Late last week, a bunch of my friends and I sat around in my living room, snacking on food and sipping drinks and laughing out loud and sharing our thoughts, and the talk turned to blogging.
Remember blogging?
I started blogging because it seemed like a fun way to write stuff my parents could read to keep up with what’s going on in my family. It was a hobby that turned into a community and, while I kept chugging along, writing words and responding to comments and visiting other people’s blogs and such, the world of blogging changed. The focus shifted to different social media sites like Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and Snapchat and Vine and all the other places my children are relieved I know nothing about.
I got caught up in chasing the conversation, and I have to admit, I appreciate some of those other places. I especially like Instagram. But, it’s not the same as blogging, you know?
In my living room, my friends and I talked about attention span.
We talked about how people skim more than they read, and so, maybe shorter paragraphs might work better?
And lots of images.
Or Subheads. Maybe that’s something to try?
In my regular life, I’ve started listening to podcasts. I listen while I walk around town, or while I run/walk on the treadmill at the gym. I’ve begun thinking about starting a podcast of my own.
But podcasting isn’t blogging.
Someone once said to me, “Blogging is a subculture.” And, I guess it is. It is also a community, and the thing I loved most about blogging when I began, was the conversation in the comments.
Granted, it is easy to become addicted to the comments, refreshing your browser to see if anyone is reading. If anyone cares.
The culture of other social media platforms feeds that addiction, too, with its likes and comment threads and trending topics. I have gotten sucked in — taking my phone with me everywhere, just to be sure I stay engaged in the conversation.
Since the conversation in my living room last week, I’ve been thinking a lot about writing and blogging and social media, and I have this deep, deep sense of nostalgia for what blogging meant to me when I first began. Back then, I was simply writing and posting to tap into the creative bent in me, dropped into each of us because we’re created in the image of God. Blogging, in the beginning, was like dancing or disco music or taking a walk on a crisp, winter day. Blogging worked out the kinks and helped me figure out what was going on in my head. Blogging connected me with you. Blogging helped me find my voice. It helped me find me.
And so, I’m feeling a bit protective of the art (or the subculture) of blogging. And of bloggers. Because blogging is a thing of its own that sometimes leads to other things that matter and that have an impact and that tap into the creative bent we all try to wrestle out of ourselves and into the world. I’m not trying to save blogging. No. I’m hoping to celebrate it. To celebrate the blogs and the bloggers who keep pushing out content and images and beauty. Their blogs make us laugh and think and cry and they brighten our worlds with their beauty. I want to cheer for the blogs and the bloggers that make the world of the Internet a better place and so, I’m trying something new here. It feels a little bit old-school, and that’s just fine with me. We’ll see how it goes.
It’s been a long time since I’ve done a series of any sort, so I’m a little rusty. But I don’t want to spend so much energy chasing the conversation anymore. I want to set the table right here, the way I used to do, and welcome you to pull up a chair and pass the butter, please. Each week, on Sunday evening, I’ll write a little something, and then I’ll introduce you to a blog I’ve found that I’d like to share with you. I think the guidelines will reveal themselves to me as we go, and I’ll share them with you as I come to know them for myself.
The bottom line is that there are some amazingly talented bloggers out there. They write deeply and thoughtfully, they are funny and they are warm. They take beautiful pictures and they treat the arts with care and deep respect. And, this blogging community is generous and full of grace. So, I’m hoping you’ll visit the blogs I share here each week. I hope you’ll leave a comment to let them know their work and their art and their craft make a difference in this world.
I’m calling this series The Art of Blogging, and maybe someone will make me a beautiful badge or button or something like that to make it official. But for now, it’s simple and home-grown. It’s the result of me (doing what I used to do, all those years ago) reading blogs.
Today, meet Christine Gilbert, at Almost Fearless.
:::
Some questions for you: Why did you start blogging? Is that reason still important to you? Have you found yourself chasing the conversation instead of practicing the craft? Do you struggle with the tension of the changing landscape for those of us who call ourselves writers? How do you navigate that tension?
I appreciate this Deidra (and you, especially, as I always say). I started reading blogs literally by accident. And I’ve loved what I’ve read, and, as a traditionally published author, I’ve met a truckload of online authors about whom I knew nothing—and who, I might add, are extremely talented. They’re really lovely people, too. But I have heard that blogs are one the wane. And I think, from time to time, about launching one; but then, I think . . . if they are fazing out and if there are so many that the “market” is saturated, then what’s the point? So I’m eager to read your wisdom here. Glad I stpped by now on the way to my rehearsal. You know, maybe that is a point. Not a whole lot of the general people want to listen to us sing Bach, but we do it because it is breathtaking music, and we enjoy it. So who cares if we don’t get the audiences a rock concert would? Why are we doing this, and shouldn’t we continue just for the sheer joy of it? I’ve no time to proof and need to run, but maybe if you pick through this, you can find a comparison.
Love
Lynn
It’s a perfect comparison, Lynn! Bach and blogging. I couldn’t have said it better myself. 🙂
I’m glad for this series Deidra. I’ve only known the push for platform attached to blogging. That’s been disheartening, because it’s not why I do it. How refreshing to hear a pro blogging post, from an author that considers it an art. And they say blogging is dead! I don’t agree. Not as long as there are readers. Instead of checking the numbers I check where God sends the words. Romania, Denmark…South Africa. Still inspired… with no plans to stop.
Oh my! What a great strategy — focusing on where God is sending the words.
I never learned how to check the numbers. I don’t have any idea how many people read what I write. I think God knew I wouldn’t be able to handle it, whether those numbers are high or low or somewhere in between. At the risk of sounding cheesy (which is a little bit old-school, yes?) I think I want to get back to measuring more like that song from “Rent”:
In daylights, in sunsets
In midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
In five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, a year in the life?
