The Born Again Blogger
Posted on 04 August 2008 by Sharon
The false start to my blogging career is lost in the mists of time. Really. As a confirmed technophile, I started using Blogger when it first came out, didn’t like it and cancelled my account with a week or two, wondering what all the hoopla was about blogging. Just goes to show that I have no future as a fortune teller (where is a crystal ball when you need one?)
Starting My Blogging Career
The real start to my blogging career came in 2005. When I went freelance, I read a lot about setting up sites and raising your profile, and I was advised to set up a blog. So I bought a domain and set up Sharon’s Writing Lab, which has now moved to Wordpress.com.
Even then, I didn’t quite get it, though it was nice to have somewhere to put my creative writing. However, a month later, I joined a now defunct site which had an active blogging community, many of whom were writers. We spoofed famous novelists and poets, had writing competitions and generally had a good time. I discovered that blogging could be fun and I made friends and connections whom I’m still in touch with today.
The Addiction Begins
When I joined that site, I blogged daily and soon became addicted to it. Plus, people were enjoying the stuff I wrote, which gave me an incentive to continue. I was distraught when the site disappeared, but was able to move my content to an interim home on Blogger before giving it a permanent home on this blog. You’ll find much of that content in the archives. (Go on, have a peek at my early posts - you know you want to.)
Spreading My Wings
That was the start of something big and I now describe myself as a born-again blogger. Although I no longer blog daily on my own sites, you will see me popping up all over the web. I blog regularly for three or four sites (more to come soon), and guest post on many more. My blogging career had a humble beginning, but turned out to be very worthwhile.
This is my entry for the Blogging Start Group Writing Project.
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August 5th, 2008 at 5:21 am
A lovely potted posting-history, Sharon, and it doesn’t surprise me in the least to hear that you were right there at the beginning of Blogger. You early adopter, you.
David Bridger’s last blog post..An anthropological introduction to YouTube
August 5th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I know, David, I know - I just love trying new things
August 18th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Hi Sharon,
Thank you for this article! I have been tying to figure out the whole blog craze as well. I am still trying to figure out how do you start a blog, just pick a randodm subject and flow?
Eventually I will join the rest of the writing world in 2008 and create a blog!
August 18th, 2008 at 10:20 am
If there’s something you’re really interested in, that’s a good topic for a blog, Trudy
Let me know when you start yours.
September 1st, 2008 at 6:12 pm
I also started out on blogger and still have my original blog in operation. We met on that now-defunct site and it’s too bad it faded away. Why knew then that blogging was worth a lot more respect than we gave it then when it was just plain fun.
Malcolm
September 4th, 2008 at 6:23 am
The fun is the best part, Malcolm. Good to hear you’ve got your original blog in operation. I plan to get rid of my original domain, but I’m glad I was able to save my Writing Lab posts.