Is A “Blog” A Weblog, Log, Or Website?

a-blogger
A Blogger!

Following are several definitions of what some dictionary sites define as a “blog.”

Do You Write Because You Can Or Because You Have To?

So was I writing because I could, or because there was this drive that I simply had to write?

In 2011 I had lot’s of time on my hands as I was attempting to recover from some mysterious fevers that had all the Dr.s stumped at the V.A. Hospital.

At the same time I had been working on building a website, and doing a good deal of writing. At some point, I ran across EZine Articles site, and an piece about article marketing caught my attention.

The idea of getting paid to write definitely appealed to me, and it just happened that EZine Articles was sponsoring a contest to write 100 articles in 100 days.

It's in the pot!
It’s in the pot!

About this same time I had come across a company promoting Omega 3 Fish Oil, which I had been purchasing and taking on a daily basis. So being a promoter of healthy living and high on Omega 3 at the time, it seemed like a great topic to write about.

Even though I was a few weeks behind, I figured if I could write 3 articles a day I could make the deadline for the contest with a day or two to spare.

The challenge was taken up and I began doing research to see how many different topics I could write about around this topic.

Now keep in mind I saw this as a challenge, whether I could do it or not. It wasn’t so much that I was 100% convinced about the benefits of Fish Oil in the form of a capsule. I was simply 100% convinced I could write 100 articles and maybe, just maybe, begin selling some writing. THAT was the real challenge. Could my writing earn money?

So was I writing because I could, or because there was this drive that I simply had to write? A great question in light of why I was writing those articles.

Writing is something I have been doing since 3rd grade in school. Stories of heaven and I don’t remember what else were some of my first efforts. Along the way it developed into love notes and eventually pen pal correspondence.

Being an avid reader my vocabulary grew far beyond that of my peers. So there was a wide range of words to draw from because of that reading. Little by little many of those words would find their way into my conversations, leading to ridicule from classmates who had no idea what I was talking about.

There has always been the need to put thoughts on paper. At one point stories of experiences in Ecuador were being provided for my hometown weekly newspaper and that was fun. No editor who had to justify his job by tearing up my reports. 

A difference was noticed between that type of writing and creating the articles based on a challenge. For that I had to write and there’s a huge difference for me compared to writing what seems to come naturally.

For me, I have to write! Writing because I can is something forced. This was just something that rolled out from inside. As spontaneous as thoughts just more directed. And you? Do you write because you can, or because you have to?