Ladies, gentlemen, and you, over there, welcome to August 1, 2023, gateway to the annual Cavalcade of The Written eWord known the world over as Blaugust!

“Scopique!” you might say, since we’re on a first name basis. “You can’t just mash up words like that! It’s unseemly!” Well Friend, let me draw your attention to the Indefatigable Belghast, proprietor of Tales of the Aggronaut, blogger-at-large, and the seed from which Blaugust did grow. Long about The Past, Bel put out a shingle in the hopes that fellow bloggers might rally together during the month of August to prove that blogging wasn’t dead in this hollow age of video, and bloggers did not disappoint. Every year since, Blaugust has been held to celebrate the fact that, much like myself and personal projects, blogging springs eternal and will not end.

What happens during Blaugust? Bloggers blog and readers read. We’re not asking you to put aside your fancy TikToks or your YouTubes or your Tweeches; many of us also create videos and spoken-word blogs as well…we’re cosmopolitan like that. The idea is that by massing in force, we’ll be taking over your social feeds as an undeniable reminder that taking time to slow down and read blogs is a perfect antidote to the hyperkinetic grind of today’s video content.

Blaugust is also self-serving. It’s a call to lapsed bloggers, people who maintain a web presence but who might not have written posts for a while. The good news for folks like these is that once a blogger, always a blogger; the written eWord is eternal and never goes out of style. Whether they’re rediscovering their blog like it was a a dusty old sports car hidden in a barn in a field in Nebraska, or moving platforms and/or domains, Blaugust serves as a beacon for those folks to return home. It’s also a challenge issued to those who might have thought about blogging but never found the time, the drive, the know-how, or the support network to believe that they could succeed. Many Blaugust participants have been blogging for decades, now…decades. That’s longer than some YouTuber’s have been alive! Regardless of how long we’ve all been writing, this event is a chance for those who would like to start blogging to tap into literal centuries of brain-hours on topics ranging from what platforms to choose, how to set up custom domains, motivation to keep writing, and topics to write about. Blaugust is a perpetual motion machine powered by itself, for the benefit of everyone.

This week, already in progress, is the start of the event and although participants are welcome to write whatever they choose, the first week is earmarked for getting the word out to the masses, both bloggers and readers, that an avalanche of content is headed their way. You can find the Full Monty regarding Blaugust over at Bel’s dedicated page. You can also feast your eyes on the Blaugust participant master list, and if you’re of the oldest old school, there’s an OPML feed that can deliver daily blogging awesomeness straight into your home, office, or underground bunker.