blogging: great practice for writing

One of the great joys for me has been seeing some Christian women I know join the blogging ranks. Here they are:

• Honoria (whose blog was a well-chosen birthday gift from Sandra),


• Belinda (who loves writing and wants to share what she's learning at Bible college),


• Pilgrim Penguin (who tells me she's practising the discipline of writing for others).

Sounds familiar. About 6 months ago, a certain blog writer was heard to observe: "I started this blog to reflect on things, to practise writing, and to encourage anyone who got around to reading it" (except I was more long-winded, blogging having now taught me to say things quickly).

The Pilgrim Penguin told me she's "finding blogging harder than I expected. It's quite a restrictive medium. Short doesn't mean easy!!"

Yes! It's much harder to write short than long. But short is exactly what blog posts need to be (and I take this opportunity to apologise for all the long ones).

Reading on screen is more painful and 25% slower than on paper. People tend to scan or skim-read when they're online. So you have to get a reader's attention early, and hold it. Be clear and concise, eloquent and engaging, intriguing and insightful.

And if this sounds beyond you (and let's face it, it's beyond all of us!) blogging's a great way to learn. Nothing like posting every few days to break writer's block and get the juices flowing!

Be yourself. Tell us what you think. Make us laugh. Make us cry.

Blogging demands what all good writing demands, only more so: brevity, clarity, grace and style. It's excellent training for writing. If you can write a blog people want to read, you can write just about anything.

So welcome to the dark side, my bloggy friends. And if you've always wanted to write? Try blogging!