Today I’m doing a blog post about blogging… yeah, that’s right. I’m blogging about blogging… blogception anyone??
I’ve been blogging for three years now (well, nearly three and a half… that went fast) in that time I think I’ve accrued some small bits of wisdom that I can pass on.
Here’s a quick run down of what I think you should know if you’re starting a blog:
- Write for you. No, seriously, write because you care about what you have to say. Don’t write for anything or anyone other than you- if you don’t then you will get bored very quickly. And you will stop.
- The first comment will take your breath away.
- You will meet some wonderful people.
- Time will pass very quickly; I’m slightly scared that I’ve been blogging for so long- it is, however, a great way to record things that happen in your life and gives you a pretty detailed idea of who you were and what you were doing at certain points in the past.
- If you are starting an anonymous blog it will be hard to get readers. All of the common wisdom is to share your new blog posts on social media to gain followers… if you’re writing anonymously you can’t do this. It’ll be pretty lonely out there for a while.
- Don’t compare yourself to other people. I’ve been at this for three and a half years, in that amount of time a lot of people have created blogs that are so successful that they can live off them; they have huge cult followings and are minor celebrities in their own rights…. so… good for them! As with most things it’s part luck, part hard work. If you start getting caught up in what other people are doing then you lose motivation for what you do.
- Celebrate your achievements. Gaining ten or twenty followers, one hundred likes, thirty comments; they’re all big things. Even bigger is writing your tenth, fiftieth or one hundredth post. Go you!
- It’s a learning experience. I hope that my writing, spelling and grammar has all gotten a lot better since I’ve started this blog. Part of that will be age, the other part will be experience.
- The typos will always be there. But proof-reading helps a lot.
- Some days you won’t want to post. It’s the same as with anything, some days you just can’t be bothered to spend that time tapping away at the keyboard. I get that, I seriously do… but every time I miss a post I feel rubbish, and every time I put up a post I feel great. Nowadays I only miss a post if I have no internet access or physically don’t have the time to write. For the most of the last year about half of my posts were pre-written and then scheduled to go up at certain times on certain days.
- You will draw a blank. That’s okay, when I don’t know what to write about I either stick up some photos, scroll through the news to find something or just work out what’s been occupying my mind lately and put that into word form.
When I first started I think that the internet wasn’t quite what it is now, a lot of the YouTube stuff was only just beginning and things like tumblr weren’t quite as massive as they are right now. The blogosphere wasn’t by any means quiet, but it was different.
I knew from the start that I wasn’t going to get an amazingly successful blog, I knew that I wasn’t going to be drowning in comments every time that I opened up my dashboard. I started this blog for me, it was something that I needed and it helped me to put my thoughts into order. I’ve always kept a diary but it got to a point with my mental health that I needed something more.
When I sit here, on my bed with my laptop in front of me and music playing through my earphones, and stare out of the window at the dreary grey skies of Yorkshire I feel like I’m talking to myself- not in a bad way- but I just do.
I feel very much like I’m doing this for me. It almost surprises me when people comment on things; it’s a brilliant surprise of course, and as time’s gone on people have been commenting more and more which is amazing!
I love getting a good comment, it really makes my day. Now that my crazy training schedule has let up I actually have the chance to start a conversation instead of just churning out content. That’s a really nice feeling.
When you first start up a blog the silence can seem daunting, I think there comes a stage when everyone falls behind on their blogs- I think I’ve had that stage about three times. I don’t know if I’ll have it again, I might- but I might not. I’m very settled into who I am as a person, I know that I can keep up a good blog schedule even when I’m really busy and I also know that I have people who care about what I write.
As an interesting side-note; I don’t really post anything on my Facebook page, I post way more stuff on here. I care about this blog so much more than I care about Facebook… that probably tells you something interesting about me psychologically…
’til next time,
Wren x
The Druid Bird 