Walking and Talking and Writing and Editing … and Why the Heck am I Blogging, Anyway?
Experiment time!
While I can happily edit for hours (with breaks, of course), sitting down to write felt like a chore to avoid … and I’ve successfully managed to procrastinate blogging all year.
Now to the experiment: dictating the rough draft of a blog post using a voice to text app that I will then edit in Word. This idea came from a LinkedIn post by writing coach Ann Kroeker, who shared the article How to Start Dictating Fiction (Even If You’ve Tried and Failed Before) by Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (guest blogging for K.M. Weiland).
And I thought, you know, that could work for blogging too!
A decade of blogging
Because I’m not rah-rah over writing — though I am a fair writer — over a decade ago I focused solely on freelance editing and proofreading. And as one does, I created a website to showcase my editing services and portfolio. (Thanks Jess Dewell for your help all those years ago in getting PamelaBarroway.com off the ground!)
In fact, I published my very first blog post a decade ago on October 6, 2015: When writing and editing … remember to have fun! Which is pretty ironic, considering the progression of things.
For about six months I blogged every month. Then every other month. And I came to the conclusion that … well, I frankly dreaded figuring out what to write and the time spent writing. All of my procrastinatory proclivities set in.
By 2017, I settled upon a quarterly publishing schedule, and with some fits and starts I’ve managed to keep to that.
And then there’s this year. Because sometimes life truly does get in the way, I haven’t blogged at all in 2025 till now. So here I am, finally writing about blogging, and facing a question that anyone who writes a blog should ask themselves: Why am I blogging?
What do I want a blog to accomplish?
- Am I trying to monetize it?
- Am I trying to get my name out there?
- Am I having great conversations in the freelance editing/writing space and beyond?
- Am I sharing cute cat photos and commentary with friends?
Nothing wrong with cat blogs, I read several to live vicariously. (Allergies!) But I’m obviously here as a freelance editor, so let’s consider that.
If after a decade I haven’t monetized the blog, that is not my primary thing. Peers in my circles recognize my work, but I don’t publish enough to have a huge audience, so that’s not it either.
Upon reflection, my flex, so to speak, is to share editing and proofreading — and, yes, writing — thoughts so people can get an idea of what I’m about, and the kind of editing I offer. Which is business editing, from small biz promotion to medtech and fintech in blogs, articles, white papers, newsletters, online course content, to name a few.
I share my blogs primarily on LinkedIn, and also Mastodon where it actually does get some play! Sometimes conversations start from my blogs that results in a new client. Other times it’s just interesting conversation among peers. Either way I find those discussions to be rewarding.
Coming full circle: I will continue to blog periodically on editing, writing, freelancing, and business topics of interest … and to chat with YOU. Until next time!
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