Blogging for the Art of It
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Writing for the TBEX conference website, Pam Mandel answers the question, “Why blog?”
Blog because you are teaching yourself to write – blogging’s time driven nature creates an excellent framework for homework. Blog because you are compelled to share your stories – blogging is perfect for that. Blog because you can’t not write – a blog is a good place for you to see your story outside your own head, to see your work made real. The roots version of “Why blog?” is still 100% valid – because you’re having an adventure and you want to document it. Or blog for the same reasons I do, because blogging is your medium and writing is your art.
What about the whole issue of making money from travel blogging?
Don’t focus on making money today or tomorrow or next year, instead, focus on making amazing writing. Dig into the dark places the tourist office doesn’t want you to see. Tell a good story purely for the satisfaction of telling a good story. Experiment, write backwards, unravel history, ask hard questions, tell stories that leave your readers feeling dizzy or angry or exhausted as though they have made the journey with you. Turn away from all the optimizing and strategizing and monetizing and socializing because they do not have to be why you blog.
Pam will be a speaker at the TBEX Conference in Toronto this June.
