However, if your site is based on ads then it makes a sad kind of sense to constantly pump out content. You want a steadily increasing stream of visitors to view your page and provide better chances for clicks. Quite the conundrum, but all it takes is a healthy batch of creativity and we’ll figure it out.

The one major change in writing for print as a result of the Web is that print articles are shorter. As to whether or not my own writing has been influenced by my blog, I’d have to say … maybe.

Blogging is travel writing at warp speed. I spend a tenth of the time writing a blog post as I do for a newspaper article and do a fraction of the research. And I think – at least I hope – this is teaching me to write faster in my newspaper writing, too.

The problem, though, is that while spending less time may make a blog more immediate than a print article, it’s not as carefully crafted. I agonize over finding just the right angle for a newspaper article. Being in Paris might make a great blog post, but it is not going to cut it as a travel piece. Following the footsteps of Oscar Wilde in Paris might – and did, I wrote about it last year.

With a blog there is less accountability. This may sound negative but I see it as a good thing. You’re your own boss. When I write for someone else’s publication I suffer from performance anxiety and this slows me down. Writing for your own blog is total freedom. And that’s the best feeling of all.

That said, why do so many blogs sound like PR rubbish? I love this! And I love that! I went here and there and I had FUN! I don’t get it. Why, with all that freedom, are people writing the same kind of schlock that they complain about reading in print? Obviously I’m generalizing. The best blogs are thought provoking, entertaining and well written, just like the best travel articles. And here’s the crux of what I’ve been thinking. The best travel posts I’ve read are the ones when travel bloggers aren’t actually travelling. When they’re reflecting on the nature of travel, or what kind of footprint we’re leaving, or what we’re hoping to gain and how best to describe our experience (ie posts about voice versus place). Maybe travel bloggers on the road can be too immediate. I know I’m guilty of that. Maybe it’s not a question of print versus blogging but of how to merge the best of the two.
.-= Wandering Carol´s last blog ..Travel writing – newspapers versus blogging =-.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you around again!

The big thing to remember is that for every type of blogger, there’s a reader looking for that sort of content. I subscribe to a number of travel blog RSS feeds at any given time, and enjoy the prep and travel posts, but to be completely honest, I’ll often unsubscribe once the trip is over and the blogger decides to go ‘professional.’ I abhor list articles, guest bloggers, and an ever changing stream of miscellaneous posts put up to meet the weekly quota and drive adclicks. I’m looking for the writer’s voice, and I want to know who’s words I’m reading when I land on a site. If I want the generic writing, I’ll pick up a magazine. The writing is tighter, the information is cleaner, and the photos are usually a notch above. I strongly believe in the editorial process, and find that’s the biggest weakness with blogs as mass media. While not perfect, there’s a level of professionalism and craftsmanship that I find lacking in many of the magazine style blogs.

But all of that is just me, and I’m only one man with one opinion… well, I have a LOT of opinions, but that’s another problem altogether.

NB: There are many exceptions to the criticisms I’ve made above, and many brillian bloggers running around the interwebs unchecked, but I find it sometimes difficult to sort them from the multitudes of other blogs clogging the pipes.
.-= Mark´s last blog ..Slow Travel =-.

A blogger can hope to bring his / her voice to bear on it.
.-= Anil´s last blog ..The Notorious Cannon by the Hazarduari Palace, Murshidabad =-.