What if they wrote a blog and nobody read it?

A friend and former colleague has written an excellent piece here centering around the topic "why blog if nobody reads it?"

Fair question. Since I began blogging in August 2004, I've often wondered from time to time why I bother. I am no Huffington Post, Instapundit or Swampland. At least I'm not killing trees, right?

But like Lindsey says on SuLu Blog, part of the point is the extra practice. To improve at writing, like any other task, one must do it -- again and again and again.

Writing for a weekly newspaper, it is easy to slide into a manic-depressive way of working -- save everything until the last possible moment, composing it all in one big burst of energy, filing the last story moments before the final deadline. It works. But it isn't the best way.

Marvin West, one of the best, once told me to treat each day as if I had a deadline. Perfect. Not only are the facts fresh on your mind, such an MO usually allows you to review your writing a day or two later, after the dust has settled, when you're more apt to spot errors. It also makes the proofreader and the composition department very, very happy.

So, bravo, SuLu Blog! And, bravo, bloggers everywhere! Keep it up. Create for creation's sake. Do it for the love of language. Do it for the fun of it.

But, by all means, do it.