As this being my last of the ten required blog posts for this course, I find myself reflecting on my blogging experience. This was my first experience with public blogging and to be honest it was very intimidating at first. I took me a couple tries to get comfortable straying away from the formal version of writing that I have been used to. As an English major I, of course, have been used to, as well as comfortable with, writing formal analytical, research, and argumentative essays. This resulted in myself having a hard time transitioning into writing in a casual conversation style.
Throughout my time writing many blog posts I believe I have become more confident and comfortable writing in such a way that fits a blog. As I reflect back on this experience and the value of public blogging I have found myself questioning why more professors do not participate in such a thing. There is no doubt that almost everyone is going to have more casual conversations in their life than they will be composing a formal traditional essay. Throughout this course I have found that when we split up into small groups to discuss readings or other things relating to the class, those are the conversations that really get me questioning things and thinkING; more so than I would just sitting down and researching something for a formal essay.
I have also made the realization that most books are usually told in a conversation style, just like you would find in a blog post. While reading chapter eighty of Big Machine by Victor LaValle during class yesterday I really started making this connection. LaValle starts out that chapter by writing, “So why tell you all of this? Any of this. It’s a fair question. Let’s call this my testament, then. After all, it’s been five months and you’re nearly here” (355). Just like how this chapter starts out by asking “so why tell you all of this?” I did my best to also pose broad questions throughout my blog posts. These kinds of questions leave room for the writer to give their own interpretation of the answer but also leaves room for the reader to make their own interpretation. In chapter eighty we find out that Ricky Rice is writing this for the child that is growing inside of him, Ricky is obvious cautious of who he wants his audience to be. This is another factor of blogging that I have worked on. At the end of the day because these blogs are public I never truly know who may read them, however, I know that many of my classmates probably are so I have found it important to offer connections that they make relate with.
Overall, I have really enjoyed the public blogging experience and hope that more professors will also start incorporating them into their classes. I find greater importance in conversation style writing. This style of writing has truly pushed me into thinkING harder, questioning things, and wanting to learn more. This style of writing is all around us in the everyday world, so why don’t we write in this way more often?