Let’s Talk Bookish #3
Today’s Question(s) is …
What have you learned since you first started blogging? What advice would you give to new bloggers? What is your favorite thing about blogging? What is the hardest part of blogging for you? Is there anything you wish you’d done differently with your blog?
My Answer(s) is …
I started blogging back in June 2007. Before that, I maintained a personal website that I painstakingly created by coding with html and CSS. I like blogging a lot better because I can focus more on what I’m writing than on what I’m coding.
Blogging has been a huge part of my life and I’ve learned a lot. I’m more creative and I’ve learned to be okay with me. I can express myself better and I’ve made so many awesome friends. Even though I still struggle with my voice, I’ve learned to be a little more free with my writing. (I was a technical writer for nearly a decade and that rigidity doesn’t leave easily. Because of technical writing, my writing’s much more formal than how I actually speak. I’m still trying to learn how to write more conversationally.)
The best advice I can give new bloggers is to be yourself. Even though you’re writing for an audience, you need to enjoy what you post. Otherwise, blogging will become a chore and you’ll want to stop. Trust me. Been there, done that.
Taking time to blog hop is my second best advice. Not only is it a great way to make friends, you’ll also gain more followers. The friendships you’ll make are definitely worth the time and effort you’ll expend blog hopping. Interacting with others is most definitively my favorite part of blogging.
The hardest part of blogging for me is pushing through my depression and continuing to blog even though the last thing I want to do is write or comment on other blogs. Fortunately, the skills I’ve learned in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) this past year have helped me learn to cope when I’m emotionally dysregulated.
The only thing I wish I’d done differently is not delete 14 years’ worth of blog posts in a moment of emotional dysregulation. Thanks to Feedly’s archiving feature, I can at least access my posts from May 2013 onward.
How about you?
I agree that interacting with other bloggers is a great thing to do. Otherwise it feel like I was just talking into the void. I’ve made such wonderful friends through talking about books. 🙂
Exactly. I like knowing what I have to say is interesting to other people. And, more importantly, I’d really miss interacting with some of my favorite people. 😀
For me it’s been since 2004 and I’ve learned to blog when I feel like it, say (mostly) what I want to and what I’m feeling with respect to others’ privacy and to write mainly for myself and not for comments. When I first started, I really wanted comments and now, although I love them, I appreciate the release and perspective that writing my posts accomplish for me.
Those are great things to have learned about yourself. And, I agree that if you write strictly for comments, blogging isn’t quite as fulfilling because you’re always worried whether your followers are going to like your post. 😀
I’ve only been blogging for a year and a half and now can’t imagine not blogging. You have a terrific blog and I enjoy visiting your blog very much.
Awww. Thanks, Wendy! 💜 I really enjoy reading your blog too. You have such great book recommendations and I’m in awe of how much you’re able to read. I’m glad you started blogging! 😀
I thnik blogging is good for me too. And wow you’ve been doing this for a while! I started back in 2012, I guess, or 2013 before I really started posting…
Be yourself is, I think, the single most important advice. It’s just essential I think if you want blogging to work. And I agree about blog hopping. I love it or I wouldn’t spend as much time as I do on it. It’s not just commenting for commenting, but like you say, you build relationships and make friendships. 🙂
Agreed. It’s not about commenting for commenting’s sake. It’s about the relationships and friendships. I’d be really sad if I stopped interacting with so many of my readers. 😀
2012 or 2013 is nothing to complain about. That’s still a good long while! I’m glad you’re still blogging.
Wow – that’s a long time blogging! By comparison, I’m a relative newby….about 3 yrs, though I had a stretch of about 6 months last year when life got in the way and I didn’t post. But this year I’m making a real effort to reach out and make those reading/blogging friends.
I see blog hops here and there on other blogs but don’t really know how to get into that loop. Tips to share?
I’m off to poke around your blog a bit more…..
Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
https://www.bookshelfjourneys.com/post/sunday-post-16
Three years is still something to be proud of. 😀 I’m glad you came back after not having the time to blog.
As far as the blog hops, I mostly only participate in Sunday Post, Top Ten Tuesday, and now Let’s Talk Bookish. I always try to return everyone’s comments, especially on those posts. And, I often go through the master linky on the host’s blog and comment on as many other bloggers’ post as I can. After a while, you get the sense of who you want to follow more closely. I add those blogs to Feedly and I try to comment on as many posts as possible. I don’t comment just for commenting sake either. I really try to engage with the other blogger. It’s very rewarding to develop a friendship with each of them.
I hope that helps! 😀
Great advice Jenni. Ouch on having deleted all those blog posts, but as with everything in life it’s a learning experience and something positive can be gained from it.
Blog hopping is so important, first for the online friendships you make and sense of community but also for the inspiration that helps you improve your own blogging. At least that’s been my experience!
Thanks, Louise! 😀 Yeah, I tend to do things without thinking things through, especially when I’m emotionally dysregulated. I guess it goes without saying, lol.
I agree that blog hopping also helps improve my blogging. It’s part FOMO, part inspiration, and part learning from others. LOL.