Can We Be Taken Seriously?

I did it at some earlier point in my blog and I think most of us go through very introspective spells, during which we ask why we have a blog, why we write about the things we do and what we want to achieve through it. At least most of us with a blog do.

Now, as one of the "old timers" in the Sri Lankan blogosphere, which means that my blog has existed for over 4 weeks and that it's read by most of my family, I smile inwardly when I see someone else put out a "why do I blog" post. It's almost a right of ritual, invariably saying the same things that many of us have said, or thought at the least.

Lately though there's a lot of talk about Sri Lankan bloggers, seemingly ignited or fuelled by the session scheduled at the Galle Literary Festival to talk about bloggers and whether we should be taken seriously. I'm rather gutted that I won't be able to go to the GLF in a few weeks' time as I've spent many hours perusing the itinerary and have picked out many sessions that I'd dearly love to be at.

I hope that there'll be a GLF in 2009, it's a bit anal to plan that far ahead but I'm giving it a go anyway and have all but booked my flights.

My thoughts on blogging versus literature are like the average Sri Lankan politician's commitment and dedication to their party; confused, muddled and easily influenced by other people and money.

The Missing Sandwich put out this post recently that got my attention. Our red haired heroine asks

"I pose this to you - is a blog not a place for personal expression? Can I or can I not express my thoughts and musings on what I see/hear/read around me?"

And, even though she has asked a question, to me it summarises what so many blogs really are; merely a means of expressing our thoughts and musings, whatever they may be. The Missing S asks the question in the context of her post about a seemingly harsh attack on something she wrote. I think her question is an interesting one and my answer to it is simple; we have blogs and we (usually) allow anyone to comment on them. Therefore we have total control over what we write and what we publish but we give others the right to criticise us. We don't have to but we choose to.

But, back to the subject of writing and blogs. There are many that I read regularly, you can see links to most of them at the left of this post and their variety is one of the things that attracts me to each of them. Frankly I always feel in awe of people like Sach, Theena, Java and Lady Luck. These chaps have proper writing styles and techniques, they've been to colleges and Universities and learned how to write. Of course Java and Theena have had some chemical and herbal help as well.

I read the little nuggets that they post and marvel at their use of language and the way their minds work and the vocabularies they possess. My blog isn't one of those types at all. I'm like so many out there who just type words as we think them, I don't have a style of writing and I just write things as they zip into my head, largely in the same way I'd say them. Fortunately I'm occasionally a fucking funny bloke with childish tendencies, otherwise things would be pretty dull around here.

Since I started blogging all the things that I paid scant attention to in English at school have started to come back to me. Well they would have if I had paid any attention to them but it's just bits and pieces now. I do remember being taught about planning what you write, about beginnings and middles and those things at the end, I just don't know how to do them. So I think of something and jot some words down and see what comes of it. My blog currently contains about 35 posts that are at various stages of completion. I just bung words down when they come out, sometimes they get posted but often they don't.

Can we be taken seriously?

It's just inappropriate to categorise all blogs within one group and ask the question of the group. The quick answer is that some writers are good and some are crap. We take the ones that we like as serious and reject the others.

The bit I love about blogs, blogging and the blogosphere is also the bit I hate; that anyone can write anything and put it out there for all to read. It's all about choices.

I suppose we all have different aims and ideas for our blogs. Some may see their's as a stepping stone to getting published or to getting a "proper" writing job, some may see them as a means of advertising their services online, others may use it as a restrospective diary, some folks like to stimulate political discussion and intellectual debate. The fact is that blogs are brilliant means of achieving these things for anyone with access to a PC.

Mine is just an online outpouring of thoughts. I started it with one thing in mind; to keep things positive and not to slag other people off, which is two things I know.

In the back of my mind is a vague idea that, at some point in the future, some ancestors will stumble across my little piece of me in cyberspace. They'll read it and learn about me, my life and those around me.

I wish I'd listened to Mr Whittekind in English when he taught us about good endings.