To persuade or not to persuade?

I think the main difference in an essay and a blog is the way people approach each of them. When I know I have an essay to write, I absolutely dread every minute up until I turn it in. I like what Lauren Slater had to say about essays – she said, “They occupy a quirky place in the general genre of nonfiction, a place many people seem not to understand.” This applies to me, because I am never quite sure how to set up my essays, or who I should be writing it to, etc. But, with a blog, I don’t really care who reads it! It seems to me that blogs are much more laidback pieces of writing then essays. Most of the time, people write blogs because they want to, as opposed to a student being forced to write an essay. Also, I believe that people often begin writing essays and feel that they need to adhere to the “norm” of what they are taught an essay should look like. They feel that it should be set in the standard five paragraph paper and convince the reader to believe what their thesis statement reads. Again, I agree with Lauren Slater when she said, “Essay writing is about transcribing the often convoluted process of thought, leaving your own brand of breadcrumbs in the forest so that those who want to can find their way to your door.” People who write essays are out to prove something to somebody, through their writings. Essays are usually about one topic, but blogs can be about anything and everything – within the same page! I know that I like writing blogs much more than essays, because of that laidback feeling of not having to worry about a grade, or if anybody is trying to learn from what I write. People who write blogs most likely don’t mind if their babbling changes anybody’s mind or not, and that’s what sets blogs apart from essays.