Yesterday I helped a friend start a blog. We covered the basics of setting up the space, choosing a template, creating posts, making links, tinkering with the template and adding the obligatory Feedburner bling to encourage an ample following of subscribers. In return, I left with a handful of plump home-grown tomatoes, her signature salad dressing and a belly full of home-made tomato soup.
Looking back, I realize that I neglected to share some of the more valuable lessons I’ve learned since my first post to this blog. Amelia, here’s what I forgot to tell you:
1. Use caution when redefining your minimum requirements for sleep. I’ve developed a love/hate relationship with my MacBook. Okay, way more love than hate. Blogging can be addictive. Attempt to put limits on your time. Then teach me how to do it.
2. Don’t question the value of your words. Comments on a blog post are like footprints. Proof that people are reading and reacting to your words. The absence of comments will make you question the value of your words and your time spent crafting these words. Do not write for comments. Write for yourself. If you find yourself writing for comments, turn commenting off.
3. Feed the invisible audience not because they’re hungry, but because you have something say. Even when I think I have “nothing” to say, the push to publish fuels my creativity and inspires me to consider the merits of my actions and experiences each day. My eyes are open, searching for lessons, beauty and inspiration to document and share with you. I’m thankful for the creative discipline you’ve brought to my life. Whether you read this or not.
4. Define, question and reposition your personal boundaries as you see fit. When I started this blog more than a year ago, I considered the pros and cons of using my real name, of posting my picture, of writing about my children. I’ve always entered new experiences with caution. I don’t post photos of my children, and I don’t use their real names. But I enjoy blogs that do. I don’t rant about the Farmer eating all of the banana-flavored freeze pops. But I’m intrigued by bloggers who share very open and honest experiences. My boundaries could change, and I’m open to that.
5. Fall in love with complete strangers from far away places. Discovering creative soul mates through blogs is like falling in love with the author of an amazing book. The written word has a way of connecting or repelling you to the writer. I know who you are by the words you choose to express yourself and the pictures you share to visualize the world from your perspective. Take time to move beyond the words of your own blog to discover your creative soul mates, and then watch yourself become the person you were meant to be.
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Blogging friends, please add your advice in the comments.
Technorati Tags: blogging, tips for new bloggers
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
What A New Blogger Needs to Know
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7 comments:
write everyday.
make lists of things you love, things you're grateful for, things you wonder, when you're stuck.
start with where you are, describe it fully and go from there. it's easier to write when you create the mood and setting for what you want to say.
invite a non-blogging friend to start a blog the same time you do. that way you can obsess together.
love this stephanie! xo
Great post. Always good to share and welcome a newbie!
My two shekels:
1) Resist (unlike me) crafting lengthy posts, and if long they must be, balance these w shorties.
2) Spell check, grammar check, check check check. If your policy is not to check, say so on the home page. Two amazing blogs (both by university professors!) I read regularly are replete w errors. The authors tell me they must teach and write books, not self-edit. When I am a professor, I will say this, too, perhaps. Until then... check check check is my motto.
3) Never was bored a day in my life so finding material to blog about is not my issue. Instead, it is keeping focused on my top messages, themes, passions, obsessions. I prefer that blog topics/content be intentionally chosen, not a hodge-podge or regurgitation of my life, including meals, family, work, vacations, reading lists, and on and on and on and on... you get my drift;-)
4) Read blogs for pleasure to meet and maybe make friends, possibly even fall in love with them, as Stephanie writes ((we are not talking romance though... hey, why not, if you're available?). Reading blogs is endlessly instructive on content, writing style, page design, and non-textual elements (photos, videos, podcasts, banners, and so on).
5) There's more yet... I gotta run and blog;-)
Be bold.
That's my advice.
I was afraid of just regurgitating my life, as Tamar said, but if your passion is your family and includes what you cook for dinner once in a while, I say OK, as long as it's well written (not to say I have that down!) But really, some of my favorite blog posts by other bloggers were about the minute details of these bloggers lives - they were good writers; could write about their underwear drawers and make it interesting. I think it's true that you don't want to worry about your audience.
Cross link with blogs you like but don't feel obliged to link to everyone.
Find new blogs that might be interesting by following the profiles of those who commentate on others -- but only do a few a day.
those are great suggestions! I don't have trouble with one of those things you listed. Here's proof... it's 4:08am, and I'm not asleep. okay, okay, I hope that didn't come of as sarcastic-rude, b/c It was meant to be sarcastic-self indiction...I suffer from them all (:
"Discovering creative soul mates through blogs is like falling in love with the author of an amazing book."
Ohhhh how true is that!! I've had my blog for about 3 years, and I've been blessed to find so very many soul-mates!
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