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Sparkle (2)
At the risk of sounding like Popeye the Sailor Man, I am what I am. What I am is a blogger who isn't perfect, among other things (all of which could still be followed by "who isn't perfect" - just to be clear). When I write my posts for my blog I break a lot of grammar rules. No, really. A lot.
I should admit to you that under different circumstances, I am actually a little obsessive about proper grammar. For instance, in high school and college I was the one to whom all my friends turned to edit their papers before turning them in. I could spot a misplaced (or missing) comma a mile away, and I have crazy spelling skills (most of the time). I loved essay assignments because I was good at writing. Really good. Crazy good. My brother tried to bribe me into writing his college papers for him when I was still in the ninth grade (I should say my brother is really smart, he is just more of a math and science person than a writer).
When I write a blog, though, the rules go out the window. Why? I am so glad you asked. I write a blog as though I am having a conversation with the reader. I have too many commas (I often use them to suggest a pause, as if I were talking out loud), I use parentheses far too often, I use hyphens like they are going out of style, and some of my sentences are total fragments. All of my former English teachers would be shocked and appalled. But I don't always use perfect grammar when I sit down to talk to a friend. I try to do so at work, but not when talking to a friend. And I treat my blog as if it is just that, me sitting down to talk to my friends and tell them about what I'm thinking. You may not like it, and that's okay. It works for me.
That's why I try not to over-edit what I write on my blog. If I go back and read through it enough, I will start wanting to change things. I don't really want to change things, though, because, in a sense, it would dilute my personality. You wouldn't really know the real me because you would not be reading it the way I would say it. And then it's not a conversation, not with the real me anyway. I may have my faults, but I prefer the real me to the edited me. I have no filter in day to day conversation, why would I have one on my blog?
What about you? Do you treat your blog like a conversation? Or is it slightly more formal? I don't think there is a "right way" and a "wrong way" in this case, I just want to know what you think. Lay it on me.
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