What kind of merry-go-round are we on, folks?
The questions keep flying in circles:
- Is a blogger a writer?
- Is a blogger an author?
- Is a blogger bona fide?
- Should a journalist become a blogger?
- Is a blogger a reporter?
- Is a freelancer a consultant?
- Should I write in the first person or third person if I’m one person?
OHMYGOSH, already!
Let’s set the record straight so everyone knows the following:
Bloggers are writers. They write every day they post an article. Sometimes the piece is short, sometimes it’s personal, sometimes it’s in-depth investigative journalism like this piece by Amy Tobin on Sunday Social Justice.
Would bloggers be able to pass muster every day writing by journalistic standards? Nope, but they’re not trying. On occasion a piece comes along the likes of squarely on the rump, and that piece deserves high praise and slotting into a publication the likes of Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Oh, did I already mention Amy Tobin’s work? I’ve never given double link love in a blog post before and I’m gifting Amy with that first…and, she knows why!
Bloggers as Authors
Photo Credit: Jayme Soulati via iPhone 4S on AA flight to LA
Are bloggers authors if they write books? Many a blogger has written a book; I’m not the first to re-purpose a treasure of archived content into a useful and educational business book.
In case you didn’t know, I recently self published, . So, bloggers can write books; have you? Does that make a blogger any less of an author? NOPE! But, some do believe so; and, that’s OK. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion.
Journos as Bloggers
For sure a journalist ought to blog, but I bet the topic of the blog would not be akin to their daily beat. That would be a bit strange. Perhaps a journo could blog about a hobby or something; that way, the blog would not interfere with daily writings for the online or offline publication.
Is a freelancer a consultant? Well, you can read on that topic right here and see if you can come up with an answer any better than we could!
First Person or Third Person
Should you write in the first person or third person if you’re one person? A subscriber suggested my newsletters should be written in the first person. That shows I’m writing the content about myself.
Why?
Doesn’t everyone want to give the impression their practice is larger than one person? If you write in first person, it’s too personal and seems full of braggadocio. I can’t, and public relations professionals rarely if ever write in the first person as we’re writing for others.
I’m all about ghost writing for myself; the ones who really know me under the cover will know who’s minding the store. What about you? First person or third?
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Wait, you gave AmyMccTobin TWO link lobes?? What the deuce, man??? 🙂
It’s a great question and I’m looking forward to the conversations around this. For me, we’re content creators. A blogger could never write a single word in their life (podcasters or video bloggers), but the content is as in-depth and as entertaining as any 1,500 word blog post.
But from a written point of view, yes, bloggers are writers. There is great and crap in both mediums – there are some “writers” who would be awful bloggers.
For me, it comes down to the art of putting thoughts in front of other people – blog, book, fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, etc. The act of writing is the same; the medium is all that’s truly different.
And, yes, I meant “love”, not “lobes” – although the latter could be fairly interesting. 🙂
Danny Brown AmyMccTobin Do you believe a podcaster or vlogger doesn’t write a post associated with that content? Hmm, do you know anyone who can do that? I think the best podcasters I know have to have a blog to showcase and archive the works while the collection is offered on iTunes, too.
Your writing as a blogger? Yeah…you provoke, you lead, inspire, twist and create new angles for us all and it’s about business mostly (except for the earlier days). So, you’ve evolved when you wanted and needed to. For a reporter, they don’t really evolve; they conform to what’s required by an editor or what’s assigned.
A writer gets to do whatever pleases, so maybe that’s an argument for a blogger is a writer is an author not a reporter.
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing AmyMccTobin Check out Soundcloud, where it’s just the audio. Or Vox, when that was around. YouTube creators may have a 20 word blurb, but that’s it.
Agree, there are some that will delve in and write a major article to go alongside it, but I’m increasingly finding media bloggers to allow their content to “do the writing” for them.
Danny Brown Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing AmyMccTobin I’m so lame when it comes to staying in touch with the apps and plug ins. Darn, I just want to create content and let you smarties investigate that stuff.
But, how cool would it be to elevate to just the audio, please.
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing Danny Brown AmyMccTobin Hey Jayme:) I love this post only because I came into this game later. I did not do very well in English and I absolutely hated writing essays, which is the reason I went into business school. But in 2007, for some reason I found my voice and I started writing. I never considered myself a writer then because I didn’t think I could compete in the big leagues. But as I’ve evolved, I became passionate about certain things and I began to blog more often. I’ve always distinguished bloggers from journalists, where the former has no allegiance to anyone but themselves. Over time, however the lines have blurred between the two because bloggers have just as much authority as some of these journalists. In fact, it’s the reason why traditional publishers are now hiring bloggers as on-site writers. Besides Danny, I’ve never been as captivated with someone’s writing as I have been with AmyMccTobin. I think finding your passion brings out your voice and that’s what makes a huge difference.
hessiej Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing Danny Brown AmyMccTobin AmyMccTobin W00t! I have the whole company here! That’s a total #RockHot!! Thanks, Hessie!
