Blog Planning - Ideas Now Decorate the Wall
Blogging – it’s a weird concept isn’t it? Carving out a space for yourself where you can vent, share, amuse, entertain, inform. Giving yourself a power you have never had before. Welcoming strangers into your life to comment on the thoughts that tumble from your mind.
The habit of blogging is slowly beginning to ingrain itself into my daily life. Capturing moments and displaying them for the world to see is becoming slightly less alien an activity.
Like most before me I grapple with the public/private conundrum. Paparazzi have never camped at my doorstep – I know that will come as a shock to you. My thoughts and opinions have only ever been shared with friends, family and colleagues. The nuances of a joke could be understood in a lift of the eyebrow, a tinge of tone in a remark. Now I have put myself in a place where strangers read my ramblings with no background knowledge to who I am. Alternatively, people I KNOW, read my blog. It checks my wording, makes me double think how I portray myself because my virtual world must not harm my real world. It also makes conversation difficult – I meet up with friends and go to tell them something and get “we know, we read it on the blog”.
As my personality seeps to the screen and out into the world I enjoy the comments, likes and page views. As the words and numbers flicker up on my stats it seems a little less like talking to myself and a little more like engaging with an interesting group of individuals.
The family is along for the ride. The children, being a little older than the offspring of most mummy bloggers, are able to voice their opinion on what we share and what we don’t. They get veto rights on some pieces. Although I’m lucky they have a pretty decent sense of humour themselves so they do allow unflattering stories to filter in occasionally. Hippie Child thinks there should be a support group for the children of bloggers.
Decisions had to be made early in the piece on whether I would use the children’s photographs, their names. At present I’m happy with using their photos but diluting their identity with pseudonyms most of the time. After all when you go for a job interview and the boss-to-be does a Google search you probably don’t want him to read your mum’s ranting on how she couldn’t get you out of bed of a morning and a list of your infuriating habits. Although, despite my attempts at concealment a friend of Hippie Child greeted her yesterday with “you are on the internet”. Apparently she was doing a project on hippies – googled the term and came up with a picture of our hippie child – the one of her eating cheesecake off the floor – seriously what were the chances???
They make suggestions and the latest disaster is often greeted with “let’s get a photo, this will make the blog”. However, they are quick to advise when restraint is called for as well. During a week when my husband was retrenched, our only working vehicle run out of petrol and then broke down Hippie Child took me aside to suggest “better leave this one for a while Mum, before you blog about it.”
The theme and tone of the blog are still evolving. I don’t fit neatly into any given category, a little too old to be a true “mummy blogger”, not literary enough to be a “writing” blog, my brother tries to steer us into “photography” blog world with his stunning shots but then I go putting in my “snap-happy” pics to bring us down. I seem to be embracing more a “personal” type blog which allows me the leeway to explore a variety of topics and suits my lack-of-commitment personality. I’m constantly surprised by how you often enjoy the “self-indulgent” posts dedicated to the chaos of our life. I continue to experiment with a variety of approaches and hope by the time I get to the 12 month mark I will have sorted myself out with a particular style.
The challenge of finding the time for the blog is ongoing. I’m trying to plan a little more, even get some posts scheduled ahead of time, as opposed to the panic-stricken flailing about at 10.30pm when inspiration deserts me.
All in all, I’m enjoying blogging my world and I’m thrilled that so many of you are repeat visitors accompanying me on this wild ride!
Blogging is weird, isn’t it? I don’t think it matters if you don’t fit into a neat category. Create your own niche. Follow your gut. People will be drawn your words if they come from your heart.
I admire your planning wall, by the way!
Blogging is a most bizarre concept – to think it didn’t even exist not that long ago – and now here we all are pouring our hearts and souls out into the ether!!
Loved this post….Truly enjoy and look forward to your blog every day! Since I’ve had the pleasure of knowing your family I really like the little bits and pieces you share about your chaotic lives! Tell the girls hello ;’)
Will do – thanks for your support of my little blogging endeavour.
My wife and I both have careers where discretion is important, especially in my blog. Lots of vetoes go on and I know exactly what you mean. I mine every interaction with the kids for gems to blog about. I had the odd experience today when chatting with my dad, in person for a change. He’d just come back from a month in Texas and I was telling him about something and he replied, “yeah, I remember from your blog.” It is pretty cool that my parents hand out my blog address to their friends.
It is really lovely that our family and friends are so supportive our blogs – and it is a fine balancing act we do between getting a laugh/making a point and dealing with the real-life fault out if we get it wrong. So far, fingers crossed I’ve done OK.
Blogging is a great way to bring people together and to share thoughts, ideas, recipes, … the world. I wish my mother would have lived to see the changes in our world with today’s technology. She’d have loved the internet, and probably blogging too! 🙂 I sure am learning a lot, and meeting terrific people along the way. Nice post, Janine. 🙂
It does make you realise how small the world really is – we all seem to battling similar challenges and frustrations – and humour seems to be appreciated no matter where in the world you are.
Think how amazing it would have been to talk to each other in real time across the ocean (any ocean) just 20 years ago on our PCs? Most of us didn’t even have PC’s then. Now of course, we have to worry about being tracked on them… that is a little scary, even if you have nothing to hide. I worry about hackers and identity theft sometimes, but other than that. I’ve been to France, Germany, Russia, and Australia (plus some) this week alone. How cool is that?
