Mastering the Art of Blogging

Most people who saw Julie and Julia probably went home thinking about Boeuf a la Bourguignonne, but not me. I went home thinking about blogging.

I recognize that this is Hollywood, but what a tale–ordinary girl has a good idea, starts a blog, writes for a while, and is suddenly inundated with calls from big reporters and offers of book deals. Her life is later made into a blockbuster movie with famous actors.

The key, of course, is the idea. (And also the cooking, I suppose.) Julie Powell’s year-long project of tackling all 524 recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking in her tiny apartment kitchen was surely a gimmick and a stunt, as it has disparagingly been called. But it was a good one.

My favorite description is one by food writer Michael Pollan writing for the New York Times. He describes Powell landing on her winning idea while “casting about for a blog conceit.” Though conceit has some less-than-savory connotations, I don’t actually think he’s being critical. According to Merriam-Webster Online, a conceit can be “a fanciful idea” or an “elaborate or strained metaphor,” but it can also mean “an organizing theme or concept.” All three definitions are applicable here.

So as other people have been dusting off their Julia Child cookbooks and no doubt boosting butter sales nationwide, I have been wondering: Does a blog need a conceit? Does mine have one?

I know some of the things that make a blog compelling: snappy writing, timely topics, an endearing author. (I will leave it up to you, dear readers, to decide whether this blog meets those criteria.) But I wonder whether that is enough. If I put some thoughts up here a couple of times a week about whatever is rattling around in my brain, will that draw people in and keep them reading? (Forget about a book deal.) If not, what would?

I think a blog conceit might be kind of fun, but I am still in the “casting about” stage. If I happen to hook a good one, you’ll be the first to know.