And, you’re so right…finding voice defines you and it’s that passion that enables it.
I love writing about blogging and my profession (obviously) b/c that’s from where the passion comes. Back in the day, I had serious writers’ block; could not write to save my soul in PR agencies! Yikes, and then one day I did.
Confidence begets voice, too. I hear you on the distinction between reporters/journos and bloggers. I agree, there is one. Many thanks for coming over!
hessiej Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing Danny Brown AmyMccTobin AmyMccTobin Awe…. as must as I like to bust his chops, being compared to Danny’s blogging is a pretty awesome compliment.
Frankly, we’re all making me sick with all this love.
AmyMccTobin hessiej Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing Danny Brown AmyMccTobin I dunno…Danny, you sick of this love?
You know guys like to eat that shit up, Amy.
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing AmyMccTobin hessiej AmyMccTobin I tuned out at the mention of love. Girly stuff.
I agree with Danny– I can’t wait to see how this discussion picks up!
I agree that bloggers are writers, but I would add that they are *blog* writers (if that makes sense). If they can write a book, then they are authors; if they can pull off a good investigative piece, then they are journalists. But the proof is in the result (or the medium, as Danny puts it). I would consider myself a blog writer but would never consider myself an author or one who is good with fiction writing. When I worked as a reporter, I considered myself a journalist but I would never write the same way for a blog. Some people can wade in different writing pools and some cannot (I for instance, cannot be an advertising copywriter– I like too many words!)
Krista Interesting points, Krista, and the reporting angle (as both you and Jayme point out) is a great separator. How would you define people that write a book that is crap – a crap author, or still an author? 😉
For example: a lot of early social media books were simply cut-and-paste blog posts. Does that make the person an author, or an extended blogger?
Danny Brown Krista And, that hits well to home for me, Danny. I’ve been thinking hard about that author thing. Yes, I took blog posts from three years of archives; however, the chapters included takeaways, tips, updates and notes. It’s like a practice session…take from the archives first and see what you’ve got, repurpose, package and off you go. At the end of the day, my expectation is low for readership; that was not the goal!
My second title, though, is going to be original works; that will put me square.
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing Krista And there’s a key difference right there, miss, the added content. It’s why people buy the Director’s Cut even when they have the original, because of the added value. Do that, and you take a step up the chain.
Krista Hi, Krista…let’s delineate a blogger author who writes a business book vs. fiction. I think that’s a huge difference. But, that guy @ExtremelyAverage Brian who is really a big data and coding geek and a blogger who is writing suspense novels on his blog extremely well. Not sure how we explain his bizarreness! (Heh, I mean that in love/lobe [Danny]).
@AmyTobin will need to swing over…she wrote an astonishing piece…did I tell you she got two link loves upstairs? Danny saw it, heh. The entire impetus for this post, and it’s been brewing, was when she said in a comment that she was a blogger not a writer.
Eh?
No way, not with the quality and introspect and investigation of that piece.
So, I just had to set the record straight with more confusion. Seems like that’s the theme this week — freelancer or consultant, old PR vs. new PR and whether we are legit as writers.
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing Speaking of link love, you’re in today’s ArCIntel post. 🙂
Danny Brown Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing ArCIntel I’m coming over! Just got off the tennis court; I am making that a super priority this summer! Thanks!
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing Krista First of all , it is obvious that Danny is getting jealous, so please tell him how smart he is. I have to do that like 67 times a day:)
Here’s the thing; as a young person I desperately wanted to BE a writer, but I didn’t want to be a pauper as well, so I opted for business, which I LOVE. And I don’t mind being a Blogger, just a blogger, because when I do it I know I’m writing – creating. I would not call myself a journalist – researching on the web as I do makes it seem to easy. Yes, I interview people often, but most often I’m collecting thoughts from across the social space and telling my stories with them.
Danny’s right – there are a lot of lazy ass bloggers and business folks who just churn out crap. Those bloggers are not writers. And then there are folks like Ken Mueller and Jason Konopinski who REALLY are great writers. Great post.
AmyMccTobinSoulati | B2B Social Media MarketingKristaKen MuellerJason KonopinskiDanny Brown — crisis of confidence??? No way, Jose.
Danny and I met on Twitter in 2009. I wanted one of those cool frames around my avatar like everyone had; I happened to ask him, the founder of the 12for12K organization. I jumped right in and it was love. Until there was sheep.
Lazy bloggers. Sometimes I am one, too. There are days when I just can’t work my mind into excitement and it shows in the content. Who knows what summer will bring? Could be lazy ass blogging for me.
But, look at all the fodder in these comments this week! Your piece today is #RockHot, Amy. Just left you a blog post in the comments.
http://thearccompany.com/silo-d-pr-is-business-suicide/
Can we collectively agree to stop being elitist about this? Quibbling over whether or not someone is “truly a writer” reeks of elitism. REEKS. Some people are better writers than others. Fine, whatever.
