes, does blogging have an effect on one’s chances of becoming published and therefore, increase writer’s monetary wealth in this way? It is at this point that the argument becomes more fluid and simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers really won’t suffice.
Both Luke O’ Neil[1] & Melissa Foster[2] have praised blogging as a method of promotion for writers as have all but one of the writers that I surveyed[3]. Therefore, it can be asserted that blogging isn’t devaluing the written word in this sense. By contrast, it is instead giving value to it as a promotional tool for writers. Nevertheless, it is far too simplistic to simply state that blogging does add value and publication potential to one’s work. However, there are other factors at play, naturally, that need to be looked into deeper for a balanced analysis to be achieved.
Filed under Scribbling a Path
Is Blogging Devaluing the ‘typed’ word? Part II
The first question that needs to be addressed – when looking at devaluation of the written word – is whether blogging generates a direct income. From this perspective, I can confidently suggest that blogging, even when done to the fullest extent possible, will provide you with at maximum – a token income. To take the example of Don Charisma[1]: his interview gained me 75 ‘Likes’ on WordPress within a 24 hour period and he perceives the essence of blogging to be self-promotion. Therefore, he’s the perfect candidate for testing this hypothesis.
Filed under Scribbling a Path
Part I
Over the next five days I will be examining the reasons that writers blog and the effects that blogging is having on the typed word.
To be a writer in the 21st century there is a prerequisite to be a blogger – or so it would seem. The days of signing an agent or a publisher – without an ‘online presence’ – are behind us. I myself have been blogging for a number of months now and have some thirty-five blog posting in my repertoire. In terms of the blogging world, I blog sporadically and a little infrequently. The reason being that I’m eager to have an stimulating topic to explore before I write. I don’t see any point writing anything unworthy of reading. That said, I also don’t write anything that I see as worthy of monetary value. By contrast, my blog is a place for me to explore, to vent, to celebrate and to express myself and indirectly to build an audience for my writing. Therefore, in many ways, I am the stereotypical writer who blogs.
Filed under Scribbling a Path
‘When you die you’ll leave that big house. When I die I’ll leave this [little one]. What’s the difference?’ he says as he puts out his cigarette on the stained carpet of his living room floor. The carpet itself, a mere buffer between their home and the soil beneath. ‘The difference being,’ he continued, ‘that I’ll have sang and danced, while you’ll have been chasing all those things.’
Filed under Observations
Scribblings and Broken Glass 