How about love?
How about love?
How about love?
Measure in love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvyHuse6buY
Don’t know how I missed this but I love it. How about love? You’re my kind of girl Deidra.
Why? It was always about the words scrambling to get out. And then it became friendships – discovering voices around the globe. That became community and it was characterised by deep caring. We came alongside each other. Friends struggled, celebrated, laughed, loved, wrote and some even died. There was no thought of fiscal gain. No trending. No monetising everything back then. The worth was invested in the lives of the people, and remnants of that glorious age of words and women still exist in pockets out there. From the first tentative comment on the “Let’s try to leave Mary (Ostyn) 1000 comments” back in 2006, a whole world opened, and it has been life changing. Around then, my husband died, and those long lonely days and nights were made easier by knowing that I had friends out there.
You know, I admire all the book contracts. But I can’t help but think that some people missed what it was all about. Maybe you had to be older. In fact, most of the first bloggers I discovered were older. When the sudden popularity of blogging awoke the rest of the world, things changed. And many stopped writing, because somehow, we didn’t seem to git any more. The blogging world is poorer because of that.
Yes, I still write. Not neatly enough, but my blog is still there. It is a part of me and I love it. I so wish all my first blogging friends still wrote too. I am looking forward to your series, Deidra.
Wow, Linds. You’ve shared so many beautiful nuggets of truth here. I love your description of the community you found, and your wisdom in knowing what’s most important to you.
There is something to be said for the way blogging has opened doors for many people — especially women — who have important messages that we need to hear, but who may never have gotten those messages out to the world, were it not for the opportunities afforded them by blogging. But, there is also so much value in the community of (as you’ve so eloquently stated it) words and women that still exists in pockets out there.
This is going to be a wonderful series, Deidra. When I started blogging, I had no clue what blogging was all about. I read that it was an excellent tool to practice writing, but was caught off-guard when I received comments. I had no idea that others could see what I’d written. (Yes….I can be very naive) I thought I was just practicing in some isolated mysterious secret place. My early blogging opened doors for me to write for two subscription magazines I’ve been contributing to regularly for about 5 years, but I recently resigned from them to accept a contributor position for a new local magazine. My blogging has suffered in the past couple of years. Chronic illness (and becoming a mimi) has chipped away at my energy reserves, and my paid assignments (as well as my writing/photography projects off-line) are a priority. I have no intention of abandoning blogging, even though it has suffered from those low energy reserves. I have hopes of restoring my blogging rhythm this year. I love the blogging community.
Oh, what a great image! I love that you thought no one could see what you were writing! I wonder what would happen if we all wrote from that mindset?
How fun! I started blogging in 2006, back when we used to give each other awards like Mathletes and kept blogrolls. It was such a simple time and I didn’t worry if only my parents and a few friends read my posts. It has changed over the years. When I grew stressed out by trying to build a platform and working to create traffic, I remember reading words from Mary DeMuth about the gift of writing in obscurity and writing for an audience of one and that has been an ever-present mantra to recall and embrace. Not to say I haven’t wanted to close down “shop” at times. I have to remember why I began blogging which was to simply have a place to store my writing. All the other stuff of social media can often muddle the underlying call to simply write because it is a calling. I always wanted a very chatty comment section but that hasn’t been the case but it has fostered my face-to-face conversations with others. Bottom line, I will never ever know what God is doing with the words placed in any given post, I trust as I am obedient to hear and jot down words, He will manifest fruit which may not look like comments, likes, book deals, etc. I am learning to be at peace with that.
Deidra, looking forward to this series!
“Bottom line, I will never ever know what God is doing with the words placed in any given post, I trust as I am obedient to hear and jot down words, He will manifest fruit which may not look like comments, likes, book deals, etc. ” Wow. Such wisdom right there. Amen.
Oh friend -I love this oh so much! I mean – oh so much!
I started blogging out of sheer obedience. I started a long time ago before it was really a thing. I blogged once a week for a couple of years and had no idea that there was a community of bloggers. I faded in and out and came back around to it – again, out of sheer obedience, a few years ago but the call and purpose was different. I remember attending a conference last year and unfortunately was really surprised to find such a gap between writers and bloggers. Silly me… I mean – I know it’s different, but I really didn’t expect to be treated so much less than. I feel called to Blogging and really have no other motive. My favorite part? Seriously – this Community… this sub culture… this kindredness… this family!
I’ve felt like that, too, in a crowd of non-blogging writers. I just figured they didn’t know what they were missing. Ha!
I think that gap has closed a bit over the years, though. Although I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon that I may talk about at some point in this series. I’ve heard lots of journalists refer to bloggers in a way that suggests they see us as influencers, but that, when we blog, we usually have something negative to say. 🙁
I love this. Like big, giant, puffy heart love it, because I love blogging. Vintage blogging. 2009 blogging. I miss the art, so I can’t wait to follow along and see who you feature!
I started blogging because I knew I wanted to be a writer. I had a novel in the works, had co-authored a book, and clawing my way into the publishing world was so tedious that when I heard about blogging, I immediately jumped on board. It started off as a simple mom blog, all about my kids. Then it morphed into a humor blog as I tried to find the funny in those long days at home with toddlers.
And then it changed. Life happened. My kids got older and I felt I owed it to them to guard their privacy when they grew to the age that I knew oversharing would cause embarrassment. So I changed websites, and that’s when I got lost. Because in the midst of all that growing and changing, blogging changed, too. And suddenly I became a blogger without a niche. *gasp!* Though I’d spent years cultivating a voice and building a platform, I now felt like an outsider.
