The Book Tower

I realised the other day, that although I feel like I’ve been updating this website for years, it’s only been here in its present form since June. I’m still very new to blogging. Out of the Nursery maybe, but still in Reception.

But I’ve learnt an awful lot about blogging in that time:

That you can write any old rubbish and get away with it. You won’t get done for it. There are no blog exams and blog licences. But people won’t read any old rubbish. So watch it. That’s lesson one. But strangely, the following I also find true. There are a lot of blogs out there. An understatement I know. And even though I have seen a lot of blogs, I can honestly say I’ve never found one that was really bad. There’s the overrated, the tired, the misguided and the odd. But nothing bad, where I mean ignorant or offensive. At least not where I’ve been looking.

That your own judgement doesn’t stand for much. What you think are your best posts might not generate any interest. They might not even get seen. Don’t get bitter if your masterpiece is missed. Just be humbled. Ever so.

That search engines are a blessing and a curse. That if people find you by mistake they’ll probably move on. Very swiftly.

That I quite like memes.

That you should never really comment on another blog if, deep down, all you really really really want is for a link to your website to be available so that people might be curious and click on it. Especially if you leave a message on a popular website. Some people are curious (I am) but don’t pin all your hopes on this. You’ll end up doing it all day long.

That some people I know (who will remain nameless) think that blogging is slightly strange and obsessive. Even more than wanting to read other blogs, and nearly as much as enjoying puzzles. Because there are more important things to do, like changing light bulbs.

That if you give up watching just one soap, you can spend two hours a week blogging. And it’s more rewarding. And you can add another two hours to that if you don’t watch silly dancing programmes.

That you shouldn’t blog when you’ve just got back from the pub, when you’ve just had a boozy dinner party or if you’ve friends to stay and everyone’s just turned in except you. Blogging when drunk is a bad idea, especially when you wake up in the morning and have to check your own website or feed to see the latest post. And then, through bleary eyes, realise that the incoherent drivel is your own. Drunk talk is fine, because nobody will remember it, but a drunk post is available to every browser in the cold light of morning.

That eclectic is good. All sorts is good. Different things are good. If you do a meme one day and Futoshiki the next, you won’t get done for it.

That it’s dangerous to blog at work, although it’s okay to read blogs at work because you can argue that they’re work-related. So I only read my favourite web accessibility blogs at work and nobody minds. They can’t do me for it.

So let me know what you’ve learnt about blogging so far…