Writing For The Love Of It

I had a friend reach out to me last week, telling me they wanted to start a blog and they wanted to know how to make it successful... isn't that what many blog writers would like to know?  For me when I started writing my blog nearly 7 years ago, I never did it to be successful... I did it to give myself a voice and because I have always wanted to write. It gave me a platform to write my feelings, at first very few people read my blog and I rarely read other blogs myself.  

I was quite sporadic when I first started, sometimes I would write once or twice a week and then sometimes not for a month or more. Then when things didn't work out with 'him' and I in early 2012, I started pouring my heart out daily... It was about this time that I started following other bloggers ... I found many and I also found people who were writing only to become successful and make money off their blog. Many of those people no longer write as blogging isn't a simple way to make money by any means. 

So, I told my friend that I think being successful with blogging means writing about what you love and what you know... also it is very important that you support other people. It takes a long time to build up readers, it comes from supporting each other and doing this with genuine comments. Believe me as time has gone on, I started moderating my comments so that I can stop the ones that aren't meaningful and that are only looking for you to visit them. 

I personally don't think this is a way to be successful as I have seen many of those bloggers stop writing... For myself I know I have read a blog where someone poured their hearts out and when I went to respond I was shocked with some of the generic comments that showed they never even bothered to read the content.  My question then is why blog?

So, I told my friend that if they really wanted to write, by all means write... I know it has helped me grow in many ways... I often cringe at some of the early entries I wrote but I don't delete them as it is where I was and I learned each step of the way... I also told them not to expect instant success as it would be a great deal of work and interaction. I feel like I have made friends by really interacting with other writers, often through other social media. I enjoy that aspect of blogging, as I get to know people better. 

 

The main point I tried to get across to my friend was that they should write about what they love... it will resonate with their readers. Otherwise they won't enjoy the process and it will just become a duty and not a love...  I know that one way to be successful is to write a certain amount of times per week, I think it is great when people can be so disciplined... I write when the mood strikes me, it is usually once a week or less.  I don't want to write, just to say that I did... I love writing and I want to keep it that way.

Follow along!
Facebook //  Twitter //  Google Plus //  Bloglovin //  Instagram //  Pinterest //