 |
|
|
My name is iGirl and I am a blogaholic. I started very young. All my friends were into blogging. At first, I would only hang around at their sites and comment once in awhile. It was so exciting when Cool Girl would “like” my comment. Then one day something I posted initiated a whole string of responses and I was hooked.
I started blogging alone at night. The design features on my host site were intoxicating. I stayed up all night choosing fonts, adding icons, sizing photographs and selecting block quotes. I dropped out of soccer. I stopped doing my homework.
My downward spiral began with cheap shots. I’d get ripped about something and dash off a thousand thoughtless words. I wouldn’t even remember what I’d written the next morning. The few friends I had left avoided me for fear they would end up near the gutter on my home page, the subject of one of my poisonous posting. I didn’t care. I was having fun. Anyway I had new friends, faceless bloggers I knew only by their online names -- NastyNell, RanterRay and GotchaSucka. I began to neglect my diet and my appearance, drinking Energy Bull and wearing my pajama bottoms to school.
The bitter end came when I got busted, pulled off the net for inappropriate language. Blogger shut me up when they shut me down. I was bummed beyond belief. It was my English teacher who saved me.
Mrs. Belletristic staged an intervention; flat cornered me in the library stacks! Turns out, she had been a follower on my blog. She confronted me with the un-readability of my text, the mean spirit of my tone and my lack of regard for my audience. She told me that a successful blogger engages the heart and mind of a reader and gives them something of value, like a new idea, a consolation, something to meditate on, an inspiration or a different perspective. Then she suggested I read the works of noted bloggers. It was a sobering experience.
I was blown away by what I read – the exciting prose, the poetic turn of a phrase, the interactivity that clicked me deeper into a subject where I could learn more. I wanted to blog like that!
It didn’t take me long to realize that in order to comment on life I would have to live it, so I cultivated new interests, joined some clubs and made new friends. The time came when I also was posting well researched, tightly crafted 300 – 500 word essays on my beautiful new blog. By the end of the school year, my blog stats were as high as my SAT scores!
Today, I blog responsibly. I shun uber caffeinated beverages in favor of assorted herbal teas but I still wear my pajama bottoms to school. It’s the fashion. See my blog about that.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
|
|
|