So yeah. For the last year I’ve been chasing the conversation, and I’ve considered throwing in the towel numerous times, only I still love writing, and I’m still writing books and now publishers want platform to back up a manuscript. So I’m trying to figure out where I fit in the blogging world again. Trying to craft better posts, and take better pictures.
It’s making me a stronger writer, even if it is a tedious work. 😉
Ha! “…big, giant, puffy heart love…” So wonderful!
Please don’t throw in the towel. When I first met you, on that shuttle bus to Allume, you were writing a novel. Is this the same novel you mentioned in your comment? Tell me more about it. What’s happened with that project?
You are right about staying true to the craft, and how it makes us stronger. Better. Even if it’s not always easy. When we keep showing up, it binds itself to us in a way it wouldn’t (doesn’t) when we find ourselves in a season of hit or miss. Don’t throw in the towel.
It is the same novel! It’s in the hands of an agent now who’s sent it out to numerous publishing houses, so we will see. Fiction is a hard sell these day, so I’m cautiously hopeful. But in the meantime, I’m working on another book with a co-author, and I have the rumblings of a new novel stirring. The characters are forming – I just don’t really know where they’re going yet. Despite the fact that I keep being told fiction doesn’t sell, I can’t seem to stop writing it. I do believe I’m a novelist at heart, so staying true to myself apparently means walking a harder publication path. Oh well…
Also – this thing you wrote here? “You are right about staying true to the craft, and how it makes us stronger. Better. Even if it’s not always easy. When we keep showing up, it binds itself to us in a way it wouldn’t (doesn’t) when we find ourselves in a season of hit or miss. Don’t throw in the towel.”
That was a big, giant YES! for me. 😉
Sending you a hug right now through cyber space!
🙂
I love blogging! It’s how I met you and Jennifer Lee and Emily Wierenga and so many others! I started my blog influenced by Ann Voskamp to post and link up a weekly gratitude list. Six years later there is no longer a link up, but every Sunday night I start my week by posting a list of blessings from the week before.
Did you ever imagine, when you first started blogging, that you’d still be at it, six years later? This is the one “hobby” I’ve taken up that I’ve actually stuck with.
Great idea!
I started blogging in 2006, while pregnant with my first baby. When I discovered that there websites that offered blog space for free, I jumped at the chance. I’ve since changed my blogging content. My site is my way of spreading the Gospel message, encouraging others in their everyday lives.
For a while, I wrestled with all the current talk going on (SEO, subscribers, platform, design, images, etc). I was paralyzed by wanting to do everything just so, that I wasn’t able to concentrate on writing. So, I dropped the extra and just write. I write when I have time and whatever I feel led to share, all while keeping it real. One step at a time, one post at a time, God is handling all the other details.
Bingo! “God is handling all the other details.” What a great word for me to remember. Thanks for that.
Oh joy! A celebration of blogging. Hasn’t it lead many people to wonderful discoveries of treasures. Of friendship and art. Laughter and tears. Tenderness and hope. This is the bomb diggity. Thank you for traveling this road.
Yes! Joy! Celebration! Blogging has opened so many doors for so many people. Thanks for being part of the journey.
You’re my fave. We’re all craving a little bit of retro blogging. I just posted something this a.m. that seemed so old-school to me. I’m still not sure where it came from, but it felt like going home.
The vintage-y thing is resonating, isn’t it? I like how you describe it. It does feel like home. Something about old-school blogging feels really cozy to me.
I started blogging a long, long time ago to document life. And, really, that’s still what I want to do. Thanks for encouraging me in that. I’m excited to read more!
You’re welcome, Kristin! Thanks for reading.
I needed this so much today! I’ve struggled with finding my place in this blogging world for the last couple years. And I feel like I haven’t had the time to keep up with all the changes and new things I see.
I started blogging because I wanted to be more creative in my writing, share my thoughts, and share the things I found to be encouraging or inspiring. That is still why I like blogging. But because I am now a stay-at-home mom, have a desire to start monetizing my blog and dreams of writing a book, I always find myself in this battle with social media, the platform, and the marketing of it all. What do I need to do to build traffic and keep the conversation going? How do I utilize SEO? How can I have better images when I don’t have the best camera? It gets daunting. And I get tired. But I’m trying to stop obsessing over all that (while still being concerned about it) and just get back to writing.
I just have this thought in the back of my mind that you can do all that work, but if the content is good, people will share the love and the readers will come anyway. So I’m still plugging away.
This series is going to be a good thing for a lot of bloggers, and I really look forward to following along.
The old mantra still holds true: “Content is king.” So, I think you’re on to something when you talk about creating good content. I think that’s what people want most of all. That’s what people will keep coming back for. You’re not alone in your struggle to find your place and to figure out what works best for you. Hopefully, this conversation will help with that, even if just a little bit. Please keep plugging away. 🙂
– I started (in Jan. 2008) because a friend, who journaled her battle with breast cancer in a blog, suggested I do it . I used to write her emails (who would write things in comment boxes or blogs for the entire world to read?!) in response to her posts.
– Encouraging others is important — but over the last couple of years blog interaction has fallen off. So, I’ve drifted back to my pre-blogging self (phone calls, cards, hand-written letters.)
– Chasing the conversation – not that. But, building a community – yes, that.
– Yes. The tension of the change dictates snazzy, flash, color schemes, and themes.
– Navigating the tension is just about at it’s break point for me. I’m close to folding my site stakes, packing my blog, and wandering into the sunset.
