“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”~Abraham Lincoln, American president
Today, l celebrate bloggers.
We’re all in this together, whatever our reasons for writing, whatever our topics or motivation. Supporting each other is what we should all do, but it can seem daunting. After all, when do we write our blog and read other blogs and comment on them and then comment on comments and then reply to the comments on our blog?
Let’s break it down together. Make a schedule, a small, definable, specific one. One YouTuber I follow writes in her description: “I reply to comments twice a week on Monday and Thursday.” How perfect is that? Everyone knows what to expect when–even her. This is an ideal thing for bloggers. She is my hero.
Then there’s writing. You know your schedule or are figuring it out. Whatever you do, be consistent. On those times that you’re not consistent, do NOT apologize. It irks me when I see that in blogs, like that person’s job is to entertain or inform me. Your life is your own, and your followers will understand. They’ll be extra super-duper excited to see you return.
What makes this whole beautiful community is created by commenting on blog posts and forming relationships. You don’t have to respond immediately to everything in real time, but everyone who comments deserves a reply. Don’t underestimate the power of “Thank you” or “Glad you enjoyed this. A comment is a compliment; acknowledge it as such.
I don’t have a schedule yet, so I have nothing to maintain. My life is abnormal and unstructured at this moment as we finalize the house buying process. My blogging schedule remains constant–publishing on odd-numbered dates–but discovering new blogs is difficult right now. Carving out time to read seems trivial, but where do we start? Let me share three bloggers I always make time to drop in on:
In no particular order:
1–Jeanette A. at Deadwood Writers Voices
This writers group blog features posts on a wide range of topics. Jeanette writes about video games. I have precious memories of Atari and I currently enjoy Nintendo games and the WiiFit experience, but reading her detailed First Person Shooter experiences makes me want to expand my horizons and play. I can’t play FPS because the character’s point of view gives me a dizzy headache, so I live vicariously through her. I love her detail about the atmosphere and the glitches and all the subtleties of gameplay. Her latest post about the Sims games is a short, tragic memoir-esque read that reminds us to never give us the classic games of our youth.
2–Marcie Hill at Marcie Writes
If you need blogging inspiration or want to learn the business side of writing, she’s one to follow. Her blog has a strong selection of links under her Resources tab. Her book, 62 Blog Posts to Overcome Blogger’s Block, got me out of my blogging funk with unexpected and creative prompts and ideas to write about. If you’re stuck for ideas, you won’t be after this.
This site posts a poem prompt every Sunday night. Haiku a short form poem, traditionally three lines in 5-7-5 syllables. Some poets, myself included, have taken it beyond the nature-season inspired topics and morphed in into describing elements of our days. I actively participate in this weekly challenge, and I have discovered other bloggers to follow by clicking on the Link button. Not everyone who posts is a poet, so don’t be intimidated by that aspect. Haiku is one way these bloggers express themselves and their interests.
Happy reading! If you have any other sites that inspire you, leave the links below so we can all discover new awesomeness.
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