While I set up web sites and blogs for others to earn a living, I didn’t jump into personal blogging until eight months ago. I was reticent. Two things pushed me over the edge and I thought I might share them with you so you’ll jump, too.
A writer friend had been urging me to start a blog because she thinks I’m witty, creative, and slightly whacked. I’ve got her buffaloed and I intend to keep her in that sorry state. She was the one who planted the idea in my head. Even though I had already set up more than a dozen blogs for clients, I just hadn’t thought of it as an option for me. Hell, I’ve been designing web sites for others for 11 years and still haven’t created a full one for myself. Yeah, I know that’s bad business, but you’ve heard the story about the scruffy wingtips on the shoe salesmen.
Her nudging led me to register a domain name and do some initial configuring. Then I sat on it for a couple of months.
I was moved by an obituary of Mike Cahill, the only civilian killed in the Fort Hood tragedy, and planned to write an email to a long-time friend in Seattle. I wanted to include a song I had recently heard and an NPR clip about someone else (which has since been removed because NPR retired the clip). Instead of just sending her links to the video and audios I wanted to share, I got the idea this could be my first post for the blog. Within a couple of hours, I completed the configuring of the blog and put up my first post.
I knew I wanted to combine the idea of words with pictures in my blog. I didn’t have a grand plan beyond that. I still don’t know where it’s going, but I like that. Right now, it’s mostly about the nature around the Brighton millpond with pictures I take on nightly walks and words I add to them. I don’t plan ahead. As I’m prepping the photos in Photoshop, I think about what I could write that people might want to read. Then I create a “post” (that’s what each entry in a blog is called) in anywhere from five minutes to an hour.
Since November 16, 2009, I’ve created 311 posts with more than 450 photographs, most of them I’ve taken. I’ve surprised myself with the quantity, and frankly, the quality of the stuff I’ve written and photographed. It’s been fun. I’ve tried to bring the small events that happen around the millpond to life at Words4It.com.
Should YOU start your own blog? Why in hell not? You’ve got something to share. Everyone does. Half of you are probably threatening to write that book you’ve got rattling around in your head. Take some action. Now. I’ll help you.
Post questions you have about blogging as a comment to this post. I’ll try to answer them. If I can’t, someone else surely can. Have at it.
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For years I wrote without letting anyone read what I had written. Maybe I was shy or insecure about my writing, but when I finally let others read my words, it was scary, liberating and exhilarating, like that transitional split second when you jump into a cold swimming pool and you shiver before realizing how wonderful the water feels.
Like you, I recommend everyone take the plunge. Thanks for extending yourself to help others get started.
Here’s my question: When you feel blocked for subject matter, how do you shake an idea loose?
I was encouraged to blog by Maria Stuart and Nancy Flanagan because of the writing I was doing on my Facebook page. Definitely go for it!!
@Maria: It depends upon whether you’re on deadline or not. Forced unblocking is a whole subject in itself so for this answer, I’ll assume you’re talking about a personal blog where there is no actual deadline; you’re writing for pleasure at your leisure.
1. Don’t think about it. Wash the car, kneed bread, call a friend, or yell at the squirrels ripping up your bird feeder. While you’re doing something else, ideas magically pop into your head or your attention is drawn to something around you. I don’t think the brain ever turns off. It’s churning in the background. When an idea pops up, write it down or flow with it right away and create your blog post. The blogging software used on this site, WordPress, has a “Draft” feature where you can start a post but not publicly release it. You can store unfinished ideas there so you don’t forget them. I use it often.
2. Reread your past blog posts. It’s a way to refocus. You’ll spot things you want to change or posts that can be expanded in other directions.
3. Research something, anything. What do you have to do or what interests you today? Type it into Google and see what comes up in the results. I use this approach when I have a photo I want to post but can’t think of anything to say about it. On July 22nd, I wanted to post a photo of a yellow flower with a daddy-long-legs on it. Within a few minutes, I was able to identify the name of the flower and discover that daddy-long-legs aren’t spiders at all! Those were two new bits of information for me and were enough to create the short blurb I needed.
4. While this comment is about leisurely blogging, you can still exert a little force on yourself. Pick a subject. Write about it. It’s that simple. Just start writing about anything. Don’t think about how “good” the writing is or whether it’s a suitable topic. Just write. In most cases, the act of writing will help you focus on the topic and (probably) you’ll get a blog post out of it. Yeah, you might have to push and shove your words around for a while, but it’ll happen. Somehow.
5. When all else fails, use a “recipe.” There are many out there, but I like the “SCAMPER” approach taught to me many decades ago. Here’s an explanation. Using a structured approach can help you look at things in new ways.
6. Start at zero. You don’t have to be an expert to write about it. Start when you know nothing and bring your readers along in your exploration. They will help you through comments and suggest things you need as you take your journey. One friend is going to build a house on a piece of property she owns. She is going to write about every step in the process from the bare ground through picking the home’s location, selecting an architect or plan, contracting out the various tasks, designing all of the features and moving in. Whatever your quest, describe your steps and it will not only fill posts in your blog, it will help you clarify the destination.
I’ll revisit this topic when other things come to mind.