It is super interesting to be asked “why I blog” at this ‘late’ stage of blogging because actually this blog is not my first blog. (If you are curious enough, you can go here to read what I wrote way back when.)
I started my first blog back when I was 17 – super young and a bit naive. When the question of “why I blog” popped up, I thought about why I started blogging for a while and found something very interesting.
I found that my reasons to blog have not changed since I first started it.
1. I blog to replace a diary.
I have always been a girl with a diary. I started writing a proper diary when I was about 9 or 10 and have never stopped since. Throughout my teenage years I found it difficult to hide the actual journal – what with first boyfriend, first kiss, etc. In the very beginning, I wrote a bunch of codes and abbreviations that functioned as a lock. That way, in case my parents found my diaries they would not understand anything unless they crack the codes. (However, now that I re-read my diaries, my codes and abbreviations are not rocket science – good thing I also kept them in a locked drawer.)
So, considering the difficulties of hiding an actual journal, I decided to start a diary on my computer. It is protected by password, plus I can put it in a hidden folder as an extra security.
After sometime, I was re-reading what I wrote on my electronic diary when I had an epiphany. I found that I no longer restrain myself to write descriptively about my day. I added hints of arguments and narration, while experimenting on mixing fiction with non-fiction. That was when I decided that it would be such a waste to keep those writing to myself and started to blog – just like that.
2. I blog because I aspire to be a writer.
My dream of being a writer starts long before I started a diary. Ever since I declared my love towards stories, which was prior to the time I was able to read and write, I have always want to be a writer. Back in elementary school, I used to write short stories for my closest friends. In a non-fiction department, I used to love writing essays for my language class in school.
However, as I grow older, I practically chicken out. I still write but I was too shy to show it to anyone else. I decided that blogging would be a great way to showcase my writing. It should help me to be more confident about my writing because I believe it is quite similar to the concept of self-publishing.
I also found that it is a great way to share my writing with my friends. Way back when, everytime I wanted to share my writing, I had to print a few copies for my friends to read. With a blog, my friends can just access it whenever they want.
3. I blog because I need audience.
As I mentioned in the two reasons above, I like sharing what I wrote to other people. I like receiving feedbacks and I love starting a discussion. I found that blogging gives me just that. While being shy about my writing, I still need that someone to tell me how beautifully chosen my words are and that other someone to tell me how shallow my ideas are. After all, what is a writer without a reader?
Blogging, besides giving easier access for my friends to read my writing and tell me what they think about it, is my way to find an audience. It is kind of my way to test the water – when I eventually become a published writer, would there be someone out there who is willing to read my writing?
Those are three main reasons of “why I blog”. My blog may seem out of focus because I write about my everyday life while cataloguing what I found during travelling, because I write about things that inspire me while hoping to inspire others, and because I write both in English and Bahasa Indonesia. However, the three reasons are why (when you go through my posts, you will know) my blog is very opinionated and is centred around myself. I am selfish that way because I treat my blog as a training field to practice my writing, hoping to get some encouragement and/or some mockery, hoping it would lead me to a path where I can be both a great novelist and essayist.
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To get a sense of who I am, I have a quite elaborative ‘about’ page here and a writing about my name here.
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I am super excited to be a part of Zero to Hero Blogging University hosted by The Daily Post.
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