I’m used to labeling myself a writer, but “blogger” still feels strange. Sort of like swallowing a mouthful of consonants.

I confess that a few years ago I didn’t know what a blog was. I’m fascinated by where words come from, so for those who share my curiosity I went to Wikipedia and discovered that this modern phenomenon began in the United States in 1997 as “weblog” – thanks to Jorn Barger. He was the editor of Robot Wisdom, one of the earliest weblogs, and used the word to describe his web links. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of this verbal christening, Barger posted tips for successful blogs. I like the one that advises: “Being truly yourself is always hipper.” Now there’s a word!

In 1999, Peter Merholz. the founder of the consulting firm Adaptive Path,
playfully turned weblog into WE BLOG – and a new word was born. (How do dictionaries ever manage to keep up?) It’s easier with encyclopedias, for Merholz will forever be cited as the coiner of the omnipresent word, blog.

For grammar purists, the question became: noun or verb? At Pyra Labs, which was developing a blogging product, Evan Williams solved the grammatical side of the problem by adroitly using “blog” as both noun and verb. From there it was a natural step to dub those of us who use either form as “bloggers.”

None of this knowledge, of course, makes weekly blogs (or blogging) any easier for writers (oops, bloggers). Nor does it solve a question that continually pokes at me: is the time spent in thinking up and writing these pieces better or worse than using these valuable minutes to: A) finish my novel; B) do the necessary pursuit of agents, publishers, et al; C) get back to querying magazine editors; or, D) tackle that growing pile of laundry?

However, writers are constantly advised that being active in the social media is the 11th Commandment. So having embarked on this sideline , which is threatening to turn into a mainline , I confess I’m now proud to be part of the – my newest word! – blogosphere!