A response to "Blogs as Clubhouses"

Jessica Padilla
February 2, 2012
WRT 235
Instructor MacKnight
Reading Response

Connecting to others through blogs

          Suzanne Stefanac's "Blogs as Clubhouses" describes what an enthusiast blog is and how it allows people to find others that share similar interests. She writes what readers look for in an enthusiast blog and offers tips for a successful blog. She even included examples and the websites for some blogs that she finds interesting. Whether writing to catalog their ideas, or document events or just writing about a topic they are passionate about, the way a blog is written and designed can attract many loyal readers. 

  

          In this reading Stefanac outlined many important points that make a clubhouse blog successful. Three points that really stuck with me were: "do it for love, not money or fame", "adjust the focus of your blog to aid discovery", and "stick with it". As with many things in life if one is not interested or does not like what they are doing then there is a good chance that they will not be successful in their endeavors. It is important to write about something that you truly enjoy writing about otherwise it will just seem like a chore and you might not be able to engage readers because what you write about will seem forced. Moreover, one should choose a topic that is neither to specific or to broad. This is important because if the topic is to broad than your blog will face much competition from other blogs that may already have many followers. Likewise, if your topic is to specific than you may have trouble attracting loyal readers who are interested in your topic and opinion. Lastly, maintaining your blog is a key component for success. Not only will keeping up with your blog help you become a better writer, it will also help you gain faithful readers. 

          It is this last point that Stefanac made that seems like it will be the most challenging for me. I have always had a hard time with keeping consistent writing projects. Whether it is a journal, writing letters to a pen pal, or just trying to write a creative piece, I always seem to lose interest and/or the motivation to complete the project. The example from Mr. Jalopy's blog that Stefanac included was very helpful as it incorporated all of the points that she talked about and helped me see them in action. The list of other blogs that she posted also helped me see the different ways one can write and design a blog and got me thinking of  what I may want to do for my Enthusiast Blog. I definitely have a better understanding of what makes a good blog and the idea seems a lot less intimidating now.