Raise your voice.
With the amount of people using Edublogs and the amount of dots some people have on their cluster maps, I wonder to myself how I can be one of those people. Okay, I know my blog isn’t rated or judged by the amount of dots on my cluster map. On the other hand, have you ever visited someone’s blog and seems their map is just red? For me, it’s like a flashing sign. A sign that, in a way, invites you to come read the blog because it is interesting, popular, and… good? ‘Good’ is too broad. Well-written, interesting, intruiging, inviting, specific but not too detailed (if that makes sense), honest, passionate, encouraging. I want this to be my blog. The blog that people say, ”Have you seen it? I’m so excited for the next post!” That right there is my goal, my finish line. Not my limit, though, beyond the sky is my limit. The blog who my friends and people I don’t know can’t wait to read about is my… my task.
The purpose of my blog is to express myself. Would my blog be more popular if it were pure information? I believe it probably would. At the same time, my goal (as stated above) isn’t just for the dots, not just to invite readers. My goal is made up of many parts of which I will explain: express myself, interest people, become a better writer, and maybe even discover a new liking. My purpose is all of the above, almost all reasons of why I chose to set up the blog how it is set up.
I want my readers, no matter who, to feel how I feel about the topic I write about. Maybe they disagree, agree, or neither. The point is, I do not want to force people to agree, or feel like I made them disagree. I want the readers to feel while reading what I felt while writing, to almost ignore their own thoughts and just listen to my own. I want to see if it makes a different, makes an impact. Now that I think about it, like an experiment. Maybe, only maybe will it turn out the way I want it to. At the same time, maybe it wont and that might turn over a new leaf for me, might change my views. It would be so interesting to have someone respond to my blog, someone from who-knows-where to tell me their beliefs, see if we agree or not. It would give me a whole new perspective on the world and on other peope.
Expression and honesty are, for me, the keys to writing. Saying “Sally walked to the store” is really going to hook a reader on my work, eh? Actually, not really. Let’s begin with expression. I hear it all the time! “Express yourself!” Yeah, but how? Should I use big words, complete my sentences fully? Personally, I believe I need to write things how I say them. I’m not talking about “so like, I went to like, the mall. And I bought like, these uber-cool shoes, and like they have this like pink thingy on them and so like then I like…” You get the point. I don’t actually talk like that though, not at all. What I’m saying is that I don’t feel you need to seperate your real self from the person who writes your blogs. If you did so, why would it be so necessary to have a double-identity? Be yourself. It gets repeated so often, but I believe it is so true. The most interesting topics and blogs are written by the people who are not afraid to show who they are and what they believe in, even if the blogs are still unknown. Do not be afraid to show who you are, get yourself known!
Along with expression and honesty, be alive. Allow the topic to become alive. Be interesting, spice it up! 
For me, I try to let my post become alive. I’m a person with very strong opinions about anything and everything, so I try to forget about the interesting-ness (not a word…) of my post. I try to let my words speak for themselves and if my blog does not turn out to be so ‘alive’, then so be it. I am probably not that great of an example to follow if you want a lively post, some might disagree. But being myself and knowing I wrote whatever it is that I wrote, then I suppose I cannot judge that.
Encouraging readers is important. I believe it links with expression and honesty, but how? Think about it… if you write an extremely interesting post. Not even, though. If you just write what you believe in a different manner, that might encourage a reader, any reader to respond. It is important for me to do so. Right now, I am focusing on one area at a time until I feel I have ‘mastered’ move on to the next.
I have discovered that every area links with eachother. Without expression, will it be alive? You know what I mean! Think about these four questions while you write (from Ms. Rumford’s page):
What is my purpose?
What do I want my readers to feel?
Is my writing expressive and honest?
Does my topic come alive?
Does my writing encourage others to analyze and respond?
