It is an old question that comes up now and again, “Why do we blog?” For some of us, it is an important chance to write about things that are important to us. It might be personal or family stuff. It might be politics. It might be local news. It might be technology, or any other subject that captures a writer’s attention. For others it is part of an effort to earn money by blogging. I suspect that for many, it is a little bit of both.

Yet there is another important aspect of blogging that too often is overlooked. Blogging can be a great way of improving ones craft, improving ones writing. I remember writing classes in the past that stressed the importance of keeping a regular writers journal. I do not focus on the writer’s journal aspect of blogging that much, however, the other day, I received an email from a dear friend who is starting to blog, and seems to be approaching it very much from the perspective of improving her writing.

She goes by the name NativeBee and has simply entitled her blog Writing. I would encourage you to visit her blog.

As I thought of welcoming her into the community of blogs about writing, I tried to think of some other blogs that I would recommend to her. A good starting point is Subjective Soup and Communications Exchange, both written by a woman named Patricia. She describes herself as a recently retired teacher, and she often has great comments about writing.

Another blog that I like from a person focusing on their writing is All Stace, All the Time. In her look back at 2009, she writes

What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before? Got serious about my writing and actually applied for writing jobs.

Jennifer at Writing to Survive also often has great explorations into the craft of writing. A few other blogs come to mind when I think of people working on the craft of writing, whether or not they talk about that much in their blogs. These include Redhead Ranting and The Junk Drawer. Another writer that two different blogs that are worth reading, although perhaps even less focused on the craft of writing is Lidian. She writes Kitchen Retro and The Virtual Dime Museum.

I hope you will all visit NativeBee’s blog, welcome her to blogging, and I hope she will get a chance to visit a few of the blogs I’ve mentioned. Are there other blogs that you like that focus or illustrate nicely the craft of writing?