My Blogging Story

Yesterday I wrote about my desire to put this blog into some sort of physical form, not just the virtual one that we all love so much. Some of you commented that this was a great idea, and that I shouldn’t let it be an idea that disappears into the void of good ideas that surrounds us.

I am very grateful for those comments because it helped me really commit to this new project. Thank you, kind readers!

So, I dove in! I began by writing an introduction, which I will share with you here.

(On an academic side note, how “meta” is this? I am blogging, turning the blog into a book, and then posting about writing about the blog. Makes my head spin)

On March 5, 2010 I started a WordPress blog. In this world of technology (of blogging and Tweeter, of Facebook and texting) that may not seem like a momentous event; but for me it would become an event that has truly changed my life in numerous ways.

I started the blog at the encouragement of my friend Sue, who was in a writing group with me and helping me through a really difficult period of my life. I started the blog with the help of my husband Nathan, who researched the various options and said, “I think this is the one for you and I think you should do it.”

I started the blog because I needed a way to write beyond the privacy of my own journals. That, in itself, was terrifying. Putting words out there for the world to see and judge still scares me; but it was something I needed to do. Why? Because . . . I am a writer.

My very first post was pretty lame. I am taking a screen shot of that first post, so you can see the design I chose, as well as my introduction to this adventure:

[Inserted screen shot of my very first post.]

Actually, my first month of posts seem really weak. This blogging journey has had its ups and downs; the moments of eloquence and avid writing where I could not get the words down quickly enough; and the dry spells where ideas and words came out painfully and hesitantly. It wasn’t until January, 2011 when I accepted the challenge of writing a Daily Post that I found my voice and my stride.

241 posts later, on February 19, 2011, I discovered my purpose for writing and my answer the question, “What’s next?” On that fateful day I wrote:

[Inserted a copy of yesterday's post]

And so it begins. I will not put every post in here. Some of them are not really that important. I will not put posts in chronological order. Rather, I will try to group these together to create a stronger picture and tell the story I wish to tell. I will create a tapestry of words to share with any who care to read it. This is my gift to myself, but also to my daughter and anyone else who comes along and wonders who I was and who I became.

Welcome to my blogging journey. Welcome to my life.

Now, as you can see, I don’t plan on putting every post I’ve ever written into this hard copy journey. Some of them are simply not good enough. But, as I start this project, I’ve already learned a few interesting things that might be helpful to anyone who might consider doing something similar:

• 241 posts may not be a huge number, but it is huge when you decide to begin sorting through it to find the gems.
• My tags and categories on the actual blog need to be revised. As I try to create a meaningful form for this “book” I am discovering a story that I didn’t even know I was telling.
• Blog posts are a lot longer than you think when you print them out or try to reformat them.
• It will be challenging to write about my blog in one form, and then try to write new posts as well. My first post today was from my writing files because I had no ideas, until I thought about writing this post
• This project is going to take a lot of time, but in the end it will be worthwhile I think.
• I keep finding minor errors in older posts, as well as places where I feel like I want to replace images with more appropriate things. So that means I continually bounce back and forth between fixing the actual blog, and formatting and writing the book. Whew!

I do have some questions for you, my readers and blogging friends, that may help me make this project a success. I’d really appreciate some insight.

1. Where do I start and where do I end? Obviously, if I keep posting as I work on this, then the posts I have available to use will grow as well. What parameters should I use? Should I max at a certain number of posts? Should I stop on the day this project began? Should I make this into numerous books instead of just one?
2. How would you break down the categories of your blog? How should I break down mine? Right now, my working categories are: Stories of Past Experiences (which has sub-sections), A Woman Grows, In Search of Meaning, and Poetry Speaks. But there are so many more possibilities, I’m not sure. How would you tell your story?

Maybe this project is too big, but I’m going to keep trying. Any thoughts?

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