I came home from work one Friday evening to find that Riya Gupta, the creator of WORLD OF MY THOUGHTS, had nominated me for THE BLOGGER RECOGNITION AWARD, as you can see from her great post below:
https://worldofmythoughts2017.wordpress.com/2019/08/16/blogger-recognition-award/
Rules
- Thank the blogger(s) for nominating you and give the link to their blog – THANK YOU RIYA!
- Write a post on your site, displaying the award, and that describes why you started your blog
- Write 2 pieces of advice you have for new bloggers
- Nominate 15 more bloggers that are awesome
How my Blog Started:
From Small Beginnings Come Great Things
The idea was put into my head by Stuart from Croydon. He loved my letters. I have been writing very long letters and e-mails to friends for many years. So I am well into the habit of writing long waffling accounts of my gallivanting up and down the country on various projects, and including all the lurid details of what I ate for lunch and relating an array of emotions I had along the journey.
Stuart said: “YOU SHOULD START A BLOG”. I thought that was like mum telling me to go and try out for some television singing competition and stand in front of Simon Cowell. In addition, I did not really know what a blog was. I had not seen them for myself. I thought it was a glorified version of Instagram. I had never used Facebook or Twitter or all the social media networks.
I also thought it a bit odd to write something strangers would read. All my letters and e-mails have been to friends and family I know and love. So it was easy to know what to talk about, what they will be interested in, what they will find amusing or meaningful. How on earth do you know what to write to complete strangers?
I was afraid that anything I wrote and published would be ignored or criticised. I enjoyed writing, I didn’t particularly want to invite a dish load of negative feedback. So…to say the least I did not have very high expectations of blogging!
Another friend with whom I had shared a selection of short stories and my one poem encouraged me to publish these. My friend was already publishing their work online and helped me to set up a WordPress site. According to WordPress we published my first post River on the 19th April 2018. If you have not had chance to glance at River yet, please have an ickle look – it is a poem I wrote as a teenager and I am very fond of it. It is without doubt my favourite post.
I remember that when I first published a few posts, there were virtually no views or likes or comments. I remember how discouraging it can be when you begin. But gradually I came into contact with more and more bloggers who were very lovely and very encouraging. I think it is because of the wonderful support from other bloggers that I am still enjoying blogging sixteen months after I began.
They have encouraged me to experiment with my writing. I am genuinely enjoying it! My blog is mainly personal, and I have to admit it has been extremely helpful to me. I have had a few challenges in recent years. I have done really well at getting back into a normal life, but it is very helpful to have had this outlet just to express some of what I have kept locked within into words. It helps to put things into perspective and brings a huge amount of relief. I am very grateful to the bloggers who have been so supportive of those personal posts.
Free Advice – Which You Are Free To Heed Or Ignore At Your Peril
Expect nothing…appreciate everything
When you are a new blogger, you need to be patient. Do not expect thousands of strangers to find you and decide you are the best thing since sliced bread! Enjoy creating posts. Make sure you read posts published by other bloggers. You can learn a lot from them. In addition you will find that blogging is best when you interact with other bloggers. Always show appreciation for the support you are receiving.
- Be patient.
- Enjoy writing and creating posts.
- Read the posts from other successful bloggers and think about what makes their posts appealing and attractive. Learn from them.
- Be a positive, encouraging, breath of fresh air.
- Be persistent. Try to publish a little something on a regular basis.
- Get involved with commenting on other bloggers sites, and participating in blog-parties, challenges, memes and prompts. We all like to know there is friendly human being behind the blog-site. Be safe and security conscious, but do share a bit of your personality.
- Be patient – your statistics might be rather discouraging for a long time. So enjoy your writing and the interaction with other bloggers while you wait for more readers.
When you are new to blogging, the blogging world can be a bit like turning up at a party where everyone else seems to know each other and you don’t know them. So be polite, be personable, be appealing. There are bound to be other bloggers who will warm to you when you make an effort to interact. Back that up with creating your own great posts, so that when they check out your posts they want to keep coming back.
Enjoy the party!
If you are ever struggling – it’s ok to ask a blogger for help and advice. Other bloggers are human (well, except for the robots, but they are for another post). It’s endearing when a new blogger is a little lost and asks for advice.
Sometimes when you see that other bloggers have big numbers and are prolific in their publishing it can all seem a bit intimidating, and you may feel your blog is a bit inadequate. Do not compare. Never be shy of reaching out to other bloggers who seem like friendly types and asking for tips and support.
And hey…relax. If you are going to a party where there is a venue full of strangers…do you rush around shaking everyone’s hand, introducing yourself, trying to hold everyone’s attention, demanding they start a friendship with you, and generally leaving everyone bewildered? Just chillax…you will find that by being yourself, being natural, leaving balanced appreciative comments (not scary stalker type comments) on posts you genuinely enjoyed, you will build contacts. You will soon find yourself part of a very friendly supportive blogging community.
I don’t want to be sounding pessimistic here, but I have been contemplating folding up all my shorts, cropped trousers, floaty blouses and summery dresses and putting them into storage and pulling out all of my winter woolies. The weather is turning here in England.
I surprised myself by listing a great long list of songs for today’s SONG-LYRIC-SUNDAY. Great theme Jim. We are again spoilt for choice.
One particular national radio DJ and I, found ourselves sparring with each other, after the bombastic way he rolled into working with other volunteers. The numpty did something highly inappropriate and reprehensible on one of our projects. I had the privilege of sitting him down for the “who on earth do you think you are?” chat. Working with him left a bitter taste in my mouth. I felt as if he was only working with that particular charity to improve his own image in the media. A form of glory-hunting. If you want to be a volunteer, you ought to be selfless. Not having an ulterior motive of boosting your own popularity.
Anyway…I digress. There is one particular celebrity who has had a massive impact on my life. That is the man I used to live with. Right I will avoid any further mention of Jack in this post. But let’s just say this, a couple of nights ago, we had a pivotal conversation during which I explained that I am not willing to live my life with the threat of celebrity culture and all of the viciousness that tags along with it, breathing down my neck. I want a normal life. One that ignores the existence of people with whom I am wholly unconnected taking photos of me, making comments about me and spreading outright lies about me. I did not mince my words. I hope very much I was understood.
I finished my little rant with the words “if I think I am going to be dragged through the hedge again or thrown in front of the bus – then it’s NO CANNOLI”. The person I was talking to started laughing at me using the expression “no cannoli”. So I made it personal and said that I was not impressed by what he might think he is because of the celebrity hype. I indicated that I am only interested in the real him. It was a very impassioned speech on my part. What I wasn’t expecting was the response that it provoked.
Caramel 