Last Sunday afternoon I attended a poetry reading at the Republic Bar & Cafe in North Hobart. On Sunday there was a formal programme consisting of four female Tasmanian poets, in observance of International Women's Day. Then there was an open mic session.
It struck me that blogging is like an open mic session. It's done in public usually by a particular group of amateurs interested in language, playing with it, pushing it. Although anyone is allowed to attend, much of the time only a small self-selected group participates in the venture. Although writing is a solitary activity, these activities give writers a chance to share their work with each other, and encourage each other.
The uploaded word is different from the printed word and different from the spoken word. It will be a long long time before blogging is accepted as a respectable form of writing, just ask photographers. Photography has been around for over a century, but sometimes photographs are still not considered to be real art by those who paint or draw or sculpt. I have realized that it is a waste of time to struggle against this directly. Better to ignore it entirely and keep moving forward.
That last sentence was about the medium. When it comes to content, struggle is just fine.
