Whether you have been writing online for years or you have only recently pondered the idea of starting a blog, you likely will sooner or later ask yourself, “Who am I?”
The concept of self-analysis for a blogger may seem odd to some.
However, societal perceptions are often created due to vague perceptions rather than concrete information, and bloggers are no exception to this trend.
How are bloggers generally labeled in conventional society?
Depending on who you ask, you might hear that they are often reclusive, nerdy, and antisocial; that they are petty gossip-mongers who could not cut it as real journalists; or that they are untrained hacks pretending to be real professional writers.
Of course, examples can be found to counter all of these stereotypes, with blogs now created on fashion, cooking, travel, politics and many other subjects by bloggers who are extremely successful and skilled at what they do.
Therefore, with adequate research and a passion for writing, it is possible to blog on just about any topic.
The important thing is to answer your questions about your identity as a blogger yourself, rather than relying on the casual impressions of uninvolved members of society to do so for you.
What is a blogger to you?
The term “blogger” is a vague and general word, so it is important for you to define exactly what it means to you.
It can be a professional term, especially if you freelance or if you are self-employed, or it may simply refer to a hobby that allows you to share your thoughts, opinions, skills and knowledge with interested people.
Does blogging matter to you?
If you write to earn a living, you should determine whether blogging matters to you as more than a source of income, and why.
If blogging does matter, you might find yourself happier running a personal blog or a blog that surrounds your own interests during your free time to take the stress away from writing solely to earn money.
If you find yourself growing bored with blogging, mix up the content and information you share, or start an additional blog for another outlet that is relevant to your lifestyle and your own personal interests.
Writing about content that you find fun and enjoyable allows you to de-stress - an important purpose in its own right, even if you do not consider your blog to be your primary writing project.
Find a subject that you are passionate about for the best results, especially when you are working on your own from home.
Do you have a future in blogging?
If blogging is something that you love to do, you should consider whether it is a long-term option for your career — in so many words, whether you are a “real” writer.
With enough time, effort and determination, it is possible to work full-time from home as a blogger and be your own boss.
You simply need to determine what areas you are an expert in, how best to communicate your expertise and then how to monetize the traffic you attract.
Do your contributions matter to you?
If you find yourself doubting your ability or motivation to be a “real” writer, you can also write for a cause.
Find a cause that allows you to help with sharing and spreading important information so you are able to connect with an audience that feels the same as you.
Writing for a cause can help bring the joy back into your writing and blogging and can make you feel optimistic about blogging again, especially if you are in a writing drought or are feeling less creative than usual.
Charles Dearing has been blogging since 2008 on various topics such as blogging for newbies, social media and marketing. He writes on on behalf of Whoishostingthis.com - a webmaster tool that lets you discover which web hosting company any site is hosted with.
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Personal Blogging really helps decreasing our distress. I am a part time blogger, i just do it for passion
Awesome, really blogging has different meanings, it depends on how do you take blogging in your life. whether as a professional or as a hobby.
I see bloggers as more content producers and deliverers rather than as “writers” in the pure sense of the word, mostly because a blogger has more of a responsibility than just to write. You’ve also the editor, designer, publisher, and web host. Bloggers can come in a number of different forms, depending on how they chose to present their sites. Writers just write.
I agree with @Paul’s comment about bloggers being more content generators and sharers than conventional accomplished writers. I personally blog covering diverse topics because I have many interest and desires that can only be fulfilled through the written word.
This question is pretty relevant in these times. Every rhird peson or so I meet has a blog. Blogging is like the next gen way of saying I’m a cool, creative person, I do awesome on web, etc. But these so-called bloggers are just attention-seeker kids who don’t yet have an identity of themselves. With no specific subjects, or interest, they are only looking forward to reaping profits. Blogging can never be your money-making machine!!
Important questions to ask yourself.
Most are in it for the income and the prizes that can be won through working hard.
Hey Charles,
Exceptionally awesome article about blogger and real writers. i would suggest that a blogger is one who blogs for earning and Real writer is one who really writes the content for readers. Real writers are those who really give information to users. Blogger has a mind to earn from Blogging while real writers wants to give some thing new to users !
Thanks
Supertintin
santhosh says
Yes blogging are real writers,,,but we are also seo specialists,managers,social media guys and almost everything one needs to be to be a blogger
To me, bloggers are writers too. Just that they don’t proceed to higher levels of writing until they start to get paid!
I think that a blogger needs to be a solid writer who can write content that is free of error and easy to follow. However, a blogger is not real writer, nor is is a blogger’s job easy per say. Not all bloggers are in it for the money and many are passionate about their work.
Hello Charles,
I think every person who writes is writer. It doesn’t matter what he writes? how he writes? The only thing that matters is he keeps growing with time. And that’s the real sign of writer.
The thing that differentiate writers are their written words. If you keep improving your written words then you are writer. And any bloggers who writes and keeps improving with time then he is a good writer.
Thanks for the post.
Regards,
Romy Singh
agree with you Romy “I think every person who writes is writer.”
Steven says
It’s silly to even imagine that the media in which you choose to publish should dictate your position as a writer or not. Moreover, it is mean-hearted, sanctimonious, and entirely unnecessary .
Some bloggers are definitely real writers. Sure there are those who just blog for fun or as a release or whatever their reason may be but there are plenty of bloggers whose writings are right up there with the best of the ‘real’ writers. I think I can say that most of the interesting stuff I ready daily online are blogs these days.
-Jean
Great Stuff!
I personally believe it’s a great opportunity for people to share their views in a creative manner. Blogging presents challenge, and challenge is the key to becoming better and more proficient at whatever it is we put our minds (and keystrokes) to.
