Wow — 10 Years of Blogging!
I am currently preparing the final post for my Year of Worldbuilding in Fantasy series over on the Supernatural Underground (SU) – and realized mid prep that I have been posting here on my own blog, and on the SU for a decade now. O-o
My first post here “…on Anything, Really” was on May 31 2010, and titled – very originally! 😉 – “And So It Begins.”
Those who are versed in such arcane matters may catch an echo of Babylon 5 in that title, which would only be fitting since I am a fan of the series — which has probably / definitely(?) acquired Cult Classic status by now.
I commenced posting with the SU a little later, on 1 July 2010 and I believe have posted on the first of every month on all but one occasion for the subsequent ten years. Which really is not nothing!
My fellow Supernatural Undergrounder, Merrie Destefano, has been part of the community since July 2010 as well, and Kim Falconer and Amanda Arista since 2011. So we know how to hang in and hang together. 🙂
As for why I enjoy blogging, I posted a few of the reasons on June 18, although one I didn’t mention is that it allows for interaction with readers and also fellow writers in a “coffee house” sense – although I believe it’s a well-known fact, if not necessarily one universally acknowledged – that the majority of blog followers “lurk”, which in interweb parlance means to visit and read, but not comment or interact.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, at all, at all: in fact, I “lurk” a fair bit myself. 🙂 I think it’s the potential for interaction that matters, which just a website doesn’t allow. Conversely, a medium like Twitter is all comment, but with so many of us commenting, observing, and opining all at once, it can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming.
That’s why I think personal blogs are like a coffee house: you (‘one’) can just sit and listen and sip your coffee, or when so inclined, join in the wider conversation, although – coffee houses being small spaces – it’s always going to be at the more personal end of the engagement scale.
The most important thing, to my mind, whether posting, or lurking (although I prefer to think of it as ‘lingering’), or commenting, is to enjoy oneself and have fun. More importantly still, or perhaps best of all, is to keep enjoying each other’s company.
On which note, I think you may enjoy the SU post tomorrow on 1 December (US EST) – so do watch the space to see what transpires… 🙂
HURRAH for 10 years!
Thanks, Paul — & thank you, too, for being part of the journey.
Congratulations, Helen. And yes, hanging in there is no small skill. I think it took a major earthquake to slow you down for a day or two…
Love your posts and insights always, and I’m looking forward to the next ten years to come.
Being part of the SU with you for the best part of the past ten years has been a privilege, Kim — and in the more immediate future I am really looking forward to publication of CROWN OF BONES. 🙂
How fantastic. So you got me to thinking about the length I have been following along. I wouldn’t say I am a lurker though, much too keen to have a wee chat. Our oldest emails are from 2012 when I had the great good fortune to win copies of your book, along with the excellent bonus of coffee with the author in an actual coffee house. Blogs are marvellous and I get great pleasure from yours so thanks.
Jacqui, I cannot *believe* that was 2012 — I would have guessed 2015 if asked! O-o