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28 Jun 2012 by in Zena Shapter | 2 comments

Thank You, Bloggers!

Blogging. Twenty years ago, it wasn’t even a word. Do you know how many bloggers there are in the world today? I read it is was over a billion. Now, just think about that figure for a moment. Think about what it means. It means over a billion people are opening up online, reaching out to each other and pouring a part of themselves onto a webpage. Isn’t that amazing?

I think so, which is why this blog post is dedicated to bloggers.

Through their blogs, bloggers have won themselves publishing contracts, earnt themselves a living, caused political crisis, made friends and found love (oh okay, I haven’t actually heard about the love thing but it sounds true enough). Bloggers are also fantastically generous people…

Earlier this month, I was honoured to be included in the 2012 Aussie speculative fiction snapshot, a series of blog-based interviews designed to celebrate the breadth and depth of Australia’s speculative fiction scene. A dedicated team of bloggers worked like madmen to organise all the interviews and show the world exactly what speculative fiction means to Australia. The interviews have now been read all over the world, sent by friends and colleagues to readers and writers everywhere. Bloggers did that.

Bloggers educate and communicate, they entertain and make people laugh, they inspire and support.

Many writers who blog say it helps them improve their writing technique too–they learn how to stay succinct and on topic, to engage with readers, and to entertain. And that’s what writing should, in my view, do best–with the proviso that what entertains, of course,differs from person to person.

Me? I started blogging because I wanted to connect with readers, see who’s out there. And I’m so glad I did. Blogging can make people think about the world and themselves in a different way–and I’m all about that.

So, thank you, bloggers of the world–for starting something  I could be a part of, for inspiring me and so many others, and for creating a new way of communicating. I celebrate your creativity!

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Zena Shapter is a British-Australian fiction writer and published author. She has won multiple awards for her short stories; leads the widely attended Northern Beaches Writers' Group; and blogs about contemporary book culture (at http://www.zenashapter.com/blog/). She also has a BA (Hons) in English Literature from the University of Birmingham, England; is the author of a rather clever legal volume published by CCH Australia (on intellectual property, ha ha!); has had her writing studied at university; and has a brilliant debut novel just waiting to be published. Read more about Zena on her website (at zenashapter.com), or find her on your preferred form of social media.

2 Responses to “Thank You, Bloggers!”

  1. Thomas Derry says:
    Jul 1, 2012 at 6:04 pm

    Great article. I get so much great info about writing (and life) from different blogs, don’t know what I’d do without them. I say Thank You! too.

    • Zena Shapter says:
      Jul 3, 2012 at 6:54 am

      Here, here!

      I know there’s a lot of noise out there, but if you can find a shortcut through all that, the benefits definitely, er, benefit!

      :)

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