Journaling and blogging – in some ways, sometimes, prepping a blog post might feel similar to when you’re in your room writing in your journal. But they’re not the same; each has its own impetus, objective, readers and eventual location. That’s essential to remember before we click publish. In this post, we’ll walk through a few key reasons why the difference between journaling and blogging is something to consider when prepping your next blog (or social media) post. 

There are no strict rules when it comes to blogging per se, but depending on the essence, objective, readership and goal of your blog, the way you shape and share your content matters. There are no rules where journaling is concerned; you pretty much write whatever you like on any given day, and that info is “stored” within the confines of the pages in that book that’s probably in a drawer somewhere, under your bed or on your desk. Hopefully, your journal is filled with truth and things you’re grateful for even when writing during tough times, but it’s not my place to say anything beyond that. 

Let’s get to those points and briefly examine the key differences between journaling and blogging. As we do, it’ll be clear why they influence how we shape the message we relay in our online writing:

The purpose of your posting

Intention

In blogging, the message is being directed to online readers not intended as a note to self, which usually ends up on paper. Even if your blog is written in a light personal style, it’s shared on a public platform.

When shaping the message in your blog post, consider which (combo) of these it’s designed to be:

• encouraging
• educating
• enhancing (some say ‘entertaining’)

When you have the essence of and purpose in the post, write freely. When you review what you wrote (in stages or after), go through each paragraph and ‘pull up the weeds’ then ‘mow the grass’ – cut out anything that takes away from the fruit of the message and correct any typos. Grammarly is a free app you can download straight to your computer/typing thingie (then click ‘run.’) It will spellcheck/correct words and offer sentence structure tweaks for more fluent reading.

• this isn’t a sponsored post; just a tip shared. Grammarly is working on my laptop as I type this.  

The Reach Of Your Writing

Sharing/Publishing 

Have you ever been asked to share your journal with people you’ve never met? Me neither. Our journals are (usually) private, although they, like the mini-computers called ‘mobile phones’ will remain on earth (with all the info in them) when it’s our time to go.

Blogging is sharing your writing with the public. 

Preparation Before Publishing

Editing 

Do you review your writing right after you finish a journal entry? Chances are, not – at least, not for awhile. Are you picky about using pen or pencil, specific fonts, and time-consuming graphic designs in each daily entry? Not me – yeah, I may add a hand drawn flower, scripture or swirly border here and there, but when it comes to blog post prepping, it’s a different discipline, readership and aim.

But don’t feel overwhelmed about your blogging style; one of the bloggers whose posts i enjoy shares lightly about life with her hubby and family in the country. Her readers show their love and support by clicking like a lot. Another blogger posts daily pics (no text) of pets and another, meals – without recipes. One edits text and photos while the other two, just visuals. Editing is usually a bit part of blogging.

From listing post ideas to writing, title-composition then proofreading, note-taking and typo-correcting, editing and blogging go hand in hand – ideally. If you include multi-media content in some or all of your blog posts, you already know just how much the discipline of editing is involved with getting words, visuals and sound ready for publication. I’m a bit picky when it comes to my handwriting and neatness for the most part, but when I do misspell a word or want to change a phrase on paper, I have to scribble it out. The editing process for a post, however, is meticulous even when ‘dialect’ is in the mix.

Documentation

Whether your Content Calendar is designed as a Spreadsheet or you use a more in-depth documentation tech tool like Trello or Asana project management app, chances are you have it to log your blog posts and related content, not journal entries. Well, that’s unless you’re including a few excerpts into your book. If your blog is connected to your business, you’re likely to have info saved in physical notebooks (for listing post ideas, goals, things to do) and also as digital files.

Understanding

Time is precious, and so when people visit your blog – this blog – any blog, the time they take to log on and read or listen through, is something to remember, appreciate and consider when shaping whatever message you are called to share in your next post.

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