You might not be too fond of academic writing in general – and that’s totally okay. In fact, many other students aren’t fond of it either. Under these circumstances, running a blog in your spare time might seem like a ridiculous idea – why should you do so when you hate writing so much? However, it’s a great idea, actually.
Why? Well, first because blogging has nothing to with academic writing at all – unless you decide to start a blog dedicated to it, which most likely isn’t happening. Blogging is usually writing about things you truly enjoy or find interesting, about finding your audience, and sometimes even about monetizing your hobby in the future.
Second, while blogging usually doesn’t feel like academic writing, it helps you improve your writing skills to the point you’ll find paper writing much easier. And here are 5 reasons why it can do so.
Reason 1: You learn to research quickly.
Of course, if you want to start a blog, this probably means that you are well familiar with the topic. However, there’s still a chance you might need to research something from time to time. And even if not, you’ll definitely need to monitor the latest trends and to keep an eye on the recent news if you want to succeed.
Academic research is very similar to a blogging one. You have to spend a lot of time, to support your thoughts with evidence, to cite the sources of information (if you want to look valid, of course). The great thing is that the more often you do so, the easier it becomes. You start sorting the most important information from the less important quicker, finding great cause and effect essay topics quicker, and so on.
Reason 2: You learn how to make your writing interesting.
Sure, not all academic writing can and should be interesting. For example, a scientific report doesn’t need to hook the reader’s attention and hold it – it needs to provide specific data in the first place. However, when it comes to essay writing and speech writing, it’s important to know how to make your texts interesting.
The same goes for blogging: if your introduction is weak and your writing is dull, people won’t read it. So you need to work hard to make your writing interesting – and this will affect your papers as well.
Reason 3: You build a writing practice.
It’s the same with both research and writing: the more you do it, the easier it will become. Sometimes academic writing is stressful not because the topic is too complex or the research is too heavy but simply because you aren’t used to writing. You struggle to put your thoughts on paper, you don’t know how to be concise, you find it hard to defend your point of view.
But this changes with practice. The more you write, the less terrifying the writing seems – and the fear of a blank page slowly goes away for sure.
Reason 4: You learn how to manage your time.
Yes, academic writing has its deadlines – but often it’s hard to meet them. Sometimes this happens because students procrastinate and sometimes – because they cannot manage their time effectively. How can they estimate how long will it take for them to finish an essay when they don’t know how long they write in general?
When you blog, you write more often – and if you take it seriously, you have deadlines and schedule as well. So writing becomes a more familiar concept to you, allowing you to make more realistic plans and schedules.
Reason 5: Blogging gives you more feedback.
When you do academic writing, you rarely get enough feedback – and often the only person commenting you is your professor. But when you blog, you get a great opportunity to improve your writing as well as gain more confidence with the help of others’ feedback.
This doesn’t mean that your audience will start critiquing your writing right away – they might not even do this at all. However, if your arguments are weak, most likely you’ll notice it from the comments. If you’re raising a controversial topic, most likely the audience will ask you to explain your point of view further. This could help you become not only a good writer but an amazing one.
So if you’re looking for a way to change your attitude towards writing, share your passions and interests with the world, and find people who think like you – consider giving blogging a try! And who knows, maybe you’ll be able to become one of the many popular bloggers someday.
Image created by Makyzz
Author’s Bio:
Kevin is a professional educator and a private tutor with over 8 years of experience. He is also a content writer for various blogs about higher education, entertainment, social media & blogging. During his off time, Kevin enjoys traveling and cooking. Feel free to connect with him on Twitter, Linkedin & Google+.