Writing down bullet points for a blog post in Santa Barbara, CA in 2018
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“You’re still blogging?”
“Wow…you’ve been blogging for a while?”
“How often do you blog?”
“I didn’t know you had a blog. What’s your blog about?”
“How do you come up with ideas for your blog each week?”
“You’re still blogging?”
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That’s pretty much how it goes most days when I mention that I’m a blogger.
Going strong and steady since April 2011.
One to three blog posts a week.
You can count on me for that.
With the help of a then-student and now friend, Bill, we put our heads together and came up with Steph’s Scribe. I needed a title. I needed some content. He gave me the courage to set up my blog and begin. But what the heck was Steph’s Scribe going to be about, anyway?
My husband said it should have a strong focus: perhaps it should just focus on writing.
I teach writing courses at the university, and if all I wrote about was writing, I might go insane. People who know me well can attest that I get easily bored, and so I needed more scope, or the blog might not last. Once I explained this to my husband, he understood. I do understand that some blogs have a niche, but my niche is that I have a lot of interests. So I compromised: sometimes it’s about writing; sometimes it’s telling a story; sometimes I share a creative short story or an excerpt from a novel I’m working on; sometimes it’s advice or observation; sometimes it’s a book or film recommendation and review; and sometimes it’s about fashion.
Steph’s Scribe has afforded me the opportunity to share my thoughts. Some days, I feel like I’m writing for no one; other days, I have a decent audience.
But the bottom line is this: I do it for me. Having a blog allows you to enhance and continue to practice your writing. Remember the days when you kept a hand-written diary? Remember when you wrote your stories down on legal paper or in a notebook? Some of you may still write in journals or diaries, but I gave them up long ago when I began to type faster than I could write by hand. I used to write my novels in long form; now, I type them from start to finish. The thoughts come from my brain to my fingers a lot faster this way.
The truth is, this endeavor has meant a lot to me.
Blogging gives me an outlet. It’s a place to write my thoughts and feelings. It’s a place to share information. It’s a forum to recommend and hear recommendations. And, it’s a place to be myself and let my creativity flow.
I need that.
I need a place that fosters my creativity, whether I’m working on a novel or not.
My blog is my place. My space. My little spot for me to, well…
just be me.
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Stephanie Verni is the author of Beneath the Mimosa Tree, Baseball Girl, Inn Significant, The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry, and an academic textbook Event Planning: Communicating Theory & Practice, published by Kendall-Hunt, that she co-authored with colleagues Leeanne Bell McManus & Chip Rouse.
