Russell R writes:

Blogs are like a live journal. You use them to record your thoughts or experiences.

There are many ways to start a blog — paid ways and free ways. Here are a few.

1. If you are a beginner and/or don’t want to spend any money, go to http://www.blogger.com and set up an account. It is very easy to set up and do a blog there. This is my favorite way, and it costs nothing.
2. If you already have a web host that has perl scripting and a domain, go to http://www.movabletype.org/ and download the software there. The software is free, but you pay for the hosting of your blog. You will have to install moveable type on your web host, so if you are not good at web handling, ask a geek that you know for help. Or contact your web host and they might be able to help.
3. If you don’t mind spending a little bit of money and don’t have a web host or domain, go to blogger at http://www.typepad.com/ and set up a account.
4. Specialty ‘blogs also exist, WeddingWeblog.com, a new service offers a blog that combines a wedding scrapbook-style blog with wedding events planning, all designed for the novice. Share your thoughts and memories before and after the big day. You can have unlimited stories, events, and photos. All edits are made through-the-web anytime. Try it for Free, Pay As You Go. Visit us at http://www.WeddingWeblog.com/?promotional_code=PROMO-LWIKI

Also, let’s say you set up a account at blogger or typepad and want something like anything.com. Then go to http://www.godaddy.com. Domains there are around $8 year. One added advantage is you get your own URL, like yournamesblog.com.

That’s all it takes to get set up. All you have to do next is start blogging!

Ricky adds: If you have a full-featured (MySQL, PHP) web hosting package, I recommend WordPress (http://wordpress.org/)- it’s excellent. I use it myself- it’s free and has tons of features.

jangelo adds: If you’re a non-techie (or if you prefer not to code your site by hand), we offer a fully customizable, design-rich and feature-packed blog service at i.PH. We include a gallery, email, and even an FTP site. It’s a pay service, but IMHO a reasonably-priced one (with a three-month trial). What’s great is that each i.PH blog has a built-in pay-for-access/subscription service that lets bloggers earn from their content!