What Blogging Means to Me
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Family and friends have always come to me for answers and advice. Maybe I'm just a "know-it-all," but I prefer to attribute it to my interests in helping others and in continual learning.Several years ago, I was an "expert" on a question-and-answer site called AskMe. I don't remember how I got started there, but I loved answering questions. I was in the top 100 experts out of thousands on the site based on the number of questions I answered and the ratings my answers earned. There was no financial reward — though I think I won a couple of T-shirts — but helping people solve problems gave me great satisfaction and joy. I was really disappointed when the site owners shut it down — they had simply been using it as a test site for their software, and when it proved to be effective, they started selling the knowledge-sharing software to business and quit supporting the free service.
When I first started blogging a little over a year ago, I expected to be providing information like I did at AskMe — but the topics would come from my own ideas rather than questions asked by visitors. I quickly learned, however, that my blog is not a platform for teaching or preaching but an arena for learning and sharing. I have learned more from my readers and other bloggers than I have taught, and I have made wonderful blogging friends.
In my post on a blogging metaphor, I described blogging as a large city with hundreds of small neighborhoods. Just as when I moved to the big city from a small town, entering the blogosphere seemed overwhelming and intimidating. However, I started to meet people and make friends in various communities and niches, and soon I was part of several little neighborhoods.
My blog is about my life as a Christian freelance writer and editor who a patriotic supporter of our troops. All of those interests and activities find their way into my writing. Many posts are about writing and publishing — I wrote a 14-part Self-Publishing Primer since much of my editing work is with authors who self-publish. Some writing advice is for professional writers; some is more general for anyone who writes for business or personal reasons.
At first, I blogged two or three times a week, but now I post every weekday. Often I write several posts at one time and date them in the future, especially when I write a series. BlogDesk makes it easy to write and edit offline.
Posts on other blogs, items in the news, events (such as national holidays and Christian holy days), comments and questions from readers, memes and group writing projects ... anything can spark ideas to write about. I jot down ideas as they come up, so when I sit down to write a post, I have several topics to choose from.
I plan to continue to learn and share through blogging for many years to come. Maybe I'll even change my theme, try a little SEO, think about monetizing ... but content will always be most important to me.
Labels: Fine Art of Blogging
posted by Shirazi @ 8:00 AM,
12 Comments:
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At 11:33,
Priyanka said...
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Hello diogenes! I really love this post about blogging. I agree with you that blogging is a wonderful way to share your thoughts and ideas with people around the world, and getting to know many unknown facts from them.Like you, I've made many net friends of late, and learnt many blogging tips.However,there are so many things still to learn in the blogosphere.Good luck and have a nice week!
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At 12:09,
diogenes said...
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~Priyanka: Thanks for leaving comment to Lillie Ammann - the writer of this post.
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At 12:12,
said...
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What are Christian writers? Do you mean you are a religious write only. I have heard this term (Christian writers) but do not really understand. Could you explain it a little.
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At 14:12,
Lillie Ammann said...
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Priyanka, I'm glad you like my post. Let's both keep making friends and learning.
Malka Hans, When I say that I am a Christian writer, I mean I am a Christian who is a writer. Not all of my writing is religious - in fact most is not - but I do not write or edit anything that conflicts with my faith. There are Christian writers who write primarily or exclusively for the Christian market - there are publishers and bookstores that publish or carry only Christian material. But I do not write only - or even mainly - religious material. Hope that makes sense - if not, ask another question. -
At 14:18,
Yvonne Russell said...
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This is a wonderful contribution Lillie. You still are an "Ask Me" expert in the eyes of many writers, as you have so much valuable information and experience to share.
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At 22:56,
Constructicle Boy said...
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hello.this is constructicle boy and i have added you to the train under this link,http://constructicle.blogspot.com/2007/06/double-whammy-to-increase-alexa-ranking.html
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At 14:35,
Etienne said...
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Hi there diogenes, i have also added you in my technorati exchange..thanks! will see you more often back at my blog.
http://profit-line.blogspot.com -
At 19:15,
Laura said...
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Create post. It was fun learning your history and how you got started. I am not familiar with "Ask Me," but it is easy to understand why you were good at it.
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At 21:19,
Lillie Ammann said...
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Yvonne and Laura,
Thank you for your kind words! -
At 01:06,
polliwog said...
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I enjoyed reading your post Lillie. I remember Ask Me! I was wondering what happened to it. I had a friend that answered cooking/food questions on it.
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At 10:08,
Jeanne said...
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Lillie:
Wonderful post--and wonderful reasons for blogging! Thanks for sharing them with us!
Jeanne Dininni
www.WritersNotes.Net -
At 20:27,
Lillie Ammann said...
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Polliwog & Jeanne,
I'm glad you both enjoyed the post.
Yes, the demise of AskMe was a big disappointment for users, but I guess the company got a lot of real-world experience for their software that made them lots of money. We did their research for free.
Links to this post:
What is a blog to you?
Internet is a lonely place without Blogging; a fine art, science, also economics. Blogs are different to different people. Fine Art of Blogging asks you to share your views on what is a blog to you?
Please contribute your thoughts on blogging in general. In particular, write how you blog? Why? How blogging matters in life and work? Success stories and inspirations. Answer these questions and more (add what you feel is important dimension for you) and email me.
Fine Art Claimer
My blogs are a resource for my writings. More often, I blog informally, sharing impressions, generating ideas to see how they invoke reactions, keeping track of others’ work in the fields of my interest, or simply ranting or pointing out things that come to my attention.
Also, I use blogging as a platform to prune ideas. This is where I meet others and share experiences. “I am neither geek, nor nerd, I am not a hacker, a phreaker, a programmer or any variety of technoid dweeb.”
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