This question is very tricky,and simple if you know your goals in blogging.
Regards
Simphiwe Mkhize
Very important that a blogger is a real writer. If you blog for the mere sake of earning money, you will never succeed.
Great tips here. Thanks a lot!
Hi Charles,
for me writing is a passion and I like to write only about the subjects that interest me and that I know best. I wouldn’t blog about something that I had no clue about just for the sake of it. I guess it all depends on the reason for blogging and of course some people have managed to turn it into their full time job and I find that really amazing.
Jennifer nora says
Who write a little bit but write unique articles, i think he/she is a writer, and if he publish his articles as a blog in his own site or other sites, he is a blogger & writer. Some people who are very interested to copy others unique articles , he is not a writer, simply a thief
Great title for this post. Now there’s a good blogger. I’m not a writer, i’m a blogger. I have my stage, the platform from where i put my opinions and share my knowledge. It’s also the place which launched my business, and it has changed my life. Mind you when somebody says so what do you do for a living, and i say ‘I’m a blogger’ yuo can see they don’t have a clue what that is.
Hi Charles,
Blogger to me means: Someone who can enable people to learn, share and be inspired. You know a pioneer that leads and people take note of. Sure, we are real writers and work hard to express our thoughts.
Some very good questions to ask yourself. A blogger in my opinion is she or he who blogs about a particular topic and has some sort of mastery over it. Blogging for some people is about fun, some do it professionally to make money, some just do it for fun.
Bloggers are really good readers, they love to add up value to the conversations.
Writing is the most important part of blogging. So every blogger should be a real writer. But I do agree, personal blogging helps a lot in improving our writing skills and getting out of distress
Hi CharlesDearing,
I don’t think so, that I’m a real writer. But leaving among probloggers like sister Jane, made me more passionate about blogging.
I’m really glad to read this article. I am agreed with you on each point you mentioned above and prefer it alot.
Hi Charles,
Now I am pondering about what blogging does mean to me, I have started writing with my own blog but never thought too much myself as blogger, I kept writing if something was really useful for me. I don’ t know, Definitely blogging is not my career but blogging does mean to me if i can help by writing something that i know. That is all.
Anyways nice post
Real writers are those who really give information to users. Blogger has a mind to earn from Blogging while real writers wants to give some thing new to users.
Bloggers Who write a little bit but write unique articles, I think he - she is a writer, and if he publish his articles as a blog in his own site or other sites, he is a blogger & writer.
Read more: Are Bloggers Real Writers? Have You Thought About This?
Hi Charles,
One of the easiest ways for me personally to see if a blogger takes their blogging (and writing) seriously is by them having a privately owned domain on which their blog is hosted and the schedule at which they post. True – everyone has to start somewhere. But if there is real passion and interest the progress they should make by blogging and working on their blog / website should reflect in their work / content.
For blogging it is very essential to do your own research and write your own contents. Read a lot and do a lot of brain storming before writing killer contents. People will visit your blog to read new contents.
There’s a commercial thats been airing alot lately where a guy asks his wife if he can quit his job and start a blog then she rolls her eyes and angrily says NO in a way that suggests he’d be wasting his time. So I’d say the consensus is blogging is not taken too seriously or at least that is how big media is trying to spin it.
But with the way the economy is it’s only wise to find more innovative ways to ethically make money and blogging is one of them once you find a system of doing it where you’re not just wasting time.
Dan says
On blogging I can realized that need more and more time to practice writing, meanwhile my job very close with writing.
So, blogging give me a room to practice without worry good or bad how i wrote. After 1 year still i don’t satisfied with my articles….
keep blogging for the purpose
Sheeba - I think the answer here is that “it depends.” Certainly, I have followed a number of Blogs where the owner wrote really excellent blog articles that would stand the test of any “writer” criteria. Many other sites are more “chatting” than writing. But this is also okay.
Blogging has become more powerful than before its not just hobby, business or money making way, you can bring some change in society with your writing.
Actually, i had ignored twitter completely in the beginning of my blog and later found it was important.. After i got my followers coming, i never had to look back. Thanks for the post!
In my opinion, even if a bloggger isn’t a writer, but still he/she will develop this talent in some time. Very interesting post, tthanks
Thanks for this interesting share. Blogging has changed a lot from its inception. Bloggers can no make good money out of blogging. Self analysis is important for each one of us. A blogger surely needs to be a writer.
Thanks for the share…blogging is definitely a stress buster and there is so much to blogging…..both blogging and bloggers have evolved over a period of time and it completely depends on the individual’s perspective on how he takes blogging…
Informative post,I’m a professonal blogger and i think this is good career for me.
Good question asked! .. Blogging is depend on situation. To become a topper writer brain storming is needed in high quality.. Pretty nice post!
of course they are! I just wish i was a better writer. plus i hate writing, so that doesnt really help
Alex says
In my impartial opinion, every blogger is a writer. While others are writing in papers, a blogger present his work to world within seconds.
Blogging is really an interesting and awesome job to do , but it how people use it , but blogging supports us in all extremes , not all bloggers are good writers but all writers can be good Bloggers
They are not real writers at first but through a long term blogging, they eventually become a real writer because of the experience. I wish to become one too. =)
Excellent post. I dont agree with the common notion that anyone can be a writer. It is not an easy job for any common individual with no significant interest in writing to persuade or impress people. It is crucial to have love for writing to become a good writer and the intention should be to express your thoughts and not only generating money.
I think now
mostly are trying to make money online and become writer for only content so they are not real
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