Is Blogging Writing?

~ beetleypete

Some people write very little on their blogs. Perhaps just captions above or under photos, a list of ingredients for a recipe, or a few lines of Haiku.

That’s fine. I say well done to all of them. Blogging should work for you, and be what you want it to be.

Others use their blogs to promote their published books. ‘Real writing’, by real writers.

Occasionally, a blogger will write 2,000-word posts about their predicament. That might be suffering from depression, the break-up of a relationship, or enduring a lifelong medical condition that affects them in many ways.

Good idea. Get it off your chest, connect with others in similar situations. Blogging as a form of communication.

Diary bloggers tell us about their week. What they did, where they went, who they met. That kind of thing. Travel bloggers do something similar, except that it is usually in an exotic or unusual location.

Then there are bloggers like me. Weather reports, dog-walking, nostalgia pieces. And fiction, a lot of fiction. Some of my long serials published as one story fall just short of the accepted length of a novel. But I don’t try to publish them as novels, and have little interest in doing so.

That begs the question. Am I a blogger, or a writer? Is blogging ‘Writing’, or something completely different?

Over to you.

211 thoughts on “Is Blogging Writing?”

  3. I think blogging is a form of writing, like writing poetry is a form of writing, fiction writing is a form of writing, etc. blogging just gives you the freedom to pick the “type” of writing you’ll be doing that specific day.

    At least, that’s how I look at it! My blog has been a mashup of a bunch of different things in its short life! 🤣

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  5. Personally i blog about some of the things rattling around my head lol writing a book and a blog are your thoughts pouring out onto either paper or computer screen so im going to say its both.

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  7. Can you blog without some form of writing at some point? That seems a bit odd to me. I would say you are what ever you feel like calling it.. 🤭

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  17. I also think you’re a writer, and writing, like blogging, can take many forms. I was just reading a blog post by Barb Taub where she talks/writes about writing as well. Take care. ♥

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  18. I think you are both a blogger and a writer. You share or ‘log’ about your life and you also write stories. I feel people who blog are writers too. It doesn’t really matter how much they write, they are conveying their thoughts through their writing and that’s enough to call them writers. People don’t really partake in writing so much when it comes to expressing themselves and most are forced to write for their jobs. When you write a blog post, you are creating something new by yourself and so I think you are qualified to be called a writer.

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  20. You are certainly in both camps, Pete. Fiction writer, personal blogger. Your fiction is also personal because you put your life experience into it. Your blogging is so much the better because you are a good writer.

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  23. Blogging is about communication. Writing is about communication. And both, frequently, are about creativity. They overlap in a chiefly „verbal“ blog, but even if they don‘t (e.g. in a blog mostly sharing the blogger’s own photos or other forms of visual arts), the elements of communication and creativity remain. Blogging is a format that modern technology has given to us, to communicate and be creative / share our creativity, in whichever way we want … whether with or without words. Why try to dovetail or limit it to verbal communication alone? (And as you know, I‘m saying this as someone whose blog posts in their majority certainly don‘t suffer from a shortage of words …)

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  29. It is definitely writing and allows us to see many styles of the craft. I will say that sadly there are a lot of bad fiction writers who post. That is why I am always so honestly positive about your fiction.

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    1. Thanks, Eliabeth. I mentioned to a friend in an email that I spent all my free time blogging. She replied by saying, “It’s not the same as writing though, is it?. Why don’t you write instead?’ That made me pose this question today.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  31. I like the appraisal of blogging being ‘what you want it to be.” I often use my blog writing to “warm up” for my fiction writing. I feel like it clears and engages my writing mind, promotes focus and intention on a task like few other activities can. I’m not saying the blog isn’t important. In fact, I really enjoy writing blog posts. Thanks!

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      1. I have not set blogging routines. I participate in blog tours for people I know and admire, share baking posts, photographs, book reviews, and writing prompts. Blogging is supposed to be fun and and an expression of who the blogger is.

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  34. In my opinion, any form of putting thoughts down is writing. Now we have “electronic paper”, but that’s just another delivery system – it doesn’t change the fact you are using a written word as a form of communication!

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  36. People often chuckle when they hear I have a blog as if it is some half-hearted hobby. I am compelled to write, but am definitely not as prolific as some. Reflecting back on my writing, I think I am more of a memoir writer. I think blogging encompasses all that we choose to write.

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  39. Being as I do not consider myself a professional author, rarely follow grammatical rules and more often than not, I end a sentence with a preposition, I really can not answer your question, Pete. All I can say is, if you enjoy your writing – do it!

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  43. I started blogging to promote my books and to have somewhere to show poems and blog about writing, but it turned into a more personal, diary-like blog, especially when I added photos. Now it is a complete mishmash and I am grateful that people still stay with it. If I read a really good book, I’ll do a review but as I pick them up from charity shops I don’t know what they are like until I try them and there have been some real duds recently.
    I like your mix of blogging and writing. You are definitely multi talented.

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    1. Thank you for that kind comment, Julie.
      This post was prompted by a question in an email, and I was interested to know how others would answer it.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    2. You’re not supposed to let my brain out on a Sunday Pete. You say that some people do nothing more than add a line beneath a photograph. I’d say if that line conveys something to a reader then the blogger is a writer. Where that doesn’t work is if the content is not original. i.e. If just a load of cartoons done by someone else is being copied. You’re definitely a blogging writer my friend.
      Hugs

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      1. Thanks David. I agree that a good caption for a photograph is writing, even if the main intention of the blogger is to display photos. Thanks for your definition of my own blogging efforts. 🙂
        Best wishes, Pete.

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  44. Writing is writing, but writing covers a vast field – fiction and non fiction. Is a blog a form of writing in its own right? Hard to say because some blogs are journalism, just the same as features we read in a newspaper, while others are diaries, just as Samuel Pepys wrote. And then a blog with one photo and a one word caption is photography not writing; leading is back to the point that a blog is whatever you want to make it.

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  45. I don’t think a specific definition is really necessary, Pete: much as I frequently complain about it, language continues to evolve, and the concept of blogging is still relatively new, but I think we can worry too much about categorising or defining new concepts. Overall, I think most people will be prepared to accept any type of blogging if it interests them, or ignore it if it doesn’t. I think a useful analogy might be the term ‘art’: it can mean virtually anything now, which can only be good, especially if it encourages creativity, so big up to Grayson Perry! Cheers, Jon.

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    1. Thanks for adding your own thoughts, Jon. This was prompted by something sent to me in an email, asking ‘Is blogging the same as being a writer?’
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  47. I am clearly a blogging minimalist. many times it takes an extraordinary amount of time to say something in so few words. I say all of it and every style are writing.

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  49. If you’re putting words on paper or on screen, you’re writing, though it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a writer. If you run a blog and you’re publishing posts, you’re blogging, and you’re a blogger. You can be both.

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