So, miss Deidra, the timing in this series intrigues. I fear not honesty, nor do I have a need to fit in. But I am asking my own self if I’m throwing effort after foolishness. For me, the question isn’t the art of blogging, it’s the heart of it. [I reckon a person cannot have one without the other though. 🙂 ]
What I really like about your comment, Darlene, is that, when comments dropped off, you didn’t go chasing them on other platforms. You went back to what you knew — phone calls, cards, hand-written letters. I’m not much of a phone talker (I let Voxer help me out in that area), but I am so grateful for people like you who keep the art of card-sending and letter-writing alive.
And, yes. I hope that, by talking about the art, we find ourselves talking about the heart. Indeed.
This post makes me breathe….like permission to settle into where I am already and join up with the places God is moving in my own spaces.
I started blogging a couple of years ago because it was just too loud in my head. I thought I knew what was going on in there, but the more I write with intention and focus, the more I uncover the truth that God has breathed in me.
Ten years ago I began to uncover some real junk inside me. Junk that locked up grace and deeply isolated me. I know God’s heart broke with mine as I processed layers of injustice, manipulation and deception that had been perpetrated against me and that I, in turn, began to spill out over my own family.
I heard him speak Isaiah 61:1 over me and held onto Isaiah 61:8 for dear life. ‘I will give you your recompense in truth.” When I blog, that restorative truth shows up! I stay away from blogging forums because I can so easily get sucked into discontent but what you’re proposing sounds different and refreshing! Looking forward to more….
The first sentence in your comment makes me smile. And breathe. I do hope this series is a breath of fresh air for all of us. Yes. Settle in, Marcy. Settle in.
Deidra, I love everything about this post. Truly. From the pass the butter to the creative outlet and joy of authentic community, it’s like you’ve crawled inside my mind and heart and expressed the very things that keep my coming back to my laptop and virtual living room week after week. For the art. For the voice. For the exercise of becoming more of who God made me to be as a writer and the gift of uncovering more of who God is as He reveals His character and nearness in the unraveling of my thoughts and ordinary-glory days. Yes, blogging is to be celebrated! I look forward to joining you here each week. Let the celebration begin!
I think celebration is one of my most favorite words!
I like that you’ve specified art in your comment. I was intentional about including that word in the title for this series. I think it’s important for us to remember the element of co-creation when we write.
July 12, 2009. The year I turned 60. I was feeling the reality of mortality and the tug of eternity. It began as a way to record my journey and inspire hope… to leave a legacy. I wrote, “I want my life to count and to be ready when the count is out.”
It’s grown as a way to play with words, to hopefully encourage others, and to build a family–like you. I’d never have met you if I’d never stepped into this world. That alone has made it worthwhile. 🙂
I like the idea of leaving a legacy. And, I’m becoming familiar with that tug. This feels like the third chapter, or the third of three lives that I’m living, or will have lived. I’m like you. I want it to count.
Sandy, meeting you has been one of the best things about this blogging world. You definitely have encouraged me, and become part of my family here. Thanks for that.
I started blogging because everyone told me I had to, as a writer. It felt terribly self-indulgent, not like me at all. Along the way, I began to enjoy the outlet, getting to experiment with words in ways I can’t at the magazine. Like you’re saying, it also connected me to other people. But most of them aren’t blogging anymore. I kinda feel lost.
Just keep hanging out here with us, Megan. Apparently, there are still quite a few bloggers out there, enjoying the craft, building community, and feeling good about it. What a pleasant surprise!
Yes, yes, yes. Need this place. I want to write a post along these lines too. Ever since I heard the Naysayers give the Doomsday report on blogging and what I must do to reinvent or be relevant..I thought– that’s not even close to why I write. I want to sit at this table with folk like you where we eat, drink and discuss the life that lies beyond and long after those 144 characters and 600 words vaporize into the endless blogosphere. Give me craft and substance please. (dabs corner of her mouth with the napkin) 😉
Yes yes yes! Ha! the Doomsday report. That made me laugh out loud. It’s funny how we can let the words of a few dictate our perspective and shift our outlook. I like the way you were able to find your own truth in the midst of what the Naysaysers were reporting out to the rest of us. Glad to sit at the table with you, Lorretta!
This is beautiful, Deidra! I’m heading over to check out Christine’s sight right now.
I began blogging because I felt called by God to encourage others with His truth and because we hit on hard economic times. I learned how to get by on very little and I wanted to share what I have learned with others. I still do!
While I have a tendency to get caught up in the numbers game and the growing of my platform (I have written a book on marriage, but I’ve been told that I need to have a platform), I do try to keep the focus on sharing my words and trust that God will take my blog and my writing where He wants it to go.
I’m looking so forward to this series! Thanks!
This is a great story, Heather! Your desire to share your insight about getting by on a little is so heartfelt! Thank you for your ministry.
Thanks so much for your encouragement. Blessings.
I blog because it’s a good place to keep me writing. After 9 years in, I still have just a few readers. That’s the way it is and I’m comfortable with that. I could be provacative or manipulative, but then I sink into contemplation.
I’ve always admired your steadfast determination and your commitment to the craft, David. You’re a good writer, and we get to be the beneficiaries of your devotion to writing and blogging. Keep on keeping on, my friend!
I love this! I’m just getting back into blogging again, and am busy putting together a blog that is not “live” yet. I was blogging fairly regularly in 2011 and then “life happened” and I got away from it. I can see that the blogosphere has changed quite a bit in the few years I’ve been away. It’s a whole new world! I am so grateful for this post, though…it encourages me greatly. Looking forward to seeing where this goes and to hone the “craft” of blogging. God bless!
