Thoughts on Blogging

 

I'm steal borrowing a blog topic my friend, Andy Fish, posted on his blog the other day. The discussion involved how maintaining a blog can sometimes be a chore and may take one away from other (creative) endeavors.

I began blogging back in 2006 and started my blog on Yahoo's platform. It was simple to use and there were some fun emoji things to use. The downside was it was only open to those you made contact with on Yahoo. Then a year later, Yahoo decided it wasn't keeping the blogging platform. An author friend told me she had a blog on Blogger so I moved to Blogger.

At about the same time, Andy was teaching a class at WAM on how to blog. Even though I had been blogging for a while, I signed up. I wanted to see if I was doing it right, and if there were any tips/tricks Andy had to offer. Andy's a savvy guy and a bit like my E.F. Hutton. That means when Andy talks, I listen. (Not all the time 😉)

I must have been on the right track. A year or so later, Andy was teaching another class at WAM, and was on his deathbed with a sinus infection when he had to call in sick to cancel the class. He was asked if there was anyone that could sub for him. He gasped out my name before passing out, and I was called to sub his class. It was the first night of class so the students would be setting up their blogs, and we went through the ins and outs of the features (which used to work the way they were supposed to back then.)

Since the class was geared towards artists, Andy pointed out that  Blogger was a free platform to get your work "out there" and a good start before shelling out money for a web page and domain name.

That's how I initially began, too, but I didn't want to limit myself to just showing my work and talking about calligraphy. I thought readers would become bored.

My blog turned into a sort of diary. I didn't worry about pleasing an audience, but focused on what interested me. If people read my blog, I'm happy, and if they leave a comment, I'm thrilled. 

In Andy's class, he stressed if you wanted people to visit, you needed to provide them with fresh content. You didn't have to blog every day of the week, but whatever fit your schedule. If you could only blog once a week, then each week, you had to put something up. 

I started out blogging a few days a week. Then week days and gradually I built up to blogging 7 days a week. Once I started hitting the 30 or 31 day count, I didn't want to spoil my record. Is it a chore? Sometimes, but after all these years evolving the blog and thinking about Andy's post from last week, I realized blogging is a creative outlet for me. 

Everything I do becomes potential blog fodder. I like to write and to find an image (my own or copyright free clipart) to illustrate my post. I find it helpful to have a theme for most days. I have an erasable calendar where I can fill in the calendar with topics I want to write about and since the calendar is erasable, I can easily move topics around. I like to schedule blog posts ahead of time so spend Sundays, break time, or procrastinating preparing a post.

I also like the connections and friendships I've made through blogging. I enjoy having "conversations" with those that stop by to read and comment. I also try to reciprocate and comment on other blogs.