Why do we blog?

I read a post by Tui Snider on this subject, and left a long comment that refused to appear, so I thought I'd turn it into my own post, instead!  You can read Tui's article HERE; alas, she is having ongoing problems with her site but hopes to have them fixed soon

So why do I do it? I started only because people kept telling me that writers ought to.  I shoved a few old articles on and remembered to write something once a month.  I used to feel pretty chuffed if I got about 50 views per post.  Gradually, though, this site became a thing apart from my books.  I never intended to have a blog based around writing or self-publishing, realising that would only be of interest to other writers, and I thought the whole point of them was to attract readers. But it isn't.  They're there for when there is something you want to write about that is nothing to do with your novels - mine gets used whenever there is something I want to express in more than 140 characters.  

It's somewhere where I can moan about stuff, develop ideas, collate various thoughts into one post, obsess about my favourite TV progs, write a bit of background about my books when new ones come out, and share the odd picture of people like Josh Holloway and Norman Reedus....

(Whoops, there I go again...)

After a while, though, I found that I did sometimes want to write about self-publishing.  Then, last month, my blogging empire expanded when I decided to start a book review blog, HERE.  I did this because I'd been reading some really excellent books and thought they deserved more than just a review on Amazon; also, there were some I want to help promote because they are so good, and it's easier to do so with a blog where I can present the review more attractively. 

In answer to one of the questions on Tui's post, I don't have a blogging schedule because the idea that you MUST blog every half hour whether you have something interesting to say or not is, like, so 2012.  I never did anyway. Sometimes I'll do six posts in a month, sometimes one; it depends what else I'm doing.  I write stuff simply because I think of things that I hope will be of entertainment/interest to others.  Emphasis on the entertainment/interest.  I hope I'm never too self-indulgent.  But look, it's my blog and if I want to post pictures of Josh Holloway I will, right?

I must say the book reviewing blog does seem to be taking over, lately.  I've discovered why real book bloggers (not people just playing at it like me) do it!  I keep reading when I should be writing.... 

So why do you blog?