I’m looking forward to seeing how your new blog develops and grows!
I’m reading and nodding and feeling the sadness for what we lost. I began over 7 years ago because I just wanted to write. I gained so much through the other bloggers who became dear friends. I’m not sure when it changed – that subtle, shift to watching numbers and trying so hard to keep up. It plum wore me out, and I’ve pulled back.
I think this is a lovely idea, Deira, because I can’t quite imagine leaving blogging for good.
off to visit Christine.
Yes, Linda. I think it makes sense to take a step back and reevaluate. I don’t think blogging has to die simply because some people say it’s on its way out. From what I can tell, just in the last two weeks of reading blogs again, blogging is alive and well. It may not be resulting in book deals or TV shows or multiple shares on multiple platforms, but I think it’s still doing what it does best: provide a space to practice the craft of writing, to enjoy beauty, and to build community. You are so good at all of those things, Linda. I’m glad you’re here.
I couldn’t agree more, Deirdre ! As for your questions, I started blogging because God gave me a voice and showed me a new, creative way to share it. I’m afraid I’m not very good at chasing the conversation, but I hope I’m getting better at practicing the craft.
The changing landscape for writers is a topic I’m interested in learning more about. I’m usually a year or two behind on anything new, but that can be a good thing as it usually means I miss out on any tension. Looking forward to passing you the butter next week!
Mmmm. Butter. 🙂
There is so much to be said for practicing the craft. Whatever craft that may be. I want to keep my eyes open to make sure I’m practicing the craft that fits me the best.
Amen, to that! Eyes, ears, and hearts! I firmly believe when we’re seeking God’s will our passions will match the gifts {and blessings} He has given us!
I so love and needed to read this. It’s confirmation at it’s best, really. I want to do so much with my blog, but at my core, I want to keep the reason for starting to blog at the forefront. It’s so easy to forget why I started due to where I’m trying to go, but reminders like this are so very helpful. I love blogging just to blog, and I know that if I keep that in mind and just write, everything else will just fall into place.
I started to blog as an outlet. I went from being an engineer to a SAHM and after a while I started to feel like I needed something, just for me, to keep my mind sharp, and I needed the community, b/c being a SAHM can sometimes feel lonely. Now that I’m a working mom, I’m still very passionate about my blog but my time is limited and I tend to get caught up in not just blogging but the social media aspect of it as well. This year, I’ve been strategizing and trying to find a way to get back to the heart of why I started while still meeting the goals I have set. It has not been an easy task but I’m praying that by the end of the year I’ll find a balance and be able to remain consistent.
I’m looking forward to following along with this series and finding other blogs to fall in love with.
Nicole, thanks for following along! I’m enjoying these stories of how we all got started, and where blogging has led each of us. I imagine most of us never could have predicted what doors the blogging world would open in terms of community, friendships, and other opportunities. I like the idea of strategizing to get to the heart of why you started all this in the first place. Making it a priority will help keep the heart at the forefront. It sure will be exciting to see where you find yourself next year!
Deidra, we are the same wave length because I just posted a blog post quite similar to what you’ve expressed. I started blogging 2005 when words splashed on screen was delightful and intriguing. I found friendships easily (you being one of them) and keeping up with other bloggers was like gathering around a table together, chatting. I’m missing that now. I feel the the culture of blogging has changed in ways that’s no longer recognizeable. I fluctuate with returning to blogger and enjoying the smallness of community once again. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
You are the very first blogging friend I met in person! I think you’re right, and it has morphed into something different. I’m hoping we can still hang on to community, even as things around us change.
I loved this! I started blogging late. According to experts. But God gave me a nudge and said, “It’s time to start writing.” (no, He didn’t speak out loud. Sigh.) I’m thankful for the talented writers I come across, like you. It’s what I want in blogging. Where I land among all the other – noise. I’ll be following your series!
God’s timing is always right on, huh? Who needs experts? 🙂
Deidra,
My first post was on 12/23 or 24/2010 and I didn’t put my name or photo on my blog because it was so out of my introvert/privacy loving self….I blogged as a way to be be true to God’s tug on my heart to write and I discovered to my surprise a wonderful community and new friends….So glad we met :)…and I’m still a little blogger and I’m horrible at social media
Me too. Glad we met in real life! I often remember that blog post you wrote for me. I think about your words a lot and I use it to shape my own interactions with people as I go about my life. Thanks for your words, Dolly. I’m so glad you let us know it’s you behind the words!
I started blogging because I was publishing my novel and it was time to find an audience. In fact the novel was an excuse to find that audience, to give my writing breath instead of leaving it locked in binders.
I’m not sure what you mean by chasing the conversation. If you mean using the news as a writing prompt, then not, I’m not doing that. If you mean reading others’ blogs and commenting, yes, I do that and have enjoyed those conversations very much.
As far as the tension of the changing landscape for writers, yeah I struggle with it. I’ve done my share of whining, crying and complaining, but I’m also trying to ride it like a kayaker rides a bumpy river. Seth Godin has said finding audiences has more to do with finding your niche, your tribe than landing a big name.
To be honest, I’m not sure I’ve found my blogging community yet, so I may shake some dust, unfollow and move along. When it’s not reciprocal, when I’m reading but not being read, well, after awhile that gets old. Also when a writer aggravates me and I don’t feel free to be honest about it because I don’t want to be a troll, well, maybe it’s time to unfollow there too. There’s a big, wide world out there…And I’m learning that small is good, very, very good. Some of the friends I’ve found through blogging and Facebook, who do read me, well, I’m feeling blessed.
