Being a Beginner Blogger

As you might guess by the number of posts on this blog, I am a beginner, an infant in the world of blogging. But I'm sure that I am not alone. Most of the blogs that I have read that are written by the professionals, have something to say in the way of ideas, instruction, critisism or the latest thing in the book world. I am not a veteran writer, having written and gotten published one book. But I do have things to say. My thoughts, my ideas, and hopefully, at some point, my experience.

But being a beginner blogger sure wasn't as easy as I thought it might be. At first, I was intimidated by all the blogs from experienced people. But stop and think about it...they had to start somewhere at some point in their career. So I figured, maybe I could start out by reassuring all those "new guys", like me, that it's alright to be affraid. It's alright to make mistakes. I, at the very least, could express how I felt starting out and maybe, just maybe, my inexperience will make them feel better about themselves. Nobody took me under their wings and sat down and told me, step by step, how to setup a blog. Sure, I asked a few questions from some of the people whose blogs I read, and I considered them to be knowlegdable enough to know what they were talking about. At least, from my persective, they appeared to know what they were talking about.

So here it is, newbies.

Do like I did. Just dive right in! What's the worst that can happen? Mrs.What's-Her-Face from your freshman English class is going to call you and tell you all the mistakes you made in grammer, spelling and sentence structure! I don't think so! If nothing else, someone who does write blogs everyday might leave a comment about your post and give you some constructive critisism. Or, they may tell you that you're out in left field somewhere. But who cares! It's your post, on your blog! Naturally, you don't want to say anything about something or, even worst, someone, that is a blatant lie. Then you are sure to get more than just some constructive critisism.

My belief is that people aren't born writers. It's something that has to be learned and nurtured. Writing my first book, I went through countless re-writes and edits until I found my style, my carisma, if you will. Learning to write a blog is no different. Start out small and work your way up. You might start out with some personal stuff until you get the feel of things. But don't harp on your personal life. Remember, you're writing a blog to have others come see what you have to say. Nobody will come if all you talk about is the bad hair day you had or the fight you had with your lover. There is other social media for that crap!

If you're like me, once you start writing, things will just start to flow. Once you feel comfortable, pick a subject, preferably something to do with, in my case, writing, books, literature, so on and so on. And hopefully, it won't be long before you'll be making sweet music on the keys of your keyboard and splashing words and colorful pictures all over the screen. And sooner or later, someone is going to notice. REMEMBER...




Another thing that I have learned, and now practice on a daily basis, is carry a notepad around with you. Use it to write down random thoughts and at the end of the day, collect all of these thoughts together and post to your blog. Now, by random thoughts, I means thoughts about one subject. Think about something you would like to write about and think about it all day. Write down all the ideas you may think of related to that subject. I did just that for this post. You'll find, at least I did, that it's easier to write about something if you have thought about it for a while, not just sit in front of the computer and stare at the screen trying to think of anything witty to write.

So, my dear newbies, while I am not professing to be the all and powerful Oz, (and I'm really not) I am saying that you won't know until you try. Just like I did. C'mon guys! It's America! Truth, justice and the American Way!

One last thing before I end. Visit other blogs to see how others write. Leave comments. But remember one important thing, even if you don't give a damn about anything you have just read above...say what you want to say, whether it be a comment on someone's blog or your own blog, but be nice. Judge as you would want to be judged! You won't always get compliments for the good things you say. But you can bet your sweet pituty, if you say anything wrong, YOU WILL BE NOTICED! And always look before you leap. You never know who will be watching.



AND SOMEONE IS ALWAYS WATCHING!