I asked each of my students to create a blog and in one of their blog posts I asked them to answer the following:

“In your recent (past year-18 months) Internet use, the website that most influenced you to begin writing online (url). One to two sentences on how this site encouraged/influenced you to write online. Challenges you foresee with sharing your thoughts/ideas/products online (this should be a short list of bullet items).”

In all fairness–not that some assignments are fair, they are in fact to teach–I felt I should do my own assignment.

WRITING
I would like one day to write and successfully publish a book. I wish to create a series of books, in fact. To that end, and because I saw Janet Evanovich’s website (http://www.evanovich.com/) while nowhere near as sexy as some of the work I’ve created, is full of content.

Negative reinforcement? I’m slipping! When will I ever get to write. I need to write. Since much of the work I do is online, I felt the best way for me to practice writing was to blog.

I’ve tried blogging in the past. My interest wanes.

Why did Janet Evanovich’s site encourage me to write online? Actually, it is hard to remember if this is the exact site. I know I was browsing my favorite authors. I think because this site was so obviously created on top of a blogging platform, I felt it supported the fact that I was destined to blog.

I feel that sharing my ideas online may be fraught with peril:

• I will need an online spellchecker.
• I will need to practice daily — that means I will have to type in passwords daily.
• I will need memory enhancement devices to accomplish the above.
• I cannot think that having one more blog is all of a sudden going to give me the discipline I need.
• My Facebook friends will miss me if I truly invest my time in blogging.

GRAMMAR
I would much rather leave the periods off of those bulleted items, but I am a dinosaur when it comes to some grammatical choices. However, I chose to add periods. You can learn more by reading an article on a site I really enjoy: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/formatting-vertical-lists.aspx