There’s that word again: small. Yes. I do believe it’s very, very good. And, I’m glad you didn’t keep your writing in a binders, and that you decided to share with the rest of us! I’m having so much fun getting to know you!
So, chasing the conversation. I think I went through a season where I wasn’t simply writing for the sake of writing. I was writing for big, and not so much for small.
Thank you for your reply and for listening so well. I’m enjoying getting to know you as well. Thank you for your warm hospitality and welcome. You know? If you’re writing for big, maybe that’s a good thing, especially if you’ve found a way to reach a wider audience. I would certainly like the affirmation of more readers, but right now, that’s not what is, so I try to make peace with that, and not get too discouraged.
And I’ve found satisfaction in getting the work out there, maybe because of my “gentle readers” that helps me overcome those discouraged days. At any rate, thank you.
You’re welcome. 🙂
I’m excited to follow this series – I think it is great that you are being intentional about keeping the spirit of what blogging used to be alive. I started my blog in 2011 simply because I loved writing and wanted to get serious about doing something with my writing, but lately I’ve lost my passion. This year I wrote a post on my blog about what I was not doing and decided to take a break. I have written one post since then, but I am still on break. I have no idea what this means going forward. I know I’m a writer, I know God has a plan for my writing, I just don’t know what that means or how my blog will fit into that. I have thoughts swirling around about what I should be writing, but some of it is very personal, and I’m not sure I want to share it with the world. I have discovered over the past year or so that the sense of community is more important to me than statistics. I have met some wonderful people online and through some small events I’ve attended and I want to keep in touch with those bloggers. Mostly, though, I want to find joy in my writing again with or without the blog.
Teresa, thanks for sharing your journey here. I’m reading your comment here, and all I can think is journal, journal, journal. Are you writing in a journal, even though you’re not blogging right now? I want to encourage you to do that, even if it’s just a few lines a day. Write with a pen on unlined paper, and forgive me for sounding so bossy here. I don’t usually do this, but I just have this feeling that journaling might be a gift to you in this season. Praying you find that joy again soon!
Thank you for encouraging me to journal, because I haven’t even done that lately. I’ve thought about it and for some reason I just don’t pick up the pen. So, I think I needed someone to tell me to do this. I know it will help me clear out the clutter floating around on the backside of my mind. You don’t sound bossy! I’ll keep you posted on my progress. Thanks!
I’m excited about your series, and so glad that there are others who see the value in blogging for blogging. I’m a bit old school in that I started blogging while I was in my journalism program at university. I think my first blog was on blogger in 2003 or 2004. It was a lot personal commentary on news and current affairs and a little bit personal every now and then. The blog that I have now I started in 2010 – I was a newlywed and new to the European continent. I had lost my writing voice completely but needed to head in the writing direction again, so I started writing about food, something easy and fun, and through that I started going deeper. I still am lousy at the community building aspect because I prefer connecting in real life and don’t have the time to keep up an online world, but who knows what could happen there :). I don’t know how to navigate the tension because I am a bit old school in that sense – I blog for the writing, and I read blogs for the writing..
Wow! 2003 or 2004! You were an early adopter! Yay, you! I admire you for keeping your blogging focus on the writing, and not getting distracted by the the hype. Also, your shift to food writing — was that an intentional decision to help you find your voice again, or is that just what came out when you sat down to write? I’m intrigued by your smart approach to blogging. Would love to hear more one day, in real life. 🙂
I think I started so early because a friend of mine had one, we were sophomores in university, and it was a fun, easy way to get opinions and thoughts out there. I’ve always seen blogging as a bit like having a newspaper column without the editor or publisher. Shifting to food writing wasn’t an intentional choice so much as an inner urge to start writing again, but I was so closed up and didn’t know how to find my words again. I knew two things – I wanted to write, and I had to cook every day, so I wrote about food. Two things happened in the next year-and-a-half – I had my first child and my father-in-law died very unexpectedly. Both experiences opened me again and the words started coming. My blog now isn’t really food writing, but starting there gave me a path to keep doing the basic every-day writing, and that to me is what keeps blogging interesting and also what keeps my words flowing. Yes, real life conversations are so much more fun, and it’s tough to be more isolated over here in Europe.. but maybe one day :).
a bit late to the party here on your piece on blogging. i appreciate this.
I started blogging as a place to record my journey through grief and to share how God is meeting me in the ordinary things of life. My blogging tends to break most of the seeming “rules.” My blogs are SHORT reflections. I do not process on my blog. I try to be honest and open about my struggle, but usually wait to put it on my blog till I have done some processing – and either come to a conclusion or to see there is none. I have not committed to a regular schedule of posting. I suspect i will be able to do this hopefully later this year, but for now, let’s say, it is fluid. going on vacation mid March and i’ll get started again.
Creating a blog post is just that – “creative” for me. The process helps the subject become more real. sometimes I feel like it’s another aspect of my worship. Don’t know if that makes sense or not.
already read Christine Gilberts blog.
I wonder if it’s okay to create our own blogging rules? I wonder which things are really tried and true and which things we can play around with and make our own? And, what if the rules change as we grow and learn and experience more of life? I don’t know the answers. Just more questions. 🙂
What you’ve said about blogging being a creative process that is worshipful really sticks with me, Carol. It makes a lot of sense. Running and dancing feel like worship to me. I’m trying to figure out if writing feels that way, too. Thanks for getting me thinking.
This is so great! I continually am greatly, greatly blessed by blog posts. Inspired. Impacted. I love reading blogs. I’m thankful for the people who write them!
