What Makes a Blogger

I am a blogger.

For at least the last decade, what was once viewed as maybe a fad or a hobby for some and reserved for business and journalists by others, has become a widely accepted medium for delivering information. For a lucky few, blogging has become lucrative. These lucky few are able to leave the daily grind behind and go to work for themselves.

The first step to becoming who or what you want to be is to write it down, say it out loud, and acknowledge it. Just get it out of your brain. Once you admit to yourself what you want to do, the battle is already won. If you are lucky, your strengths are also what you enjoy, and you can capitalize on those strengths.

I am a blogger.

My LinkedIn headline says I'm a blogger, but I was a blogger long before I was on LinkedIn. To be honest, I've always been a blogger. It's in me. It's what I want to do. 

In high school, I journaled. I journaled mostly for myself. I wrote down my thoughts, wrote poetry, and bits of information I can across to keep for reference later. But I kept it to myself. The best blogs are honest, and I wasn't ready for that type of honesty in high school. And what is a blog, if not a written account of the author's thoughts and opinions?

And then came Myspace. My first foray into social media. As a budding songwriter, I could post some recordings to my page and maintain a blog. I developed a habit of writing on Myspace at least once a week. Anytime I thought something noteworthy, to Myspace I went. You see, a good blog has to become habitual for the author, if not it will never be updated. It takes that level of commitment.

College found me joining the ranks of the department of English as a creative writing student. Towards the end of my college career, I took some advice and started posting some of my writings on a blog hosted on the now defunct vox.com (not to be confused with the current iteration of vox.com, now a news aggregator) under the name N. James Bonassin. For some reason, I thought that using a first initial sounded more like a writer's name. 

My next blog was the only record of a catering company I conceived, called Di Bonassini's Catering. The catering company idea was born on a business trip to Atlanta, where I read the latest issue of Entrepreneur Magazine on the plane. The blog covered everything that I learned in the process of creating a catering company. The catering company never left the kitchen. I'm not sure what stopped me. Fear?

Since 2011, I've written a food blog, Me, Myself, and Cuisine. I chose to write a food blog because food is something that has always drawn families together. Even when a family hasn't spoken in a long time, food can bring them together. Food has always been the backbeat of my family. Not only do we gather for meals, but we gather to prepare the meals. It's something I can write about and be honest about. I can put myself behind that.

Once you become a blogger, it's hard to think about anything else really. It's hard to do anything else. What is the next story going to be? How can I make those pictures better? Do I focus on a series? The list of questions never ends and you'll always be looking for ways to improve and grow your audience.

That's why I am a blogger.