As an extension, publishers may as well advise a video blog. Think of the possibilities! You may cringe at the thought and in the same vein if you shy away from the the idea of written blog then you should honor you feelings. If you are (just) scared, then do it. You could use Twitter as a micro-blog to test the water.

Any writer who decides to produce a blog I encourage them to take your #4 to heart. When I wrote a small newsletter, then later a newspaper column, it took months for my voice to show itself. Until then I wrote what was going around me. I saw I was afraid to use my voice and called myself on it. After that, I still wrote inspired by what was going on around me, but you saw it through my eyes. Turned out to be a big difference. Readers will remember and react to your strong stuff. Every middling bit you pen to get there will not weigh down your future.

And yes, you will receive accolades and blowback. Especially on the internet, the Petri Dish of contrarian blurts. Refresh yourself with the fact that you are seeking to find your edges and if people are paying attention, you will echo some of theirs along the way. How they respond to that is on them, not you.

Meanwhile you become a fuller version of you. What’s not to like?!