Blogging for Merri McEdlerry

Blogging is more akin to professional speaking than it is to writing a novel.  When a speaker steps onto a stage he or she has an audience to speak to, to interact with, to guide his presentation.

A novelist, on the other hand, works alone for months, sometimes years, with no idea whether the book is on track or hopelessly lost.

A blogger pens a post in less than hour (most cases), hits publish, and in a matter of hours knows from the page views and comments if the message hit the intended target.

This blog is about the last two words of the previous sentence - intended target.

I've spoken to hundreds, probably thousands of groups.  They ranged in size from under twenty to over two thousand.  I learned early in my speaking career that I couldn't speak directly to everyone in my audience, so in the first five minutes of every presentation, I found a few people scattered around the room, and I spoke to them.  I made eye contact with them, talked directly to them, and became one with them.  With the connections established, I spoke from my heart to theirs.  I knew we were connected when they began smiling and nodding their agreement.

I've been blogging for a few years now, and recently I've come to realize that I'm doing the same thing when I write a blog post.  There is a group of people who seem to read every one of my posts, and if I connect with them the way I intend to connect, they reward me with a comment - which I've come to equate with the smiles and head nods of the members of an audience.

Understand, the ones I blog to are a tough audience.  When my words fail to connect, they don't comment, and I don't get another chance to stare in their eyes, as it were.  A good many of my, until now, secret group, commented on my last post - David always gets the first shot, because he lives his life seven hours ahead of mine.  Then there's Christina, who walks every step with me, comments on every blog, and cheers everything I do.  There's Caleb who lives in Texas and never sleeps.  Stephen and Jo are in Texas, Jack is in California, Claude in Italy, and there are a couple of others who didn't comment on Friday's post, but I know they are there, and I was writing for them too.  And I was writing for Merri McEdlerry, who did leave a comment, a memorable one as she often does.

I've singled Merri out of my select group because we've never met, emailed,  or been on a hang out together.  I've never had a Facebook or Triberr conversation with her, but I'm always thinking of her when I write, because I know if I get it right, she will nod, smile, and then leave a comment that means more to me than she can imagine.

I write novels for anyone who wants an inspiring read.

I blog for David, Jack, Caleb, Stephen, Christina, Mary Kathryn, Emma, Claude, Beca, Lavella, Bob, and Merri McEdlerry.

Who do your blog for?