Is Blogging Writing?

One of the reasons I held off from taking up the blog I set up absolutely years ago was the worry that it would divert my concentration (something that can be quite easily done at times!) from 'real' writing. Of course, now I wish I had just got on with it, but there we are.

So, my question is, is blogging 'really' writing? Does writing something that doesn't come under a specific heading of a novel/article/non fiction, etc still count as writing? Am I helping to hone my craft by getting words onto a 'page', or am I just procrastinating and wasting time when I could be working on said novel/article/non fiction?

Photo courtesy of MorgueFile

Personally, I've come to the conclusion that blogging is writing. It keeps the fingers and brain in training for getting the words out and makes me think about other aspects of writing, not just the narrow focus of the particular piece I'm working on at the time.

I'd be interested to know what anyone else thinks about the subject! Feel free to leave me a comment below.