Fine Art of Bloging

I’ve always loved reading and writing, and I’ve been doing both a lot since I was a kid. I started keeping a diary when I was a teenager and when the Internet came along it was just natural for me to go from paper to digital – a relief, actually, since my handwriting never won me any awards and even I sometimes have trouble reading it.

My initial attempts at blogging were hiccup-y; I’d write something, post it, and delete it. Last year I started one on MySpace. (I know, what could I have been thinking?) Then through work that I do with my friend and business partner, Victor, on Expat Interviews, I made the online acquaintance of a Canadian lady living in the UAE. It turned out she couldn’t access my MySpace blog (it was one of the sites her ISP bans) so I started one on Blogger. The MySpace account is dead but my Blogger journal lives on.

In the beginning she was my only reader. Then as the months passed one reader became five then a dozen. People have come and gone, but a few have stayed on, bless their suffering souls. Some say they found my site through the Next Blog button, others through sites like Bestest Blogger of the Day, BlogBlast for Peace, and The Rising Blogger; some came via other bloggers.

I’ve found some great blogs via these avenues too – and made some amazing friends online. Mine is a personal site, not a business site. Its primary function was and is to be a way for me to express my thoughts and feelings. Sometimes I write about silly stuff, sometimes it’s about an aspect of life here in the Philippines, sometimes I spew when I’m feeling blue and angst-y, sometimes I write about family. I do it simply because I want to write about it, nothing less, nothing more. I won’t deny, though, that I love it when people say they like a certain post, or what I wrote on a certain day resonated with them, or when I find that somebody has linked to me without telling me – that’s always a nice surprise. I should mention that I don’t like it when bloggers exhibit this “I linked to you, so link to me too” attitude. The people in my blogroll are there because I like their blogs, not because they asked to be placed there.

Blogging is not only fun. It can also be cathartic. It’s an outlet for whatever creativity is brewing in me. It’s a personal endeavor that’s a gratifying part of my normal life, just like eating or sleeping or playing. Right now I don’t feel the need to promote my blog through aggregate sites. Getting good traffic is great, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t ever want to reach that point where getting more comments and awards and higher search engine rankings will eclipse the reason why I started blogging publicly in the first place: to write what I want to write about, not what I think others want to read. Having readers come and return is the icing on the cake, and they’re non-fattening!

Reading other blogs, though, has greatly influenced my way of thinking and the topics I write about sometimes. Also, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve learned something new from what someone else wrote. A certain writer will have a post that makes me think, so I’ll blog about that topic too and mention that I got the idea from him or her. All of us probably agree that blogging is a great way to share information, and one of the ways I like to share is to mention every Saturday a handful of blog entries written by others during that particular week.

There is a great number of terrific blogs out there: they’ve made me laugh hilariously, they’ve made me teary-eyed, they’ve left me breathless by the way they’re written, they’ve made me marvel at their visual creativity – these are some of the characteristics of blog posts I share with regular readers and passers-by on weekends. People have said they like my Blogworld Saturdays feature because it leads them to blogs they otherwise wouldn’t have known about, and that’s gratifying to know. What they don’t realize is it’s a way to turn them into blogging addicts like me, haha! I jest – sort of.

The comments section is another enjoyable part of the blogging experience. Sometimes the comments I get are much more interesting than the post itself! Reading comments can be both entertaining and enlightening. (I’ve also found a few blogs through comments left on other blogs – sometimes they intrigue me enough to want to know more about that person’s writings, and before I know it, presto! I’ve become the fan of another blogger.) Reading a post and leaving a comment is a good thing to do, but please, at least scan the post first before you say something! Reading something that’s totally unrelated to the post can make a person feel like he or she is on the receiving end of a wrong number.

The Internet is adding another dimension to how people learn and interact. Like it or not, it’s here to stay as a way for individuals to hear and be heard. Through blogging I’ve come across quite a few terrific people both near and far. It’s probably true that I will never meet these people personally, but that doesn’t mean I don’t cherish “meeting” them online. I do, and I look forward to meeting more and learning from them.

Sylvia Hubbard

I wouldn’t say I blog, I would say I post links, news and code that I may need in future. As a software engineer, I need a searchable place where my notes and thought, but most important, my code can be found. I started in 2005 and after losing my database with all the post, I learn two important lessons: the fine art of backing up and second that I actually was using those notes and “articles” pretty often.

I won’t call them articles when they were barely a paste from my clipboard. In 2006, I started cleaning my blog a bit and posting more towards other people to read than just myself; I share some of my code with coworkers.

In 2007, I started reading more blogs from “well-known” bloggers and enjoying their style and learning the new and fast way of sharing information. A blog to me is a faster and more interactive way of sharing information and knowledge than a newspaper or a magazine, I, for once, canceled all my subscriptions to the LA Times and geek magazines, that I used to enjoy. Searching blogs or using RSS to read them gives me immediate access to that information without waiting for a person to deliver the magazine or paper. On the same token I like to share with other people the problems, solutions or the little tricks and tips. This is why I post!

Needless to say that (picking topics day after day) is one of the most difficult things to do lately. It was simple when I just posted code and tips about code. Whatever technology or code I was playing at the time, was pasted on my blog, no such thing as cleaning the code and writing an article about it.

