The Problem with Blogging

So I now need to somehow take all the things I've learned this semester and blog about 3 times a day to get it all out of my head and down on paper....web...whatever.

So the first thing I've learned. Web 2.0 is great....but it provides a challenge for those of us who get ideas while communicating. I love reading blogs. I sometimes comment on posts. Reading posts - and other people's comments makes me feel like part of a conversation whether it is on the latest efficiency tool on 43 folders or a parenting article about why my 6 month old shouldn't watch TV until he is 15.

I enjoy this class - and others - because every time someone makes a comment or while we are learning, I have 7 different ideas that pop into my head that are (mostly) related. But how to turn all those thought bubbles into blogging of interest?

The blogs that I read, that I enjoy....and that apparently are read by many others.....are good because they inspire comments, more ideas and most importantly thought. And I think the concept of a blog appeals to that very human instinct to comment. To tell everyone their opinion.

I think of blogs as your own individual opportunity to be an Op-Ed editor. And the really good ones (like really good op eds) inspire though and comments and feedback and participation.

But for those of us with ADHD type tendencies the exercise of putting thoughts into REAL sentences and structuring them...ooooh. Hmmmm. Wow...that's hard.

Which brings me to my point (sort of) which is this feeling I get as I read different blogs, that the good ones often sound like they are all written by the same person. Different subjects...but similar tones. It sometimes gets a little hard to differentiate.

What is it about blogging that seems to make people stick to this one sound, this one format? I've studied a lot of literature - and there are so many sounds and voices and ways of communicating with the reader. But blogging treads a wierd line between personal commentary, journalism and creative writing. Maybe I'm reading the wrong things....maybe I need to explore more. But right now, although the content is very very different, it seems like a lot of blogs sound similar and maybe this is what happens when everyone has access to the same sources, reads the same sources, and digests the same or similar information. Kind of like accents. If you stay in one small town, you probably have an accent. The broader your travels and exposure, the more your accent is likely to flatten.

So I guess my question is....do blogs seem similar because similar kinds of people blog (and blogs well) or is it just that everyone seems to read the same good material and knowingly or unknowingly model their writing after it a little?