Bothered?

So, why might you want to blog?

There are many reasons, both creative and academic. One of the key reasons is to start to ensure that your own digital footprint is something that you can begin to take control of and also to have a sense of creative control and pride in doing so.

Your PDP.

This is outlined in your student handbook and is something that you probably have been mentioned by your Pathway tutors in tutorials this week. 

Here is an outline taken from the student handbook.

Whilst we won't insist that your PDP has to be presented digitally, it might be a useful place to start, not least because of the ways in which blogs capture information historically. And, as you continue to blog you will grow in confidence if it is something that you've not considered doing before.

However, there are also many other ways that blogs can be useful...

Page turners.

There are a vast number of literary and book related blogs out there. Whilst it can be difficult to know where to start, here is a list of top rated book related blogs . 

Once you have a blog set up, it's easy to start to leave comments and so to develop your own tailored online presence within the blogosphere. This could, if you wanted it to be entirely related to the world of books or writing. 

Or, you could develop a niche interest and an internet search will easily lead to towards the more reputable and well respected blogs. Here for example are the top 100 blogs in the UK  or perhaps, if your interest is cookery then it's not difficult to find the top 10 cookery blogs. (Admittedly that selection was made by Gwyneth Paltrow so it might be rather 'subjective'...) But if you use the a specialised blog search like this one there are an infinite number of blogs out there.

[NB Do be aware that blogs will rarely provide reputable sources for academic research, and if you do cite from them you MUST reference correctly; copying anything from a blog, without citation, is plagiarism and is easily detectable.]

Fame!

It does happen via blogs. Success won't come overnight, but there can be no doubt that the blogosphere is producing stars in many ways:

• Many long term bloggers now have a significant online presence and have become recognised experts in their fields - this can often lead to paid work. 
• Publishing deals - have come about from many blogs. There is a long and intersting list of books that have been successfully published from blogs.

Research some of these books and leave a comment below. Here are a couple to get you started:

Brooke Magnanti (pen name Belle de Jour) Secret Diary of a Call Girl
Zoe Margolis (pen name Abby Lee) Girl With a One Track Mind
River Bend, Baghdad Burning