To answer your questions: because it seemed fun, some of my friends/family were doing it, and it was a way to connect with some people who were physically far away. I like reading my own blog, to remember the me from a few years ago. I also like that it is a way to do something with my photos. As for the other questions they don’t seem to apply to me as much- right now I just like blogging for me, my dad, and whoever else may read it. It’s fun to just be small and silly and know I don’t have everything figured out yet, I’m still becoming and growing and learning. (I like reading the archives of some of my favorite brilliant, creative people with beautiful blogs- to see where they started from- their poorly lit photos and fun experiments!)
Frances
Great perspective, Frances! Over the past few months, I’ve heard (that’s the best way to describe it) God saying to me, over and over again, “Small.” Just that one word. No explanation. No sermon. Just that one word. So, I’ve been turning it over and embracing it, and do you know what? I’ve come to desire it. Small. I want more of that. More small, please.
I do love the way you approach life. You live into it and I admire that. It shows in everything you do.
Small. I like it!
Aww, thank you, Deidra. I don’t know what to say! Feel like I’m putting in time on many scattered, mostly small things.
Although I am fashionably late to this past Sunday’s invite, thanks for saving me a seat at your table. I absolutely love this discussion. I began blogging to share my what was on my heart with others. And out of that journey my ministry grew. It became a wee bit daunting writing biblical studies and teaching, while etching out time to be a part of this beautiful community filled with such amazing women as yourself around the world. I found myself falling in to the trap of paying more attention to who has thumbs up, liked it, and or commented, than the beauty of sharing our hearts in this free space. I want to get back to the nostalgia that brought me here in the first. The struggle to keep up with the fast pace of social media really isn’t my cup of tea. However, without it I may have never connected with you. So I am grateful for those I’ve met along the way. However, I am striving for balance. I am looking forward to this series.
Hi, Joan! Thanks so much for sharing these thoughts. It is a delicate balance, and a tension we may be trying to navigate for the next few years, as long as social media is what it is. It has its plusses and minuses, that’s for sure. On the plus side is definitely the community and meeting people like you, too! I’m praying this series will help me remember the rich value of this community and encourage me to nurture this space more, the way I did when I first got started.
I’m looking forward to reading this series. I feel as though I’m beginning again to blog more and finding my voice. Your words resonated with me for the reasons why you started and kept at it and how it has benefited your own growth – that is my hope.
Yay! I’m glad you’re here, Sandy. And I’m glad you’re finding your way. I think I may share later about some insights I gained from Amena Brown. She talked about the importance of showing up consistently. That’s not me. I am not disciplined. But there’s something to finding our voice by consistently showing up to write. I am slowly beginning to understand that. Thanks for reading along!
I started blogging in 2010. Some years before that, before facebook and smart phones and blogging, I sent out snail mail letters to a bunch of our friends in ministry, and called it “The Quiet Place.” I always found some kind of paper at the office supply stores that had a background printed on it, something that remotely connected to the theme of my letter. My heart was to reach out to our missionary/pastor/leader friends we had
made in many places, after we came off the mission field completely
wrung out. Most of the responses I got were encouraging and appreciative.
Later, because ministry folks tend to move around a lot, I lost track of many of them. I also almost lost track of my ability to write because of some dark years in my personal life.
And then, one day I met with a friend for coffee. We were talking about writing, and she said, “Why don’t you do a blog?” I had never heard of blogging. But it sounded exactly like what I was trying to accomplish with my little letters years before. I have gone from those little letters to a little blog, but I feel like it has been such a great outlet. I love the blogging community, even though I’m just standing at the edge and watching, listening, and growing.
Wow. It sounds as if you’re living into a calling of sorts, and God has expanded the method of delivery to reach just the right people with your words. I really appreciate the way you view your writing as a ministry, with a specific audience in mind, and message to share.
I started blogging to share my photography and life of this grandma,,,,my first grandchild was soon to be born. Along the way, I felt the urge to share Jesus.
Last year. I went to a faith and writers conference to get ideas for blogging, especially writing. Little did I know how encouraging that would be. I met you, Deidra. I read almost all your posts. I have connected with
a community of women bloggers, mostly, on the weekend. Writing about faith. It has been as stretch for me but it is good!! What I write reaches around the world. So I feel it is a good plan to share my faith to strengthen other people in their faith walk.
I am not on instagram nor do I tweet (I am not a bird!). I have limited amount of time to blog so I prefer staying where I am at. In this little blogosphere, in my corner of the world, reaching out thru photography and words.
grandmabeckyl.blogspot.com
Me too! When I started blogging, I made a decision NOT to write about faith or about Jesus. But, I guess it’s just too much a part of who I am. 🙂 I have come to deeply admire bloggers who focus on their corner of the world — the people who enjoy their writing and their images and their perspective on the world. I think you’re on to something. Keep on keeping on, Becky!
I started blogging because writing is how I process life. I wanted a way to record what God was doing in my life because I often have a very short memory. I stand in awe of His faithfulness one day, and three days later, I can find myself wringing my hands, wondering how or if things will work themselves out. My blog is like those piles of stones God told the Israelites to make every time He did something for them – so they could remember. I blog because I get ridiculously excited about what God shows me, and I can’t wait to share it with other people. I blog because, in a very tiny way, I feel I can join my voice to many others when it comes to social injustices. I want to empower people that we are NOT helpless and enough voices become a shout that has to be heard. In the end, I am a story teller, and blogging is just another way to tell a story. Sometimes, I find myself chasing the conversation, but for me, blogging is still an avenue of helping others by sharing my story and my heart. I still believe, very firmly, in the power of story to change, encourage and inspire people.
Your comment reads like your own, beautiful blogging manifesto, Rosanne. I appreciate your thoughtful approach to the art of blogging. It’s good for me to read the groundedness that comes through in your words here. Thank you for that.
