Personal Thought: My Blog . . .6 Months After.

When I started blogging, my only objective was to write about my food adventures and the likes.  I will simply post things that I have experienced and those that I like to share.  That was 6 months ago.

 

Me trying out a Vietnamese dish

From the time I started, my blog contained articles that are both personal and non-personal in nature.  It now contains PR writings by various publicists, events that are both close to my heart and not at all, topics that are so varied that I never thought I will be able to cover – such as technology stuff.  As a blogger, I get to encounter topics that are a challenge to express, those that simply flowed out easily from my mind and those that created too many angles in terms of possible presentation.  It also created some challenges that push you to go beyond your comfort zone and being true to oneself.

As a person, I learned that blogging is one industry that you need to be true to yourself to be able to present your thoughts in a coherent manner.  You also get to meet people who are indifferent, who care for you and who will hate you.   Your personality and upbringing will play an important part in your interaction.  How you deal with them shows your style of writing.

As I mentioned earlier, you have to be true to yourself when you blog.  You cannot be a food blogger if you don’t know a thing about food.  You cannot be a beauty blogger if you do not know the difference between an astringent and a toner.  Nor can you be a fashion blogger if you cannot differentiate a trendsetter from a legit fashionista.  You need to have at least the basic passion to go into the topic that you wish to write on.

Me with the Australian Ambassador during the launch of
Australian Oranges in the Philippine market

What I am trying to say is, you cannot be the blogger that you claim to be without the knowledge to back it with.  True that there is the internet to do your research or the press release provided to help you with your writing but if you truly want to write on something without the right knowledge or experience on things, then that can be frustrating or on the bland scenario.  From what I know about blogging, you simply have to express properly what you wish to express, that is why it has the initial image of being a personal-but-made-public-diary.  That said, you have to be comfortable in the language that you are using.  If you are not comfortable in the language that is of the commonly used then go and make use of the one that you are comfortable with!  And when I say comfortable, it means you know at least the basic rules of that language.

The beauty of today’s technology is that it bears features that help writers.  The spell check and sentence rephrasing helps a lot! (hint!)  A misspelled word is excusable, same as a missing preposition every now and then but improper or absence of punctuations, incoherent thought presentation and raining misspelled words are mortal sins to any credible and sensible writer.  You would say, you are not a writer but a blogger, such may be your reasoning, I would like to ask you: “Are you not using writing as a medium to express your thoughts?”

Looking at writers and bloggers on a similar light, I would say writers are more guided accordingly in terms of what and how they write things.  There are laws and principles created since ages past that is followed and bended to suit their need – true, but has to be obeyed for their protection.  For bloggers, those who know how to respect others would somehow follow the writer’s etiquette unknowingly; would know how to write an opinion in different manners without losing it strength and purpose.  They know how to bash and do things critically without losing grace.  If they are corrected, they know how to accept that and do the needed adjustment without losing face. (For writers, you are familiar with the word “erratum”, right?)  It is just sad that there are some bloggers who uses the tag “this is my opinion and I am entitled to say what is in my mind” to escape judgment of their written work.  Please remember that the right of an individual ends when the right of another individual begins.

I am not a perfect blogger but I am thankful of my background in terms of writing.  Being part of the collegiate newspaper was a big help when I started blogging.  The basic principle of writing was applied and even how things are to be presented came into use.  Answering the 5 W’s and 1 H helped me organize my thoughts and make all facts straight.  I am not saying that there are some bloggers who creates stories – baseless articles, but what I am saying is I write things based on what was said and not how I understood it.  This is how the concept of “misquoted” come in to play.   As a blogger, I learned to write my thoughts by using lines such as “I may be mistaken but . . .” or ”This is my take on it . . .”; stressing out that it is my own opinion and making sure that readers can give their facts about it if I need to be corrected.  Like what I said, I am not a perfect blogger or writer but I am open to feedback and correctly expressed thoughts.

Which leads me to my first question when I started blogging, “Am I doing it right?”  Feedback is something that is very important in the whole communication process.  It shouldn’t be absent in the first place.  When you talk to somebody, you expect a reaction so that you would know if you are effective or not.  For some bloggers, feedback would come in the form of views or hits in their accounts.  For some, the classic form which is a written comment is much appreciated; I prefer this type of feedback.  Knowing that you were objective and true to what you have written without destroying a person is something important for me for it means I was able to present things in a positive light.  Right now, I don’t have that much of a follower but it doesn’t hinder me in continuing my blog. Why? Because, I get to receive feedbacks from my FB and IG account from people who were able to read what I have experienced and appreciates what and how I presented things.  I don’t sing high praises in my write-ups to earn the owners and publicists thumb-up sign but I make sure that I write things positively and objectively as much as possible.  I guess it pays to be true when you write to continuously get invites from publicists to attend their events.

Me during the Coffe Creation Event at Resort's World

Some would say that blogging is one path where one could get things for free and rub shoulders with people who have say on things or are known in certain circles.  That is true  . . . to a certain point.  The freebies are tokens of appreciation really.  It can be in the form of a pen, a meal or even monetary but it is not something to demand from the publicists or business owners.  It is freely given not demanded!  This is where true bloggers are separated from those bloggers wanna-be’s.  A true blogger will write about something without any thought of exchange or compensation, simply the desire to share the experience.  A blogger wanna-be would go to an event because of the freebies and/or the opportunity to be seen rubbing shoulders with known or popular people.   As a blogger, you have to the right to be star-struck every now and then.  The only difference bloggers have from non-bloggers is the fact that bloggers are closer, in terms of proximity, to the celebrity.

Me and the author of Moymoy Lulumboy
Mr  Segundo Matias Jr

Meeting and knowing so many influential people and knowing that you have a wide reach is one heady feeling.  That is power, so to speak.  But please remember this popular adage: “With power comes great responsibility.”  Learn to use it wisely.  Never use it to get ahead or destroy another person.  Remember, what was given can be taken away also.  If you are to play politics, use your connections discreetly and not that loud.  Never drop names – dropping names or even dropping lines showing that you have connections and power is degrading.  To add something to this line of thought is, don’t act that you are someone just because you are always invited by this publicist to all his/her events.  The invitation is a sign of trust coming from the sender’s part.  Don’t abuse it.

 

My Nail Cocktale's moment

Blogging is a continuous writing education and art.  You learn the different styles of presenting things depending on your target audience.  It becomes an art when you learn to use words that are effective in painting the image that you wish to share based on your experience.  You also learn that it not simply about you but also about them.  Simply put, blogging is about life.