Now that I started writing a little bit more instead of just posting code, I find myself searching for a topic that might be interesting to the readers of my blog. I am lucky if I have some research project, a new product or technology coming up to write about. Some weeks I’m so busy at work that when I get home I find that I have nothing to say, and prefer not to post anything.

I must come clean to let you know that I have, more than once, posted something, just for posting something. If you read my blog on a regular basis or you are subscribed, you know what I’m talking about. Please let me take this chance to apologize about those minutes of your life that I cannot give you back.

This year, I received more emails from people reading my blog and asking questions; if the question was already asked by another email, I would reply that on blog instead of an email back. Something very important to me is to see the timeline of my blog, see where I was a year ago and what kind of technology was I working.

I do see an evolution at my blog, maybe the learning curve is longer than other blogs, but is a path I’m enjoying. So please, do keep the emails coming as from them I build the content.

Templates? Promotion tools? Are we still talking about blogging? I haven’t promoted my blog, because I don’t know or I did not search ways to promote my blog. Right now my blog is on the Microsoft ASP.NET blog roll and readers come from there or from Goggle searches.

Mainly I talk about AJAX, ASP.NET and C#, so my audients are geeks and nerds like me. I don’t think a bumper sticker can help my blog to be read by more people. I do not know how to promote a blog, blogs should be promoted by peers. That’s how I find out about other bloggers.

Blogging is a way of communication that allows anybody to voice their opinion with a simple mouse click. I do believe blogging is going to develop to a more professional and structured “art.”

Laura Spencer

What is blog to me? I can tell you how I’ve progressed and what I’ve discovered along the way.

Blogging was a grand experiment for me. First, I wanted to see if anyone would read my blog. Secondly, I wanted to see if it would help my freelance writing business. Now, I am wondering if I can make money from it. Finally, I want to see if it can make a difference, however small.

Initially I thought, and perhaps others might think, that blogging is mainly about writing. What I’ve discovered is that, while it helps to have good writing skills, there is so much more to blogging. Successful bloggers must be: lifelong learners, social individuals, relevant, readers, and disciplined. (Of course, everyone has their own definition of success and yours may be different.) I’ll address each area individually.

Lifelong learning is an important blogging skill, not only to start a blog, but also to keep it going. There are so many areas to learn about. First, I needed to learn the best platform for my blog. There are a lot of questions a new blogger faces. Would I use a free platform like Blogger, or will I go with my own domain name and a hosting company? (I use my own domain name with BlueHost.) When that decision was made, I needed to learn how to manage my content, comments, and blogroll. I needed to learn how to download files to my site. I needed to learn how to use widgets. In fact, with a blog, the learning never stops. I probably learn at least one new thing every day.

Successful bloggers are social individuals. Unlike the diaries and journals that I was familiar with as a child, blogs are public. I decided very early on that I was not going to blog in a vacuum. I enabled my comments (with a spam filter turned on, of course) and I make an effort to interact with my readers. I answer their comments. I visit their blogs. I correspond through e-mail with several of my readers on a regular basis. I know people today that I wouldn’t know if I didn’t blog, and my life is richer for it. I also use some of the networking tools that the Internet provides. (It seems like there is a new tool out there every day.) Currently I am on: Blogg-buzz, MyBlogLog, SpicyPage, StumbleUpon, and Technorati.com. Last, but not least, I joined a blog network, GackInk, where I can mentor and be mentored.

Successful blogs must be relevant. When someone reads my blog they need to find something to hold their interest or they won’t return. Finding something relevant can be a stretching process for the blogger. I know that the questions “how would somebody use this information?” and “would anybody find this interesting?” stretch me. I’ve found that, if I have a question about something, usually others have the same question. That question is an opportunity for me to research the question and blog about it. I also find relevant topics for posts on forums, other blogs, and in everyday life.

I’m a big believer in the value of reading. I believe that the best writers were readers first. Reading definitely prepares me to blog. I read just about everything I can get my hands on: the newspaper, books, magazines, advertisements, other blogs, and the list goes on. Reading helps me recognize the difference between good writing and bad writing. Reading broadens my horizons and introduces me to new ideas and concepts. Reading also entertains me and gives me a reason to laugh. In short, reading has made me a writer and writing has made me a blogger.

Finally, bloggers have to be disciplined. One factor that many blog experts recommend for blogging success is consistency. It’s important to post new material on your blog on a regular basis. You’ve probably been frustrated, as I have, by finding an enjoyable blog, only to discover that there are no new entries. I try to have between three and five new posts on my blog each week. Most of them time I really enjoy blogging. It’s fun. It stimulates my creativity. I can post things that help others. I get to “meet” new people. However, to be totally honest, there are those days that I just don’t feel like posting. Maybe I’m sick. Maybe I’m buried with work. Maybe there are other issues bothering me. It helps to have a backlog of posts for those times. But sometimes, it just takes discipline to get that new post out there.

So, with WritingThoughts, my grand experiment goes on. I continue learning, making friends, finding what’s relevant, reading whatever I can, and discovering how to be disciplined in my approach to blogging.