We use terms such as journal, blog, book, and even blook in many different ways as our ever-changing vocabulary brings new meanings and dictionary updates. “Journal” and “Book” are old standards, while “Blog” and “Blook” are newer and still missing from most dictionaries; however, none of these words is really simple to define. My purpose here is to lead you through the thicket of writing vocabulary to what I assume to be useful, if not exclusive, definitions of terms to apply to our writing possibilities, both on line and off.

Journals:

The word “journal” has many definitions, including its traditional meanings in accounting and legislative record keeping and as a name for a newspaper or literary collection. In writing, the word has also long been defined as “a record of personal experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for private use.” Thanks to psychology and writing therapy, journal writing seems to have become quite popular.

Personal journals are what we write in our notebooks or on our computers. I advocate them as “training camps” and idea repositories for other, more public writing, as well as for healing or therapy. Personal journals can become public in print or on line.

Through the Internet, the word “journal” has expanded beyond its older meanings to include public on-line journals like those we write here on this site and elsewhere. Our daily activities, opinions, reflections, and rants can appear for public reading and comment instantaneously, limited not by the whims of an editor, but by our own writing ability and tastes.

Blogs:

Instead of or in addition to our journals on social or other web sites, we may write “blogs” or “web logs.” These, too, are on-line journals. A blog is essentially an individual web site or web page where posts are displayed in reverse chronological order (newest first), with older posts usually relegated to the archives. This arrangement is sometimes annoying to traditionalists accustomed to reading from the beginning, but it’s one of those things we can get used to as we navigate more blogs and web sites. Some social web sites use the terms “journal” and “blog” interchangeably and encourage members to have on-site blogs, but most of those seem rather restrictive in one way or another. The typical blogger wants his or her own format and personalized space.

Why start a blog? I like blogs because they are free and easy to edit and correct, and they provide good outlets for thoughts on all topics, from raising children (the popular “mommy blogs”) to politics to sports to writing and many more. A blog can be a good way to keep in touch with family and friends, sometimes even providing space for on-line family reunions and round-robin letters.

For the non-technical, starting a blog involves going to Blogger (http://www.blogger.com) or a similar site and following a few simple steps. You will be asked to select a template or pattern and fill in the blanks, but as you learn more about blogging, you can personalize, as I have done; that’s why no two blogs look exactly the same. Colors and type fonts, type sizes, headings, and side bar content will be under your control once you learn how to use them.

According to Wikipedia, as of September, 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 106 million blogs! To learn more about blogs and their history, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog. If you have not visited my blogs, go to “Never too Late!” at http://www.seniorwriter.blogspot.com  and “Write your Life!” at http://www.seniormemoirs.blogspot.com.

Books: 

Of course you know what a book is. You found that out in school, if not earlier. But even this time-honored word has taken on new shades of meaning. A “book” once meant a leather or cloth-bound tome, hand-written or laboriously typed by an author or a typist and edited, type-set, and produced by a printer or publisher. I won’t go into the long, complicated history of book publishing, but now we also have ebooks, self-published books, print-on-demand services, books-on-tape or compact disks, and paperbacks.

Computers have changed publishing considerably. Several on-line publishing sites encourage authors to format and upload their books and receive printed copies within a short time. Copy shops provide other alternatives, as do our own efficient home printers. We can put anything into print. Yes, there’s a lot of “junk” published, but I believe that nearly everyone “has a book inside,” and that we all need to share our ideas and our life stories. I have discovered many self-published books well worth reading, some of them superior to some books put out by traditional publishers.

Blooks:

Then there is “blook,” a rather new term. According to Wikipedia, the term “blook” is on a short list of new words being considered by experts for inclusion in the Oxford English Dictionary. A blook is either an online book published via a blog or a printed book that contains or is based on content from a blog. For more details, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blook. Blurb’s free  Booksmart software offers a fairly easy way to turn a blog into a book: see http://www.blurb.com. 

What do all these new and evolving words mean to us Seniors and Boomers? I see the changes and developments they represent as a series of unprecedented opportunities for everyone to record and share ideas and life experiences. Journals, blogs, books, and blooks are available to examine or experiment with on line or off, and they provide us with a smorgasbord of choices as outlets for our writing. Pick and choose, or try them all, as I have done or intend to do.

Next: More first-hand experience with on-line publishing sites.

Please leave your comments and questions about writing and this column here and in the Writers’ Forum.