My life as a blogger really began in earnest with the launch of ClassicalTV in early 2009. Stephen Greco, editor of this site, approached me to contribute my thoughts on culture. The timing was perfect; the previous autumn I had left The Wall Street Journal, where I'd worked for some dozen years as a cultural reporter, and I was looking to continue writing in the field of arts, but not eager to return to the life of a reporter in a fluorescent cubicle suffering the baleful glare of middle-management editors whose priority had become keeping their jobs rather than helping me in mine.

I'd already been something of an avid blog reader. Like many reporters, I scanned the Internet for news, opinions, story ideas. But becoming a blogger was something different. I have to say I love it – and loved it immediately – and I am grateful I've been able to write in this space for almost two years.

This is my 100th column for Classical TV. Here are a few of the things I've learned:

• You don't have to write what you know – you can talk about what you don't.

The blogger is someone who, ideally, tries to use his column as a forum for the generation of ideas, rather than the reiteration of received wisdom. It's a liberating way of exploring the realms of music.

• It's impossible to run out of ideas.

To my surprise, I found that anything related to the world of classical music and to theater was of interest. This isn't a matter of blogger-centric navel-gazing. What delighted me was that every aspect of the classical music experience – from ticketing to being a member of the audience to revisiting familiar works – was an opportunity to explore music from a different angle and to learn about music in a richer way.

• Everyone's a critic, but it's harder to write with a fresh critical eye.

One of my mandates was to avoid criticism, that is, I was hired to bring a personal viewpoint to the classical music and theater scenes, but not to be a critic. I'm grateful for that; I've run into many critics over the years for whom the very act of seeing or listening is one of dreading what's to come, and how to weigh in about what's being viewed or heard. As a result, critics tend to look only for what's new or what's different (or what they think is now or different) and often become embittered by the entire process. Someone who writes commentary is more at liberty to examine how he looks at the world, rather than how the world is presented to him. It's a huge difference.

• Everyone loves Mozart.

The greatest and most prickly composers, from Beethoven to Wagner and beyond, loved the music of Mozart. But I've also found in my talks with people, and in my travels, that Mozart is the composer who transcends for everyone. Opera lovers in particular value his operas above all others. And for people touched by classical music in general, Mozart is the common ground. Sure, people are rapturous over Wagner, or stimulated by the intellectual seriousness of Bach or the soul-searching of Beethoven. But Mozart is the composer for whom so many people have a coup de foudre: they're struck immediately by the beauty of his music. And then they're astonished little by little by its intellectualism, its rapturous soulfulness, its deceptive richness.

• You can write about people's skills as musicians, but they really pay attention when you talk about their clothes. 

I wrote an admiring piece about a young pianist after I heard him in concert at a small church in Paris. He is gifted, and dynamic, and a real pianist to watch. I said all those things, of course. But I also mentioned that his wardrobe could use a bit of help (he dressed as if going out to a dance club, and a provincial one at that). He wrote me an email thanking me for noticing his pianistic talents – but you could tell that my comments on his clothing really got to him. He resolved to seek the help of a stylist. Now, every artist wants to be admired for his or her talents. But no one wants us to think they don't know how to dress.

• The online world is a godsend for classical-music writing. As the arts pages of newspapers and magazines grow smaller and smaller (and as newspapers and magazines themselves become fewer and fewer), the Internet, and sites such as ClassicalTV, are increasingly where one finds news and commentary about classical musicians, performances, trends. Think of the many classical musicians, such as pianist Jeremy Denk, who have their own blogs. Think of the newspaper and magazine critics who must post to blog sites as readership for their print organs dwindles. Think of the power of YouTube in helping draw attention to new talents. And think of ClassicalTV as the portal to the new reality of classical music: video at your fingertips, commentary a click away. In 100 blog posts, I've learned that the power of the written word about arts remains strong; it's just that the words are being written and read digitally.