Liz Strauss just launched a fascinating Group Writing Project, “What’s Your Blogging Metaphor?“

Hmmm.

I guess I like to think of my Word Sell blog as a salad bar for people with a healthy appetite for words. Most blogs I enjoy strive for the same salad bar-like qualities–

1. Salad Bar Blogs offer a wide selection of nutritious fare–information, news, conversation, illuminating reader comments, links to intellectually stimulating blogs and blog posts, insight, reports from the trenches as well as the 30,000-foot altitude view.

2. And while Salad Bar Blogs offer a similar lineup, no two are exactly alike. No single blog can claim to be a complete diet. Sampling a Salad Bar Blog makes you hungry for more. (That’s why I love a solid blogroll–it’s a salad bar within a salad bar!)

3. Salad Bar Blogs are fresh–fresh information and fresh ideas.

4. Salad Bar Blogs make it easy for readers to fill their plates. Post titles clearly point to the content that follows. Post categories and archiving are intuitive enough for the reader to browse as leisurely as one might twirl a celery stick on one’s finger.

5. Salad Bar Blogs leave readers full but invigorated, as opposed to ready for a nap on the nearest couch. Content is lively, provocative, easy to read yet essential to your informational diet.

Do my blogs measure up to the Salad Bar bar? On occasion, perhaps. But I like Liz’s idea for this project, because metaphors help readers and bloggers get a clearer picture of what a blog should be, even when it isn’t.

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OOPS
I just realized that Charlene at Essential Keystrokes employed fruit and vegetables in her (much meatier) metaphor–I apologize for any similarity, but maybe there’s a deeper connection between blogs and food than we think.