The Pen (or keyboard) is Mightier than the Sword
November 15th is “I Love to Write Day” so I decided to take a break from my usual blogs about staffing and recruiting and get a bit more personal.
I love to write. I always have. I had a lot of practice when I decided to double major in Comparative Literature and History at Indiana University. Though there ended up being quite a bit more writing than I could have ever predicted. The only time I actually regretted that decision was the night before a 25 page paper about the Holy Crown of Hungary was due, it was stressful but turned out alright in the end after an all nighter and a lot of coffee.
I’ve often tried to understand why I love to write. I think it is similar to why some people love to talk. Writing is how I process, well everything. My thoughts, my experiences, my triumphs and failures. I live in my head, and the last thing I ever want to do is process situations verbally, because I am horrible at it. I either end up saying something I regret or not saying anything at all. So instead I write, with a pen, a keyboard, or my brain to be written down at a later date.
Obviously I’m not the only one who loves to write. Throughout history people have decided to record their thoughts and opinions down in the written word. The earliest record we have of the written word is the Sumerian language in 3000 BC. It isn’t writing like we probably think of today, instead it was closer to hieroglyphics. Pictures associated with words or phrases that when placed in order form a sentence or thought. How incredible is it that over 5,000 years ago people were writing, despite the vast differences in culture they were doing something very similar to us.
Writing and Blogging in Today’s World
If you look at writing methods today things have changed quite a bit. A lot of writing is virtual, be it a text message, an e-mail, or a blog. People spend more time writing with the tips of their fingers typing out a rhythm on a keyboard than they do with a pen or pencil drawing out individual letters anymore. If I try to write something out long hand my hand usually ends up cramping before too long because I am simply not used to it. Similar to those who pick up excercising on a whim.
With the invention of blogging, the world of writing changed forever. The term blog didn’t even exist in the English language until the late 1990’s and now you’d be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard that word. Part of the beauty of blogging is that it can mean different things to different people.
Some people see blogs as a continuation of other forms of journalism, some see it as a way to express their individual opinions at large on topics ranging from politics to religion, other’s simply see it as a way to share their day to day lives with friends and family who live far away. For businesses blogging is a vital tool to education, establishing credibility and even can improve your website’s search enginge optimization (SEO).
Consistent blogging can show thought leadership in a space. The days of stuffing blogs full of relevant keywords to increase SEO is over, Google and search is evolving and your content has to make sense, be relevant, and sophisticated enough to rank higher on the search engine.
Obviously the world of blogging is much more complicated than my simple one paragraph explanation. And there are many qualified sources that dive deep into those subjects. I am not one of those, and I’m not trying to be, so I will keep my thoughts on blogging short and simple.
Write.
Write what you know.
Write what you believe in.
Write what you love.
Write well.
Be creative.
Find ways to connect it to your business.
Be yourself.
Only you can tell your story.
Happy blogging!
Sarah, Social Media Coordinator at Kane Partners
