Blogging

I read a lot of blogs. I thought I read a lot of blogs when I read about eight on a regular basis, but now the "MyFavorites" link section of my Internet homepage is full of blogs. Some are new finds, but I have been reading a few of them for more than two years. It amazes me how you can learn so much about a person through reading their blog. When I find a new blog that looks interesting, I sort through a few of the older posts, and in fifteen minutes, I already have an idea of the blogger's interests, family life, and personality. I am often amazed, too, at the thoughtful posts, neat pictures, and great ideas so many bloggers post on a regular basis. Before I tried blogging myself, if I gave any thought to how all those posts I enjoyed ever got posted, I just thought that the blogger probably set aside fifteen minutes for a picture and a paragraph, maybe thirty minutes to put together the long, insightful posts. Now that I blog, I laugh at my former ideas and ask for a big round of applause for all those bloggers who really put time and thought into their posts.

When I started blogging, it was in part for the fun of it, but I really wanted to work on my writing skills and and have a place to post photographs. I had no idea what I was getting into. It is hard to say what I want to say without having the luxury of several rewrites and it is even harder to come up with new things to post about that are even mildly interesting on a consistent basis. I wanted to blog about all my craft/art/cooking projects, but I didn't want my blog to consist solely of that. I wanted to write what I thought about the news or in response to articles I read, as well as detailed movie/book reviews. So far, I just can't find the time. For example, I wanted to write a post on October 31 about the Protestant Reformation. I did have it written out nicely in my head. The trouble was, October 31 came and went and I never even began the post. I do have one very good excuse for my shortcomings: I'm very new at blogging. I only set this blog up in July. It took two months for me to get all the details worked out and I deleted several of my first posts because they were awful (even worse than these). I only began letting people read my blog in September, so I've really been doing this for only two months. My two biggest problems that I must overcome are these:

1. Even though I'm 22, I can't move past the high school mindset that I need at least a week to write a paper before I hand it in to the teacher. Blogging doesn't work that way. I suppose I could write longer posts out and work on them apart from the blog, then copy them into a post, but the point is for your blog to be like your online journal, not your online collection of essays. I may have to try that way a few times, though, at least until I get used to posting about something besides crafts.
2. I have an obsessive habit of proof-reading. Each post must be proofed at least ten times before it is published or I have a nagging feeling throughout the rest of the day that I used the wrong form of "there" somewhere in that post. (I've noticed that the typos somehow slip by anyway. If you see one, don't worry. I always find them two days after I publish it.)

So, my new goal is to put more thought into my posts, even if it takes me three days to get one post up, and I only get to proof-read it three times. Again, to all the bloggers out there who post such great stuff so frequently, thank you!!!