Very cool.
happy to know you, janine! when i come to australia some day we’ll get together and reminisce about hippie child when she was younger, etc. etc. joy and happy friday!
I would so love that Noreen.
I know what you mean about categories. I’ve only just begun blogging and feel like I need to separate things. Rantings from picture, funny from serious. I have ideas but think well maybe they don’t fit. So I’ve held back, waiting. Trying to figure it out. Do I start another blog and link one to another? Heck, who cares! It’s all out there and it’s all fun. Name of the game 🙂 I enjoy visiting your ‘stuff’. I look forward to it, regardless of the topic. Thanks for sharing.
From a much older ‘hippie’. . . 😉
Gemma I don’t think you’ve linked your blog to your gravatar – is your blog open to the public? Let me know the name of it so I can come visit. Yes trying to fit into a category is difficult – but I am just going for it and at the 12 month mark will assess if I need to define it a bit more.
This is how new I am 🙂 I will need to figure that out. I’d like for you to stop by. In the meantime…
http://firstandfabulous.wordpress.com/
Be seeing you…
Blogging about blogging always catch my attention. I also concealing my blog from people I know. I only spread it to chosen few and would always tell them not to share to others. Not that I’m dreading it, per se. I just don’t know what to say the time it comes that someone comes up to me saying he/she had seen my blog. It’s not like we have something to hide, right? 😉
I’m actually planning on telling my girl soon about my blog. She’s gonna freak on how much time I spent reading and posting!!! She probably would think I have more time on blogging than her. In many cases, it is true. Yikes!!! She do know I write and blog frmo my old blog in Multiply account. The real problem is if I tell her, then she’d always check my blog and see whenever I’m online or not.
Enough about me, Hey! what about making a blog featuring pictures taken by your kids?
Anywho, I’m the type of a blogger who spread my frequency of posting. Hihi. I might have to do that schedule you did just like in the picture. 😀
I’ve got too big a mouth I shared that I was blogging with family and friends from day one. Although it was very lovely of them to sign up and follow the blog and made me feel like I wasn’t just a crazy person talking to myself. Blogging does become addictive and dominates your time! Good idea about doing a post of the kids photos – some of the pictures I have featured were actually taken by the kids but I didn’t credit them – I asked them if they wanted their names on them (we would have probably put their real names up I guess) and they said no – Hippie child actually took the photo of our dog Chandler in the post Waiting – and when it was getting so many page views I asked if she wanted me to say she had taken it – she said “no, I know I took it that’s all that matters”.
Ow, you are nurturing future great bloggers!!! Hehehe
Have you seen the movie Julie and Julia. I like how her friends and husband are so supportive of her blogging. It’s one great blogging-related movie.
I’ve been meaning to rent it on dvd – I’ll do it this weekend.
Go!
You and I both. I really have to make that blog schedule. I have a ton of overdue blog post ideas.
I don’t know that it matters what kind of blogger you are – mummies of teenagers could still be called mummy bloggers, if that’s what you want 🙂 But as a term it can be rather limiting. So forget about it I say, and keep doing what you’re doing. You’re doing something right!
Thanks Rachel. I have days when I’m really happy with the “niche” I’ve created for myself – other days when I read all that successful blogging stuff and worry that I’m not committed enough to one particular area – I can see how having one area of expertise drives more traffic etc. Although I think I’m creating a nice little community here – and people do come back which I’m very grateful for.
Who says you have to keep to a style, I enjoy everything you have to share, it is my time away from the family and always improves my mood, it is an alternative to catching up for that coffee we never get time to have.
Thank you. We’re having virtual coffee.
Hi. really enjoyed your post. I so feel the same way. Blogging has infiltrated my life and I am powerless and have no control over where it’s taking me:) ouch!! I am having late nights and constantly thinking about light opportunities for photography.
My work is suffering a little as this adventure seems to take on a bigger share each week. The idea of being public out there first used to bother me greatly, but now I’ve resigned to the fact that the world can log on and take a peak into my little existence. Hey ho!!
My blog is attached to my business so although personable it isn’t completely inappropriate with personal stories:)
I’m also slowly starting to plan ahead but it still completely overwhelmes me.
Have a good weekend.
It’s a juggling act that’s for sure. Hope you had a good weekend too.
Neat post! My blog is about travel but I struggled with the public/private conundrum as well! My paranoia is receding somewhat……My Gravatar shows my name instead of my blog title that it was linked to earlier, and a few family pics have started creeping into my posts! Not sure where this is taking me but as of now I am having a blast! Look forward to accompanying you 🙂
And congratulations on the Liebster!
It’s been so long since I’ve read – – I’ve got so much to catch up on!!
By far my favorite line of this one is “Hippie Child thinks there should be a support group for the children of bloggers.”
I know what you mean about the “I can blog about this!” comment now. I spend all day… and usually all night with the people I work with, so they are very accustomed to my enthusiastic “I could totally blog about this!” I’m glad they have a good sense of humor about it. Although my boss keeps threatening (three-quarters jokingly) to take my phone away so I can get off of social media sites after work hours. I still don’t think he understands…