I know that some of my regular readers (at least the ones who comment) have blogs, but others don’t. This is directed at those of you who don’t blog but have wondered about doing so.

Should I start a blog?

It depends on your expectations. A blog can be a fun way of getting things off your chest, giving your friends and family a way to keep up with you, and pointing out interesting other web sites (and blog posts) you come across. Your blog may not change the world — but then again, it doesn’t have to. And it doesn’t have to cost anything except your time.

When I teach creative writing to teenagers as part of Mountain T.O.P.’s “Summer Plus” ministry, I always encourage them to journal and tell them it’s OK to write for an audience of one — yourself. In the same vein, it’s OK to blog for an audience of just a few friends and family. But you will find that strangers will run across your blog.

Suppose that you mention an obscure TV show that you remember from your childhood. Someone doing a Google search for that TV show might very well find your blog posting. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, this will not lead to them becoming a regular reader of your blog. But sometimes it does. And sometimes you’ll get interesting messages from people who share your interests.

If you’re just blogging for fun, you don’t have to worry about getting too much traffic — but you have the freedom to cover a variety of different topics. Of course, there are also what you might call “professional” blogs — bloggers who set out to make money by providing focused content on a specific topic (or at least for a specific audience), working hard to promote their blogs, and then hoping to generate enough traffic so that they can make money from Google Ads, Amazon Associates links, or some other revenue program. Some of these blogs, especially the political ones, have become nationally famous.

My blog, as you’ve no doubt noticed, is not one of these focused, for-profit blogs. I don’t rule that out some day, if I come up with a good, marketable idea. When and if I do come up with such an idea, my experience in blogging for fun will give me a head start on some of the technical issues involved in setting up and running a blog.

Next: How to get started