Blogs for writers - why should we have them?

Why indeed?  I started my own blog a few months back.  I'd intended to do it for ages - after all a writer without a blog is almost unheard of now.  At least it seems that way to me.

But why is it that all freelance and professional writers have got their own blog up and running?  And is it really worth doing?  It might be writing, but it's not paid writing... or is it? 

Having your own writing blog is a good way to polish and hone your own writing skills. I think this is important no matter how experienced a writer you might be, but there is no doubt that beginners will get more benefit out of it.

You don't need to pay for a blog either if you don't want to. I'm currently using Windows Live Spaces for my blog and I've had thousands of visitors during the first few tentative months of blogging - despite doing only limited promotion. People seem to find you quite easily with this particular platform and it's very easy to use.

Sometimes I'll write a blog entry first thing in the morning before I do anything else, to get the writing muscle loosened up before the proper work begins. You might find this useful too, but no matter when you start blogging you'll find it enormously helpful in both the short and the long term.

A writing blog can act a bit like an online resume if you develop it in a good way.  Because you are primarily writing for yourself you can allow your natural writing voice to come out and develop itself.

Potential clients can read your blog entries and see what your writing style is like.  And because you are writing about your writing life, you can also give readers an idea of what you write about and how your writing career is developing.

In this sense it doesn't matter if you are writing full or part time.  You can still reveal how your career is progressing, and that can give people an insight into how you write and how efficient you are.  

My blog hasn't been going that long so I haven't achieved this directly through my blog yet (at least, not to my knowledge).

But my website has been going for the same length of time and that has pulled in work for me.  The two are obviously connected as well.  I've also had web pages set up on other sites that have brought in clients, and I fully expect my blog will do the same as it develops more over time.

Of course there is no telling when this will happen... and there is no firm guarantee that it ever will.  But the longer you do it, the more visitors you will attract and the more chance you have of pulling in people who will be interested in using your 'voice' for their own projects. 

This is almost the most important thing of all.  Since I started writing full time I decided I would make the effort to give a little back to the community.  The thing is, when I began writing for online markets I largely found my own way around.  It took a while but I got there in the end.

But there were certain blogs I read, specific websites I visited and certain people whose ideas and encouragement I really relied on to keep me going when it felt like I wasn't going to get anywhere at all.

That's why I like to try and help other beginning writers make their own first steps into the world of writing.  I remember what it's like to get started, and any bit of encouragement you can get is often worth its weight in gold.

So if you haven't yet started your own writing blog, why not seize the moment and get one started now?  It doesn't matter if it starts in a small way.  It could build into something way bigger than you ever imagined.  And I can guarantee you'll really enjoy it! 

This hub was written by Allison Whitehead, a full time freelance writer living in the UK. You can visit her website by going to http://www.allisonwhitehead.co.uk.