A wise reader suggested I set guiding principals for my blog as my filter for what I publish. It is all too easy to write whatever is on my mind, letting this become a space for emotional release instead of a platform to base my writing. I have to remind myself, this is not a journal, it’s a blog with a higher goal. Tangents are alright, alienating critical audiences is not.
Accordingly, here are my three guiding principals:
1. Write with the ultimate goal of traditional publishing.
2. Write in a way that will not betray my loyalty to my school and/or students.
3. Write without compromising my relationships with friends and family.
Simple. Right?
Who knew blogging was so layered with goals and audience awareness. Still, it feels good to verbalize these principals.
Happy Saturday!
Above all, family first.
oliviaobryon 
It’s an interesting idea, a set of guiding principles – and it is admirable that you have kept them so concise, focused and egoless. Many years ago, a group of writers I was in had a joint manifesto, a raison d’ete for writing, but I struggled with it because I became increasingly unsure of the value of blogging as opposed to the value of writing. I think I;d need to look at guiding principles for writing (why should l i wrote what am I to accomplish in writing what is it ethical for me to write) and then look at how I deal with that output in terms of the corpus of a blog.
Yes, it can all be pretty complicated, even if I managed to set three principals for myself, (turns out it’s hard to write freely within those constraints 😉 I’d be curious to hear what you come up with for yourself!