When I grow up I want to be a published author. In order to do this I must constantly hone my craft and learn the business of books.
In an effort to do just that, I started reading a ton of articles, blogs, books, and pretty much anything else I could get my hands on. One of the many tips I found offered to aspiring authors, such as myself, was to build a platform. A place where you can showcase your work and practice building a voice for yourself. So that’s what I did. I got this site, posted some of my work, and I even attempted to blog. All was fine and great in my world. The sun was shining and the flowers were blooming. The next bit of wisdom imparted upon me by those who know more than I said I must keep the blog frequent or face losing my readers.
Gasp! Dark clouds loomed above my serene world and I found myself on the path to having one of those sites. You know the ones I’m talking about, where the information is so outdated that it should be listed in the encyclopedia under “Ancient Text.” Yeah, that definitely wasn’t what I envisioned for my site’s future. So I sat myself down, pulled up an empty post page and…
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. My brain froze, my muse hid under the bed refusing to show her face, and all I heard was the ticking of my Smiley Face clock. Seriously, it was that bad.
My problem is that I run out of ideas on what to blog about. I can come up with an idea here or there, but two or three times a week? That’s tough. I mean I could talk all day about how cute my granddaughter is but that doesn’t mean you want to read several paragraphs about her big blue eyes and little cherub cheeks. I could also give you funny, little antics about my co-dependent kitten and lazy Maine Coon, but unless your obsessive about cats that probably wouldn’t do it for you either. So back I went to the articles, blogs, books and everything else in search of ideas.
The answer: blog about what I know. If my hobby is wood-crafting, write about it. If I’m an expert in engineering, then write about it. “Great, this will be a snap,” I thought.
Um, no.
It was then that I realized I am not specialized in any particular area. I know basic information on a slew of topics, but I am certainly not an expert in any of them. After a short rant to myself about how I should have taken more “me” time to at least develop a hobby of some sort, I took a deep breath and looked for a solution. I had two choices: keep blogging occasionally and follow my site to a website graveyard or find a way to become an expert at something.
I’m a girl who enjoys a challenge. Since I wasn’t about to go down that lonely road for forgotten sites, I decided that once a week I am going to learn at least one new thing. I’m not saying these will be lessons of a lifetime or anything. I could learn something trivial or I could have deep, soulful epiphanies. Either way, I’ll be learning something new which is always a plus and I’ll be sharing them with you. My goal is that I will provide you with interesting or useful information during my new weekly studies but if not, I’ll settle for mildly entertaining.
I know exactly what you mean. What do I know? Should I write about writing? There’s an awful lot of that out there already. Family? Gotta be careful about that. Job? I’m thinking no one wants to hear about my day job (I’m a statistician). So I tend to write about random things that strike me as funny. (I make up categories for the posts after I’ve written them.) You don’t get a following by being random — unless you’re The Bloggess. But at least I’m having fun with it 🙂
Hi Marie!
That’s how I look at it as well. If I’m not having fun with this, then I shouldn’t be doing it.
Thanks for the post and hopefully there will be enough people out there who enjoy the random parts of life that we too can find our following!
Jennifer
Jennifer, ever considered writing fiction for your blog posts, like short stories or chapters of a book you’re working on? That’s what I started doing in 2006, and before you know it, I had hundreds of visitors per day. And those books and short stories I give away on my blog are selling well on Amazon, B&N, etc.
Occasionally, I write a post that is non-fiction, usually something about writing or publishing, but, like you, I found it difficult to think of things to post about every week. So I just started making stuff up. 😉
Best wishes for your writing/publishing pursuits!
Hi Robert,
Thanks so much for stopping by my site.
I’ve actually been toying for a few weeks now about posting a portion of the book I’m working on. I’ve been hesitant because I haven’t decided yet whether or not I’m going to follow traditional or the self-publishing route and I’ve heard that many agents/publishing companies frown upon it. However, posting some fiction blogs hadn’t occurred to me. It would not only give my followers something fun to read, but also give me some great writing practice. I really appreciate the advice!
Not to mention, you’ve just gained another blog follower!
Thanks again!
Jennifer
Thanks, Jennifer, and I just subscribed to your RSS feed. I’ll keep up with your blog in my Google Reader.