I embrace specificity, but the idea that one kind of writer is more legit than another is just gross. Or maybe take it from a high school friend who used to say LABELS ARE FOR JARS, YO.
jennwhinnem Jenn, not to make light of your comments, but you really crack me up. #That.Is.All. I always love your perspective because it’s yours.
It’s a matter of perceived bona fides. When people hear the term “journalist” what they interpret that as is “credentialed journalist” when they hear “blogger” what they interpret that as is “uncredentialed writer”. The difference is only in the acceptance by their audience. Take a political blogger, one day they’re a loud-mouth with a blog .. huffington post decides to syndicate their content, and suddenly they’re a “journalist”. Likewise take a loud-mouth journalist who makes their boss uncomfortable enough to fire them .. suddenly they find that they’re a blogger.
SteelToad Ray! How brilliant. I love that answer and you’re spot on, Friend. That makes total sense! Regard by the community (and as Davina said upstairs) your own regard for self.
What jennwhinnem said. And while for now, I don’t aspire to write a book and be a published author – congrats BTW – I do take umbrage at the notion that if I’m not, I’m not a ‘real’ writer. That’s crap. As important and the medium and the audience, it’s you – what do YOU think, what do YOU want from this, and WHY. I’m writing b/c it’s what I do, what I like and enjoy, feel I’m better at the keyboard then anywhere else. So it’s the best platform – be it a blog, social network, unread journal of random Evernotes ne’er to see the light of day – for me. FWIW.
Oh on the person – keep it real. I write as a business, but every where I try to be clear it’s a business of one and that you’re hiring me. WYSIWYG. So any newsletter or such would be written as such, this is me me me. Truthy disclosure. all that jazz. 🙂
3HatsComm jennwhinnem Wonderful to have you, Queen D! Thanks so much!
Thank you! (What you said.)
It’s so hard to take comments with a grain of salt; especially when our brand new experience is still unreal and we’re trying to get comfortable with it. Hmm, there’s that third person, eh? Shall I rephrase and say, I’m talking about me? LOL.
A company newsletter should never be written in the first person. It’s awkward. Yes, you’re hiring me; I am the brand and my name is on the door; however, that doesn’t preclude me from including my designer and my SEO team and my developer (who I always include and they work for me). So, does that mean I’m a team of one? Not at all and that’s why I would never write in the first person.
I think I just answered by question on the Title du Jour blog post — Freelancer or Consultant…the reason I’m not a freelancer is because I have resources around me to bring to the table to accomplish projects and programs. A freelancer is definitely one solo person looking for projects. That’s my answer, and I’m sticking to it!
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing I’ve got to drop the ‘freelance’ from my site (someday, when I pigs fly and grass grows purple and I actually do it! Ahem.) ; it does ring ‘project’ vs. ‘contract’ – consultant is more accurate. And though I may be independent, I too can create a virtual team when it’s warranted.
I don’t know if I have ever really bought into the conversation about whether bloggers are writers or not. I am not saying it to rain on your parade either. I think of myself as a writer and I earn much of my living based upon my work as a writer, but my blog posts aren’t always things that I consider written pieces of work either.
Joshua Wilner/A Writer Writes Heh. I would have to agree, Josh! Your style and approach to blogging is much, much different than mine, let’s say. I consider your works (previously to the most recent) as very personal blogging and of the Daddy Blogger type (which you have also stated).
In that sense, a parent blogger relies on personal happenstance to craft stories. I’m using my business to educate others and a few other goals.
Two very different approaches and styles; yet, it’s writing. You’re also working on a book; at least you were. What do you mean when you say “written pieces of work?” That seems more like that book you’re working toward.
You write more than anyone I know on the blogosphere; it’s like your daily diary of sorts; why don’t you regard your blog as writing?
What we’ve been chatting about these last several years — the migration of your writing toward a business blogging approach and it’s happening because I see it — is a newer style to your Wilner writing — adopting the teachings you’ve earned along the way and sharing them on blog posts. What you’re doing that is so cool, though (like today’s post you wrote), is adding that very introspective, cunning personal twist. People don’t even know they’re getting a mix of voice when they read your newest stuff.
I also believe this new agency gig you’re working at has changed your voice, too. Or, maybe just sharpened the purpose.
There…take it or leave it! Nice to have you here.
I think it really comes down to writing itself. Crafting your way with words, whether you’re a novelist, a blogger, or a journo, makes you a writer. You’re striving to put a word after a word and a word. And that’s power.
All writing is power. And bloggers are powerful!
jonbuscall There you go; we can all go home now. John has it down pat; on target, spot on — do all nationalities understand?
Heh, a Brit on Twitter today didn’t know what “sucking wind” meant. He said he was going to look it up and it sounded painful. I just laughed!
timbo1973 I agree, but it doesn’t really matter, because I’m going to consider myself an author regardless of what the sayers of “nay” (mostly horses) say.
See, I wrote that!