To Blog or Not to Blog

Well earlier in the week I typed the 'rules' of blogging - but did I follow them!

The first rules were 'When writing a blog do...'

Find your focus - To do this, you must first ask yourself this question: Who are your target readers? 

• Well I think I got that one okay

Be relatable, be yourself - Let your readers get to know you.

• Okay, got that right.  I told you a bit about myself

Use links within your posts - Whether you are linking to other blogs, do it whenever you can. 

• Well got that right on my second blog, with links to the FIL website - another tick.

Include images - While readers come to your blog for information and personality, they also need to be stimulated visually. Not all posts will lend themselves to an image, but when they do, take advantage of it. 

• Yep, I got images in.

Respond to blog comments -Not all comments need a response, but be sure to respond to ones that do 

• Sadly, no comments received. Oh well at least a know a few (unfortunately a very few of you read my blogs)

Next we had the 'When writing a blog don't ....'

Set unrealistic goals - You know your schedule and abilities better than anyone else, so don’t attempt to post every day if you can’t.

• Okay, got that right, I intended to only write every other day and that I've achieved.

Limit your word count - If you have something to say, say it. 

• Another achieved, I didn't limit my word count, not something I could ever be accused of doing!

Make grammar mistakes - And, if you do, correct them immediately. Folks on the Web tend to be more lenient about typos, so don’t stress about it if you do make a mistake.

• Okay, so I'm sure I failed this one. Yes, I work in a library but I have to say grammar has never been one of my strengths and sorry but as long as what I've written can be understood, I don't really care.  (Ooo controversial) 

Be negative - It’s generally unwise to air personal grievances publicly (unless, of course, that’s the theme of your blog 

• I know I wasn't negative, I didn't even put myself down.

Write long paragraphs - Long blocks of text are hard for readers to digest, especially when reading on computers and tablets.

• Don't think I did this, I made a concerted effort to break up the paragraphs with space and / or pictures.

Avoid trying new things - It’s important to let your blog evolve over time, and the only way this can happen is if you take risks every once in awhile.

• Well I didn't avoid trying new things - the blog was a new thing for me.

So, how do I feel about my first blogging experience?  On the whole really good, in a way it's felt a bit like editing and writing for the Newsletter.  At times not sure what I was going to write but once I'd started things started to flow and I found myself enjoying the experience of writing.

Now whether anybody else has enjoyed what I've written or even actually read all the way through, I don't know and I have to say it's a little disheartening not receiving comments or being certain your blog has been read. I think though that if you write on a regular basis, that is something that will evolve, people will respond and comment. Alternatively a more controversial subject will elicit comments or any subject that others have strong feelings about.

Would I do this again? Would I encourage others to write a blog?

Yes, to both questions.  I know some people don't see the point of blogs but then if you are not interested in what other people have to say, you don't have to read a blog.  After all, what's the difference between writing a blog and writing an article for a newsletter or journal?

Maybe next time my subject will be interlending related, maybe it won't but you will be hearing from me again, either here or on my own blog. 

Bad grammar, bad spelling, long paragraphs, and very likely unrealistic goals - hey but that's me and we all know the second rule is Be relatable, be yourself - that I can do!

Tracey Jackson