Most of my friends look at me oddly when I mention that I have started a blog…like I just announced I’m going to start selling Tupperware and wondered if they wouldn’t like to host a party? Then they ask me what a blog is, and why would anyone read it, and who has time for that nonsense, anyway?

Some describe a blog as peeking into an on-line diary. I like to think that a blog (a condensed version of web log)is very similar to reading a favorite column in a newspaper or magazine. That’s what they’re like for me, anyway. I read my favorite authors because I like their writing style or their slant on events, or I might be interested in knowing more about them.

As for being on the authoring side of a blog…why would anyone take the time to keep up a blog? True, it is a lot of work. I have to be honest and admit that my publisher was the one who suggested starting a blog to build readership for my soon-to-be published book. I was a little worried at first. Blogging was distracting to other writing projects, like those that actually pay money. But after giving it a little time, I am finding the right balance of blogging and am also discovering a few personal benefits. Blogging helps me to sharpen my wordinista skills, much like playing piano scales. Now I think everyone should try blogging, especially kids who like to write. Or should write. My friend Karen created a blog just for a few weeks, to chronicle a trip to Uganda with her daughter.

But bottom line, I think it’s just that we writerly types have more words ricocheting around in our heads than we have a place to put them.

Craig Hart, who manages the blog Christian Fiction On-Line, will answer some questions tomorrow or Friday about why authors’ should blog. Stay tuned!

Before signing off, today’s oxymoron is the letter “V.” My favorite is “victimless crime.” There’s no such thing.

Just a few more oxymoron letters to go! Hardest ones of all, too. W, X, Y, and Z.