from me, to you
There's an overwhelming amount of information when it comes to blogging. Whether it's the initial set-up all the way through to the marketing.
I have partaken in the reading of these posts, watched the videos and listened to the interviews. I've found that the majority of 'content' around blogging is from people making money by making content around blogging, it's a vicious circle of meta games that indoctrinate us all into creating the same thing.
At the opposite end of the scale, we have those who want to go back to the grassroots of blogging, who want more personal blogs, who claim that we should be blogging for ourselves. I don't know if they'd go so far as to say it should be a sort of 'dear diary' thing (although, if that's what you want to do, you absolutely should), the thought seems to be more that we should build it and they will come.
I confess that I am torn when it comes to my own thoughts and feelings on blogging, on one hand, I would like to earn money from my writing but on the other, the thought of trying to pick a 'niche' and aim for a certain audience makes me sick.
If I think about it as a reader, I want to read the people I feel a connection to, not because they've aimed their post directly at me, but because they've got a genuine interest, curiosity or secret sauce that makes me care about them as well as the topic.
I don't want to only care about the writing, I want to care about the writer too.
I'd be lying if I said there aren't some writers out there who I'll never read simply because I don't connect with them as individuals, not because of the quality of their writing.
I like to think I write as though I'm having a catch up with a friend, sharing bits of information I think they'd find useful, talking about my interests, my thoughts or feelings about any given subject or day, that sort of thing.
Essentially, it's from me, to you.
Some people will resonate with me and the writing, others won't and I'm okay with that, whether it ever allows me to make money is another matter entirely and something that I'm sure my thoughts will change on as time goes on.
But for now, I'll continue writing the way I want to and I hope that if you're reading this and you write, or want to write, that it gives you a reason to start writing in your own way, without the pressure of other's expectations.