Chime In Topic #1: Blogging For You. Do You Do It?
Blogging for YOU. Do you do it?
It occurred to me over the Christmas holiday when I received a Christmas card from author Karice Bolton, why I started blogging in the first place: for fun and friendship. An outlet for my nerdgasms because hey, there had to be others out there somewhere who would share my enthusiasm for books, comics, movies, writing and gaming.
Right?! Right??!!
I had no idea what I was doing. My only goal, all those many moons ago, was to just express myself and hope people accepted me and wanted (or cared) to hear what I had to say. It was akin to doing a belly flop in the pool in hopes that it won’t hurt so bad and you’ll look really cool doing it. People might laugh but hopefully, they would be laughing with you and not at you. Let’s face it; the Internet can be a madhouse. Mean, cruel and downright crazy if you let it consume you and trap you in its web of social media shenanigans or “the Next Big Thing”. If you’re tender-hearted it can completely destroy you. But if your patient, persistent, and know how to weed out the “virtual good guys” from the “trolls”, you might stand a chance of being heard, and being welcomed into a neat little society filled with thousands of niches and people waiting with open arms to greet you into their virtual club.
Me: OMG it would be so cool to blog!!
Brain: About what?
Me: Duh games, writing, books.
Brain: Research cause you don’t know the first thing about making a website.
Me: You know I love research.
Brain: You’re going to name your blog something weird aren’t you?
Me: Never… *evil grin*
Brain: *eye rolls*[/highlight]
Thus began my adventure of researching hundreds of blogs while in the midst of creating my own. I couldn’t help but get a twinge of excitement and inch worms of nervousness thinking about putting myself out there for the ENTIRE world to see – or possibly kick. It was an exasperating experience, but it was one I wouldn’t ever replace. Have you ever asked yourself, if ‘I wasn’t blogging what would I be doing’? I have. And I don’t like those answers because they usually involve me getting a second job or going back to school to finish my graduate degree. Not to say those two things in particular won’t ever happen or that I shouldn’t do them, and they’re not slightly necessary. It just means it’s not something I personally would do for fun. More or less, it would be what I consider, “society” telling me I have to do for me to be a successful person. But is success truly defined by how many degrees I own or is it linked more so to personal happiness? For me, the experience has been the latter.
Blogging brings me joy, peace of mind, laughter, many friendships I wouldn’t have had otherwise, and so much more! Who’s to say if I had those degrees I would be happy? In my humble opinion: Tons of money plus a crap job I don’t love does not equal happiness. To some it might be enough and to each his or her own. But to THIS Mother, THIS Gamer, THIS Writer it’s not enough. Personal happiness is in the eye of the beholder and my eyes hold infinite Geekiness. That’s when I’m happiest. That’s when I’m most fulfilled.
Did I find my place? Still working on it. Do I feel accomplished? You bet I do.
And that’s my point. No one can make me feel accomplished except, me. What started as a simple hobby shoved into the dark abyss of the Internet is now a major part of my everyday life. When I’m not reading, I’m thinking about books. When I’m not gaming, I’m thinking about games. When I’m not writing…well I’m always writing. I’ve always been artistic, eccentric, sarcastic, Geeking out at book signings and Comic Conventions. Why not share my experiences with others? Nothing could, should or would stop me.
My question to you is…what’s stopping YOU? Fear is not an excuse because unless you’re an android robot, everyone has something they’re afraid of. It’s just a matter of do you want it bad enough to go after what YOU love. I’m not going to lie and say blogging is easy and all fun and games. Truth is blogging is equivalent to a second job. It’s time consuming, requires strict scheduling, and takes a tremendous amount of effort. You have to be dedicated. You have to know your goals. Most importantly, if blogging is not something you love, then it WILL NOT be fun. Did I know going into creating Mother/Gamer/Writer if it would be successful? Heck no. But I knew it was going to be fun just to be in the presence of awesome blogs such as Parajunkiee and the Geeky Bloggers Book Blog. Even now I’m not sure I would consider my blog a complete success. It’s an honor for publishers and authors to consider my blog when sending out materials and I am very thankful (and lucky) they find something about my blog they like. I know I have a lot more growing up to do, a lot more to learn, and a drive that makes – well technically forces – me to do so. The road ahead is long, tedious, winding, and never-ending. But I’m on it. And I’m happy to have found this particular path to travel.
Reader question: Do you blog for you? Have your goals and experiences changed while blogging? Why did you start blogging? Are you thinking about starting a blog? Everyone has a story and I want to hear yours!
I enjoy blogging, but I always have a hard time deciding on what to talk about. I can’t tell you how many drafts I have canned because I was like, “Who the %#$@ wants to read about that?”
This is why I eventually settled into reviews, recipes, and books. Next I will add writing into that mix, and my crazy brain processes.
This year I approach my third year blogging. I am nowhere near where I started. My life changed, and I had two options: quit or evolve. Now there are times when I have wanted to give-up. I HATE social media. I am a private person. Quite frankly, a lot of my personality doesn’t flow well without a sarcasm font.
This year I decided to forgo social media as a blogger, and return to using them for myself only. Sure, I may link to a post here or there, but I am making it about me again. i refuse to fret over the # of followers anymore. 95% of them are from giveaways, but I would love more interaction from the 5% that actually thought, “hey that/she looks cool.”
Ok, now I can’t even remember why I started blogging, but it was never about money. Money is nice, really, really nice, but it was not a goal. For me success equaled getting enough to cover my hosting fees. Now I’m just happy to have people comment or share a post.
My goal(s) for this year:
Keep reviewing books, but add in more variety. I will be doing more children’s and MG fiction for my homeschooling readers.
Emphasis on Indie/Small pub authors. There are a lot of good reads that don’t get the credit they deserve. Besides, I’m one too.
Introduce my writer’s corner for Indie authors to talk/vent about their writing.
Post more in general.
Start a second blog (yeah, like one isn’t enough) for my authoring stuff.
Your goals are similar to mine. And I haven’t yet decided how much I like social media these days. I feel its something I HAVE to do, but it’s lost its appeal on so many levels. With the multitude of tasks I have to get done everyday, it seems to just fall by the wayside. And I WANT to be more social, especially on Twitter, thats where I met most of my blogging friends. But it almost seems impossible to keep up with.
HAHA second blogs…..*Wink Wink*
Always for me 🙂
I actually think this is something every blogger should do–check in with themselves occasionally to make sure they stay on vision. This should be fun!
How cool to get that christmas card 🙂
Yeah, I had to do this midway through last year. I was starting to feel some type of way about the whole thing. And apparently it took a little act of kindness such as a Christmas card to make me realize why I was doing this in the first place. Thanks for stopping by!!