What Is The Purpose Of A Blog?

My job as a blogger is to put myself out of business. I want this blog to become obsolete...

What is the purpose of a blog?

If you're like me, a writer who works in various mediums, including journalism and creative writing, a blog can have several purposes:

To promote yourself and your writing; to advance your "brand" as an author.

To log your accomplishments and serve as an online resume/curriculum vitae.

To serve as an online portfolio that demonstrates your writing style.

To serve as an online "newspaper column" that enables you to expound on a variety of topics. A blogger can comment on events in the news, make observations about events in everyday life that strike you as noteworthy, and/or review books, movies, music, plays, et cetera.

This last purpose is the primary one I've adopted for this blog. Whereas some writers use their blog to post only about projects they're working on or promote an upcoming book release, etc., I tend to view my blog as a general-interest newspaper column.

A newspaper columnist may comment on how gas prices have gone through the roof, go on about some obscure movie they came across on DVD and how the movie is an underrated gem, rant about politics, and pontificate about how manners seem to have gone out the window in modern society. Any and all topics are up for grabs.

Blogging has also helped me hone my writing. It can take me anywhere from 20 minutes to just over an hour to write a blog post, depending on the topic and whether I need to double-check facts, the spelling of names and other details.

I try to post at least six days a week, Monday through Saturday, and I'm learning to get my point across in a few words as possible. One thing I've discovered in blogging and also Tweeting more frequently over this past year is that I'm pretty good at coming up with puns and plays on words.

For example, I drafted this headline for a recent blog post about former Prince and the Revolution band member Matt "Doctor" Fink's recent Prince tribute concert: "Fink's Purple Nostalgia Trip Is Just What The 'Doctor' Ordered" (you can read the post at this link: http://chrisbournea.blogspot.com/2014/09/dr-fink-whisks-prince-fans-away-on.html).

When I'm blogging, I try to come up with topics that appeal to me organically. I only write about items in the news if it's something I have a strong opinion about, such as an Aug. 27 post about the controversial sitcom Black Jesus, which has been criticized as blasphemous. This topic is of interest to me since I'm a Christian but I also believe in freedom of expression (you can read my post at this link: http://chrisbournea.blogspot.com/2014/08/yes-black-jesus-is-offensive-and-yes-it.html).

And I do use my blog to log my "accomplishments" and promote projects I'm working on, such as a book I'm currently co-authoring that will chronicle the history of legendary Chicago comedy club All Jokes Aside (you can read my most recent post at this link: http://chrisbournea.blogspot.com/2014/09/all-jokes-journal-avoiding-predictable.html). 

And whereas this blog provides an enjoyable outlet for me to express myself on a variety of issues, I have to be honest that one of the main purposes - if not the main purpose - is to promote myself.

I'm hoping that blogging consistently with quality writing is one of the tools that will help me reach a level of name recognition as a writer so that I don't have to blog anymore. Name any best-selling author - Nicholas Sparks, Terry McMillan, Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz (you can read about my funny, awkward encounter with Diaz at this link: http://chrisbournea.blogspot.com/2013/04/my-funny-awkward-moment-with-pulitzer.html).

Do any of these world-famous authors blog on a regular basis? Not unless they enjoy doing so in order to connect with their massive international fanbase.

My goal is to reach that level, where my books, movies, plays and other forms of creative writing have developed such a following that they sell themselves and I don't have to blog anymore. I'd like to get to the point where I can blog occasionally to thank fans for their support and give them a sneak peek of my upcoming book or movie, but the time that I now spend blogging will be spent committing the story ideas swirling in my head to paper.

So, in essence, my job as a blogger is to put myself out of business. I want this blog to become obsolete.

This post is part of a series on "Adventures In Social Media." In the next post in this series, which I plan to publish on Monday, Nov. 10, I'll explore the murky line between expressing yourself freely and being careful not to alienate people with the things you say on Facebook, Twitter and your own blog.