Blogging Class Review

Well, I’ve made it to the end of the Blogging for Journalists class. I’ve really enjoyed my return to blogging. When I look back to when I first jumped into it in 2014, I realize how stream-of-consciousness it is, which at the time was the tone I was going for. But with this blog about my hometown, I liked how focused my posts are; I think it allowed easier reading for the viewer and made my writing better overall.

I did enjoy writing this blog -- it was about where I grew up, after all. It was interesting to be a tourist in my own city, and to tell my classmates about all the ins and outs of Parker. Most of my writing topics were things I’ve experienced for years, but sharing them with people that have never lived here makes me appreciate everything more. I will remain in Parker until the school year starts in late August, and I would personally love to continue this blog. However, I’m worried about remaining consistent in my posts. If I did continue, my blog would still be on the same topic, as there are lots of other things I haven’t gotten to share with my classmates.

I have thoroughly liked the freedom and flexibility of writing this blog. It was focused in that I had a beat, but there are still so many story possibilities, and I felt like I could write them any way I wanted. I felt the freedom to incorporate my own childhood experiences, which I think added personality to the blog itself. What I didn’t like as much was gathering quotes for my posts; it may have had to do with the story topics I chose or how I wrote them, but at times it was difficult to gather useful quotes from relevant sources. Obviously this is a blogging for journalists class so I can see why the quotes were necessary, but I felt like they hindered creativity a little.

I think blogging is an excellent way to tell stories, no matter what type of story it is. It adds a level of personality that other methods of writing don’t. As far as the class in general, I found the textbook choice to be very helpful and I liked the idea of having both posts and comments due. It fostered a great sense of interaction between myself and my classmates. Before taking this class I had this idea of spreading my posts out over the course of the week, but I realized it was better content-wise to post them all on the due date. I think it allowed for better writing.