Keeping a Daily Blog
62Write About Things You Love
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Getting the Hang of Daily Blogging
Even though I've been blogging since the word was first coined, it took me a long time to get the hang of blogging daily. It's easy to get blogger's writer's block. To keep a daily blog you have to be very passionate about your topic. You need to be pursuing your passion in your daily life so you have something interesting to write about it. You also need access to a way to post it to the Internet daily. It helps to have a digital camera handy, because a blog without photos is like a day without sunshine. And if you are totally out of ideas, you can always blog about the photos.
Past Present and Future
You can always blog about what is going on right this minute. But suppose you are having one of those typical boring days. That is when you dig into your bag of memories and write about something from your past. What was high school like for you? What was the first craft you ever learned? What did you do for your summer vacation? What was the first Halloween costume you can remember wearing? Of course the older you are, the more you can pull out of your memory bag. Rememer all those journals you kept over the years? Now is the time to go back through them for writing ideas.
The future awaits you. You can alway write about where you'd like to be 5 years, 10 years or 20 years from now. Write about how you will feel after you lose 50 pounds, finish college or go to Europe for the first time. Blogs are a great place for dreaming big dreams. What would you tell the president if you met him or her? How would you create world peace? How would you save endangered species? What's your take on global warming?
I find a daily blog is easier if you blog by topic. I keep a daily craft blog because I'm always in the middle of some creation or another. It's the easiest thing for me to blog about.
But find your passion and blog about that. Do you rebuild bicycles every chance you get? Do you follow your sports team all over the country? Do you have a great garden? All of those make good topical blogs.
Don't be afraid to make a new blog if you've run out of ideas in the old one. Our lives have a way of taking entirely new directions. If you name your blog "My Single Life" and then get married, you might find it very hard to keep going on the original blog. Let your blogs grow with you. And don't delete the old blog...just leave a link to the new one. Build a web of blogs. That way you don't waste your previous work.
Make Your Blog Easy to Follow
I think http://www.blogspot.comhad the right idea when they added a great big FOLLOW button. But most blog places have a button somewhere so people can follow you. Irregular blogs are not an incentive for people to follow. That is one of the perks of the daily blogs. People tend to come back if there is always new content to read. You can also follow your followers back. When you make a new blog post, add the link to Twitter or Plurk or Stumble Upon. Keep the ball rolling. And don't forget to leave a comment on other people's blogs. That way they'll be much more likely to come back to your blog and see what you are writing about.
Blogging Tips
If you are on other forums, don't forget to link them to your blog. If you write on Hubpages.com you can put an RSS feed into your articles and add your blog feed. That way every time you update it will add on to your artcle on Hubpages. I try to keep it on topic. I put my daily craft blog only on my Hubpages about crafts. I put my writers blog on my Hubs about writing, and so on.
If you only have one general blog you can add it to all your Hubs if you feel that is appropriate.
I have gotten into the habit of adding at least 10 sentences to each blog post. I want to make it worthwhile when people come to read what I've written.
If your daily blog runs dry try to figure out why. It's better to make a post that says, "I'm not feeling well today, see you soon,' than it is to post nothing at all. People will understand that you don't live at your computer desk.
You can even put, "I'm having a wild day...no time to post...details tomorrow." Just make sure you come back tomorrow and write about it.
Daily Craft Blog
- Painting and Knitting
Today I was determined to do some art one way or the other. I wanted to start a new painting, but it took me so long to draw the underpainting, the painting itself will have to wait until another day. My Facebook pal Ren sent me a sweet metaphysical style knitting book, along with a handmade card and letter. That's so thoughtful. I wish we knew each other in real life so we could be 'crafters in crime', as she put it. But I'm happy to know her via Facebook.
- Happy Memorial Weekend
I feel mostly better today. I'm sad I missed all the big Memorial weekend events like Portrero and the Petaluma archery shoot. But I think I'm well enough to do art today. Thanks to all our vets past and present. You know who you are. Remember that peace should always be our first choice. But until everyone else makes that their choice, it's good to have a back up plan.
- A.C.E.O.'s for a Mere $1. Plus Postage
I think I just about have this cold whipped. I'm planning on making some ACEO's (Art Cards Editions and Originals). In the hopes of getting lots of my art out there and making it affordable for anyone to have original art, I'm dropping the price of each miniature art creation to $1 for the card and $1. for shipping and handling. These aren't prints. They are mini drawings, paintings, or collages. In the past I've sold these from $8 to $20 per card. But I could never find steady buyers. I'm thinking of making a million $1.00 ACEOs. Of course if you want to buy 100 of them, I'm not going to charge you $100 for shipping. LOL. I'm sure I can do combined shipping. If you do buy A.C.E.O.'s from me or anyone else, read the descriptions carefully. Make sure you know if you are getting a print or an original. And a print (as made on a copy machine or computer printer) is not considered an original piece of art, whereas a linoleum block print or a letterpress print or a Gocco print is an original work of art. If the artist is applying ink to a surface, then pulling prints one by one those are considered originals and are often numbered like 1/100 (one of one hundred). I haven't started the new ACEO's yet, but here are some I've done in the past. Remember, if it's not 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" it's not an A.C.E.O. If this is all new to you, I wrote an article on it here: Designing and Collecting Art Cards.
My Writers Blog
- Library Woes
I'm afraid I've become dependent on the library's automated e-mail system to tell me when my books are due. I'll be paying for it today. Recently I changed my phone number. It didn't occur to me to tell the library. Because I didn't tell them, evidently their whole renewal system is verified via phone number. So I didn't get the email that would have told me my 17 library books were due on Valentine's Day. Only this morning did I get an email saying their system couldn't verify my phone number. Now why they didn't just go ahead and e-mail me is beyond me. Now I have to wait until 11 AM and drag my books over there and unless I can talk them out of it, pay the fine. Sigh.
- Symbols and What They Mean To Me
I think about symbols a lot. I often wonder why am I involved with this or that symbol in my life right now. I use symbols all the time in my art. Like a kite isn't just a kite. It can be a symbol of childhood, of freedom, of clairvoyance, or wind or air, and so on. Here are some of my needle punch projects. Of course, the saguaro cactus is the symbol of the AZ desert. Dragonflies are a symbol of joy and summer. The ankh is an ancient Egyptian symbol of eternal life. Symbols can have a conventional meaning, a spiritual meaning or a cultural meaning. Dragons mean different things in Asia than they do in Europe. Snakes mean different things whether you are in India or the U.S.A. The Victorians were famous for their extensive use of symbolism. They even covered up piano legs because they symbolized a woman's legs. Each type and color of flower meant something, like a not-so-secret message. Even the movements of a fan could tell a suitor if the woman was available or married or mad at him.
- Before Your Comment, Think
Can you believe this comment that was on one of my hubpages articles? this is NOT HELP GUL AT ALL K IT IS NOT HIPPISH AT ALL SO U UNDERSTAND ME!NEXT TIME BEFOR U GO AND PUT SOMETHIND STUPID LIKE THT ON THE INTERNET LIKE THT USE A DICTIONARY TO SEE WHAT THE WORD MEANS OKAY! LOVE ALWAYS HEYWOOD
