…you mean there was a before?
This post is part of a week-long virtual blogging conference started by Liz, at a belle, a bean, and a chicago dog, and Jessica, at four plus an angel. Their idea was to create a blogging conference that didn’t require the participants to change out of their ratty gym shorts and oh-my-god-it’s-so-freaking-hot tank tops. And for that, bless them.
Those of you not interested in reading about blogs–a kind of meta-blog blogging, as it were–might want to skip over the Summer Blog Social posts. Or you could dig into the inner psyche of bloggers and read through all the posts on the site.
The topic for today is “before I blogged, I wish I’d known…” It’s sort of a funny question, actually, because I think if I’d known anything about what it meant to maintain a blog, I probably wouldn’t have started. A friend of mine who used to climb mountains on a regular basis (complete with ice picks, lots of ropes, and frequent instances of potentially plummeting to his death) said that he kept going on these death-defying journeys to “feed the rat,” by which he meant fueling the adrenaline rush he got with each climb.
Writing a blog creates another version of feeding the rat: you can’t stop or the blog atrophies and the six people who read it, other than your mom, will give up and go elsewhere. So you have to keep writing and thinking about writing and making notes about writing, and maybe waking up in the middle of the night to worry about the fact that you haven’t posted in a few days.
Or maybe that’s just me. Maybe other bloggers don’t do that.
So on second thought, I’m glad I didn’t know that blogging would become such a big part of my creative life; I think that I would’ve been afraid to embark on such a full-scale adventure. Instead, I started writing as a lark, and as a way to train my writing muscles.
I’m also glad I didn’t realize how many talented, funny, insightful, thoughtful, interesting people are writing online: I would’ve been petrified to dip my digital tootsies into these waters. Now that I’m swimming in the bloggy water, however, it’s delightful to look around at all the other blogfish in the sea and realize that, with a comment or two, you can actually talk to these elegant, talented fish as they swim by.
Hmm. I seem to have answered this question by talking about what I’m glad I didn’t know. If I’d known more, I think I might be still polishing that first-ever post, trying to make it perfect before I launched it into deep water. So let me take one last stab at answering this question in its proper form: before I started blogging, I wish I’d known… how much fun it would be.
Shall i make you feel better?
Even my Mom doesn’t read mine 😉
of course, having my mom read my blog *has* led to some… interesting conversations!
“I’m also glad I didn’t realize how many talented, funny, insightful, thoughtful, interesting people are writing online: I would’ve been petrified to dip my digital tootsies into these waters. Now that I’m swimming in the bloggy water, however, it’s delightful to look around at all the other blogfish in the sea and realize that, with a comment or two, you can actually talk to these elegant, talented fish as they swim by.”
OHMYGOSH – you are so right about this. Well said.
I had never thought about it that way, but – yes. Had I known how much of my life would be working on blogging, I’d have opted to continue sitting on my butt during nap time, watching DVR-ed House Hunters.
🙂
Maybe the best advice for starting a blog is just to start–the sort of “fools rush in…” philosophy. We all figure it out as we go, right?
Oh, how I love reading your stuff. That is all.
*blushing*
So glad you linked up because this is my first time visiting and I love this post. I completely agree, if I had known that it would be time consuming and I would be comparing myself to all of the amazing writers out there I would have been scared to start so I’m glad I didn’t know because I would have missed out on all the fun.
Johan Liljegren November 13, 2007 Jeff,Great to get some new blog tips! However, the link to Matt Evans’ The Admin Exchange is most likely ieorcrnct, as it is the same as the one to Salesforce Times.My Google karma doesn’t give me any tips on where to find it either. Do you have an updated link to it?Regards//Johan
Great fun light-hearted post. And it’s a good thing you did start – if we look at all the pros out there, it can be quite intimidating.
Well said!!!
I agree – I probably would have been very scared to begin had I known about all the amazing writers in BlogLand.
I wish I had know more when I started, but you are right about the fact that it might have been scarier.
This is eloquent and honest and true.
And that rat analogy? OMG how can I not love that?!
Great post!
I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy blogging and the relationships I’ve developed through blogging. I didn’t expect it to be nearly as time-consuming as it is…but that’s not a bad thing at all! However, if I had realized the work involved, I, too, might have backed out.
Great post!
Now that you mention it, I’m glad I didn’t know what it was going to entail when I first started blogging! 🙂