OK, I’m going to jump in here – finally. I read the original post on my iPhone, which isn’t the best medium for comments. (Another reason why comments died, I think. The move to mobile made it easier to like a post on FB than to leave a real comment.)
I started blogging in 2007, The Dinosaur Age. So this whole trip down memory lane resonated with me. I feel the same nostalgia, the same tenderness when I look back at what blogging used to be. I started blogging about six months after I discovered blogs; I felt like I had found my people, and I wanted in on the conversation. I lived through the age when we all commented on every post we read, every day. And usually, if a “stranger” commented on our blog, we would pop over and say hello and possibly add a new feed to our reader.
But of course, nothing gold can stay, so I haven’t mourned it too much. Mostly, I’ve been surprised at how quickly the game changed and keeps changing. These days, I don’t worry about stats and/or comments and/or the best SEO or graphics. I started blogging because I love to write and I enjoyed interacting and forming community with other people who spoke my language. And if it’s all stripped down, that’s why I keep my blog open, while I still post there when I have something I want to share. The art of blogging – the story-telling, the potential for interaction, the chance to throw something I create out into the cosmos – those things haven’t changed.
Amen, girlfriend! I’m glad you’ve shared this perspective. There’s definitely something to be said for staying flexible as things change along the way. And, what you said about having found your people? Well, amen to that, too. I’m glad for your words on this subject!
Deidra, I very rarely comment on blogs for all the reasons you and your commenters mentioned but felt compelled to join in with your discussion! My first blog in 2007 was meant to chronicle my growing family’s life but when my husband died in an accident while I was pregnant I knew God wanted me to process my grief and eventually beauty from ashes story publicly. Then this past year I knew it was time to go in a new directuon and I began a new blog that not only tells my story of everyday living by faith, but many ladies in my community contribute and share their stories as well. It’s been such a leap of faith and yet an act of obedience, too.
I recently read a post from Michael Hyatt about why he suspended comments on his blog and wondered if we should too. We have lots of feedback on Facebook but just a couple of comments on the blog.
Your series has me rethinking pulling comments and maybe trying disqus…I always hesitate since people have to sign in with an account but ironically the reason I found this series is from disquis sending it to my inbox! Thanks for making your table discussion so welcoming for strangers : )
At my full-time job, I serve as managing editor for TheHighCalling.org, and we’ve noticed fewer comments on the site and more comments on Facebook, just as you’ve indicated here. Over there, we’ve pretty much decided to see how it plays out. We engage in both places, and we have one person responsible for responding to comments on our Facebook page.
Maybe, one thing I’m thinking (and none of the info in this comment is advice — just me, thinking out loud) is that, if I’m going to have comments open, I should engage the conversation when people take time to post a comment in response to something I’ve written. I’ll be interested to see what you decide for yourself. 🙂
I am new to the series but wanted to throw my two-cents worth in the pot! I’ve been writing since I was 8 and blogging since 2008. My words will last longer than my physical self and it is important for children and grandchildren to know their legacy. My mom would have been a blogger if times were different. She was a letter writer, every letter a blog post. Recipients of those letters still treasure them. I am not worried about or concerned of blogging’s future, I write mine because I have to…I can’t imagine not posting every week. When I stop breathing I will stop blogging! Until then, blog on…xo
So, blogging, for you it seems, is a heritage, passed on to you from your mother. And, she didn’t even realize it! It’s something for us all to remember: that even though we don’t see it now, we are leaving a legacy that may manifest in some different form down the line.
Never thought of it like that, but yes, passed on! Neat perspective – my daughter writes as well so…
Welp, I’m full-on late to this here party… but I absolutely adore the heart behind this, Deidra. Thank you. This is such a gift.
I’m glad you’re here!
Deidra, I’ll take a tardy slip for the win! Smile.
Blogging for me has become a bridge to real friendships and connections, a way to do the other thing that God has called me to do as a writer–(I hope) to be an encourager and connecter.
I started blogging in Jan. of 2012–3 years ago–and have been astonished at the friendships I’ve made (virtual and real–like yourself). I did chase a lot of conversations–‘did so and so respond? how come?’ “oh, look what so and so said.” it was exhausting. When I invest in a relationship–virtual or other wise–I want to reciprocate. So I pulled way back from linking up each week the way I did in the beginning because I couldn’t keep up with reading and commenting.
As a result, I also constantly aware of just sweeping my corner clean and sharing my story right where I am, because I want small and close, not deep and wide.
Every voice matters. Every little voice. Together we make a beautiful sound.
I want small and close, too, Jody. And, “every little voice.” I love that for so many reasons. But mostly because I need ever;y little confirmation from above that the book I wrote (Every Little Thing) is going to be okay, out there in this big ole world.
A friend sent this post to me because I have started doing the same thing. Reclaiming Sunday night for just old school, update you on life, blogging. I love it so much and it has given me a renewed spark for this space I love.
There’s something to be said for going back to your first love. I’m glad your friend sent you here. Welcome!
Hi Deidra, I enjoy writing and reading! Blogging is helping me sharpen my skills.
Good post. Cheers
I read this post when it came out and I want you to know that it was instrumental in encouraging me to take the jump into blogging. (Your entire blogging series was helpful.)
My blog has been up and running for about 7 weeks and I am loving the writing part of it! I have a lot to learn and process, the most important being to lean in close to hear Father’s heart in how, and what, I write. (I’m doing some pondering on the ways and means of promoting and connecting on FB and Pinterest. I would love to hear your take as a seasoned Christian blogger about the ways of connecting/promoting through social media.)