I’ve heard this quote a few times and while I find it amusing, there’s an underlying theme I want to address.

“Real” writing.

Also included in that category is “real” art.

Let’s talk about graffiti for a second.

I grew up in a city that was so horribly planned, you just assumed you’d get stuck waiting for a train on your way to anywhere. Seriously–even downtown rush hour wasn’t immune.

What made it bearable was watching for graffiti. Some of it was nothing more than vandalism, but some–amazing. Yes, it was still vandalism, but it showcased what graffiti could become.

The artist can take the medium and elevate it.

Like graffiti, blogging is a medium that anybody can access. Some treat it as no more than a glorified journal without concern for content or its presentation. Others pontificate journalistic writing, but are nothing more than spastic armchair critics who merely post their opinions masquerading as research.

I’ll ignore the endless marketing blogs with the same formulaic copy-writing meant to funnel you int some product. I’ll try not to be too harsh as I got suckered into that methodology for a while, but did learn some useful writing tips along the way.

Some blogs, though, are game changers.

They open a world that a long forgotten non-fiction book collecting dust somewhere cannot.

They engage conversation, provoke rebuttals and gather communities.

They’re not mean to replace journal articles or books (though many books today are blog posts with hundreds of filler pages), but become its own medium to showcase what writing can be.

I consider it snobbery to prefix anything with “real.”

“Real” world.
“Real” books.
“Real” writing.
“Real” sports.
“Real” art.
etc.

There’s no such categorization.

There’s just the level it’s been elevated to in its execution.