Amateur Blogger

I'm reading a collection of the early essays of G.K. Chesterton, Chesterton In Black and White. In one section, he has a series of essays about "the decline of amateur professions" - Dancer, Critic, Actor, Politician, Education, and Soldier, followed by a general reflection on amateurs.

I thought of another amateur profession, one that involves me: Blogger.

I have been blogging since 2005. I had an earlier personal blog, and created this one in 2008.I kept both going for while, then pretty much switched over to this one in 2011. I have also been part of a team of bloggers contributing to a blog about G. K. Chesterton - but the other folks drifted away and  I've been the only person posting in that one since 2014.

I was for a while also a paid blogger. Our local newspaper created community blogs and i was for a couple of years the blogger covering my town. I wrote and took pictures. I went to town board meetings and community events, and wrote about interesting community organizations, groups and individuals. I was also asked to be part of a men's blog. I actually built a bit of a following, and sometimes irked town officials  because and some of the observations I made. The town supervisor even rewquested a short meeting to iron things out! 

But then the corporate powers decided that we community bloggers should not be paid. I continued with both the newspaper blogs for a while, but then moved on. Eventually, as blogging became passe, the newspaper ceased publishing them.

The fee I was paid for the newspaper blogs was small, and I only did it for a couple of years, so I still view myself as an amateur.

I'm not a particular popular or good blogger. The big blogs draw tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of readers, and the bloggers even find ways to generate income through their blogs. I average only about 3,500 views a month, and it varies by season. I've generally gotten somewhere in the 2,000's, with several months popping as high as around 6,800. My last six month, going backwards, for example, I've drawn 3,273. 4,000, 6,768, 2,624, 2,037, and 2,128 views.  

The blogs that do really well usually have well-known writers - authors, artists, foodies, etc. - and  generally have a popular focus such as fashions, parenting, home improvement and cooking hints, and pop culture. There are also some religiously-oriented bloggers who do well - some who are pop spirituality gurus, but also some orthodox writers, apologists, and so on.

Me, I'm not well-known. And my blog posts tend to be eclectic. I might write about politics, religion, poetry, books I've read, my own poetry, and so on. I'm not consistent. My blog is often more of a diary than a public vehicle.

So I am an amateur blogger. And that's okay. Given that blogging is not as popular as it once was, it seems in keeping with my character in general. I like to read classic authors, not pop fiction. I write poems in obscure forms like haiku, clerihews, and scifaiku.

But like a true amateur, I do it not for the fame or money, but for the love of it.

Still, a little fame or money would be nice!

Pax et bonum