blog – Put it in Writing

The blog and I have been on a four month sabbatical but we’ll be back very soon.

The break has given me pause for thought about how I want to proceed. My reasons for blogging have changed since I began almost four years ago.

At the beginning of 2010 I had just published my first novel. The word on Author Street was that a blog was essential for publicising myself and my writing. So I followed a self-compiled ‘Blogging for Dummies’ course, took a look at how some other folks did it, researched various blog hosting sites and plumped for WordPress – it’s simply the best.

It’s been not so much a steep learning curve as a vertical learning cliff.

I’ve posted almost every week until this break. I’ve blogged not just about writing but on lots of topics. I’ve done book reviews, interviews and had several guest bloggers. I’ve gathered followers and some have been kind enough to leave comments.

Recently I’ve been reading WordPress’s excellent tutorial posts on everything from how to attract readers to your blog, how to optimise your profile on search engines and how to customise your site – to name but a few.

And now I’m ready for a fresh approach. Out with the old…

So there’s a new look, a new name and a different format for the blog.

I’m going over to a magazine look and feel. I intend to publish monthly on the first Sunday of each month. Each ‘issue’ will contain posts on different topics. There will be both short and essay length items. Subjects will range through the personal, the political, the natural world, reviews, writing tips, and updates on my own writing projects. And I still plan to have guest items and interviews.

All my previous posts will still be there and I’ll probably reblog some of the most popular ones from time to time.

I hope all my loyal readers will approve and will continue to visit and I look forward to welcoming some new visitors. Thanks to everyone who has ever dropped in and I hope you like what I’ve done with the place…

Inaugural post will be Sunday 3rd November.

Come along, dress informal and BYOB.

WordPress Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today I want to say many,many thanks to WordPress – the hosting platform for this blog. It’s high time I did.

I’ve been blogging for three years now and have put up 180 posts. I started blogging as a way of publicising my book but it rapidly became more than that. It has now become a sort of journal with posts about my writing life and real life, about art, nature, and any other stuff that interests me, winds me up, amazes me or just makes me stop and think.

'Write Enough' production centre — ‘Write Enough’ production centre

I really enjoy writing for the blog and WordPress certainly make it a painless process. It doesn’t cost anything and it’s well supported. The Help Forums are tremendous if you do get stuck and are staffed by both WordPress techies and volunteer bloggers with expertise – something for which, as a bit of a technical numpty, I’m mightily grateful. There are loads of ‘looks’ to choose from for one’s blog and it’s very straightforward to get one set up. And the bods at WordPress are forever improving the tools and applications that are available.

WordPress recently sent me my 2012 report. This was so useful – letting me see such things as – which posts were the most popular – ‘Language as a Barrier to Communication’ was in the number 1 spot; which posts got most comments and who commented the most. Thanks to Anne Mackle – a twitter friend of mine – for the highest number of comments. You can visit Anne’s own very entertaining blog on (whisper it) Blogspot at http://cassam-isanyonethere.blogspot.co.uk

I follow several other WordPress blogs. One that I’m really taken with is written by another twitter friend and writer, Alison Wells. Alison’s blog is always interesting but is even more so just now. She is doing a series of posts on mental health with particular reference to writers. I can highly recommend it. See it at http://alisonwells.wordpress.com

Another blog I’ve just started to follow was flagged up by the folks at WordPress in their look back at 2012’s successful blogs. I was taken by one called ‘Dar’s 52 Mondays project’ – where Dar aimed to brighten up Mondays with a weekly post. She has a lovely, bright, fascinating blog about ‘nature, creativity, art and more – hmm, sounds familiar 🙂 – and it can be found at http://darhosta.wordpress.com

So THANKS WordPress and here’s to another year of enjoyable, informative and well supported blogging.

AND THANKS to everyone who bothers to read ‘Write Enough’

P.S. a wee trailer for the 2013’s posts – there will be book, TV, cinema and art reviews, guest posts, posts about writing, about island life, social networking and other preoccupations of this subversive old bat.

Slainte Mhath/Cheers – to all who facilitate and who read this blog. I appreciate you.