Are You a Blogger or Someone Who Has a Blog?

A passage from The Write Practice has been stuck in my head for months now. There was a particularly strong portion that smacked me across the face, where it talked about writers, wanna-bes, and the fears standing in our ways.

If you’ve hung around the cyber-sphere enough you’ve noticed a difference between “people who have blogs” and “bloggers.”

The bloggers update diligently, comment on others’ posts, share information, and interact online.

The people who have blogs don’t. They show up every once in awhile and take it personally when no one comments on their journal entry.

Likewise, there are writers who are actively working on a piece they may or may not ever published.

And there are wanna-be writers who are filling their time with other activities, letting fear run their lives, and never allowing their ideas out of their heads.

If singers sing and dancers dance, then creatives should create and writers should write not just talk about it.

As a blogger, writer, and all around creative person, this really struck a nerve with me. At what point am I a writer wannabe versus actually being a writer? How often am I am a blogger versus someone who has a blog?

And more importantly–which do I want to be?

How often am I am a blogger versus someone who has a blog? And more importantly–which do I want to be?

I don’t believe that one path is right and the other is wrong– both bloggers and people who blog have a space on the internet. During my time blogging, I believe I’ve been both, and I stand now at a junction deciding which one I want to be.

Deciding that you will BE a blogger is dedicating a portion of your life consistently to blogging. Choosing to be a blogger is partially what makes someone a professional blogger. It’s about dedication, focus, and consistency, whether you make money or not.

Having a blog means having the freedom to pick it up and drop it as you please. It means that opportunities may come, and you may accept them, but you’re not seeking them out as a fundamental part of your life and your site’s life.

More than anything, I believe the difference between being a blogger and being someone who has a blog is a personal philosophical decision and choice. While I evaluate my relationship with blogging, where I have come with it, how it has changed, and we’ve both grown (because when you blog for long enough, you WILL both grow!), it’s important for me to keep this idea in mind as a guiding light in my blogging.

Do I want to be a blogger or someone who has a blog?

At the very least, it’s a passage that lights a fire under me, inspires me and pushes me in my creative pursuits to make a conscious decision and a choice about where to direct my energy, my passion, and my enthusiasm.

Knowing that there is no right or wrong answer, where do you believe you fall? Have you made a conscious decision to be a blogger — or to be a person who has a blog, or felt torn between those two paths? And have you noticed a progression from one side to the other during your time blogging?

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