An old friend and I recently chatted about blogging and writing in general. As part of the conversation I put into words, quite possibly for the first time, why I blog.
What it all comes down to is this: I write the kind of posts that I would want to read. So, even if my blog has an audience of one (which I’m sure it often does) it serves as a creative outlet for me.
Yesterday, I read an interview Seth Godin gave in issue #10 of Productive Magazine which totally validated my reason for blogging. The interviewer asked Seth how he manages to post so frequently and he responded with the following.
Well, I think the most important thing to understand about blogging is that if you are blogging for other people you are going to be disappointed. Even if no one would read it I would still blog. And the people I know who blog passionately, all of them say exactly the same thing. So that is the way you have to look at it, you can’t say: “I’m not getting enough comments I’m not going to blog. I’m not getting enough money, I’m not going to blog”. You have to say: “this is a great chance for me to clear my thoughts and put them into the world, what an opportunity”.
— Seth Godin
Wow, talk about validation! Seth Godin proves once again that he gets it.
Why do you blog? Sound off in the comments below.
Photo of Seth Godin via Productive Magazine
Related articles
- Great Insight from Seth Godin’s Blog (charlottebyndas.com)
- Seth Godin on Blogging, Business Books, and Creating Content that Matters (copyblogger.com)
- Five Myths About Blogs and Blogging (sixestate.com)
slightly insightful 
To paraphrase another writer I blog because “how would I know what I think until I write it down”
Dr. Tom Bibey, author, “The Mandolin Case”
That’s a fantastic quote and very applicable to any form of self-expression. Thanks for sharing.
Wow, this is amazing. And exactly how I feel. Sometimes it’s like you just have to blog it, just to get it out of your head and created it in a physical space. Thanks for the quote.
It’s pretty liberating when you free your head from the extra noise that’s in there sometimes.
You are so very right! We write for ourselves, not for the validation of others.
Sometimes I’m we worry needlessly about how others will receive our work, but if we’re honest with ourselves and realize why we’re doing this and who it’s really for then none of that matters.
Peter Jackson has said “Make movies for yourself. That way at least one person will like it.” I feel that way about blogging. Oftentimes I think ‘who would want to read this,’ but I write it anyway.
Just so you know, I almost always love reading your blog, even though you don’t do it for validation, I think it’s still nice to be validated once in awhile. 😉
Just so you know, I almost always love reading your comments, even though you don’t do it for validation. No wait. What am I saying? You totally do it for validation.
Consider yourself validated.
Everything I do, I do so you can validate it. Which reminds me, I don’t think you’ve commented on my new video yet:
http://austindm.blogspot.com/2011/12/after-effects-final-v-for-vendetta.html
Oh yes you have. I guess I wanted more validation. Very verbose validation vindicating the verification and vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the virulent vermin violating the violation of volition.
I knew it! And now that you’ve admitted it we can finally start to help you. If you’ll let us.
Hey– I can quit whenever I want to! I just… don’t want to.
yet.
Great post!
I blog to motivate myself. I blog so that I can track my past actions and not repeat similar mistakes. I blog as a way of tracking time. Finally, I blog so that others with similar interests will stay motivated!! xx Layinka