I wish more of my friends blogged. Or maybe you do and I just have no idea how to find your blogs. So tell me about them, and we can be friends! Email me a link. Or make one right now! It's fun, I promise.
I really really like blogging...now that I've had mine for 2.5 years, I've figured that out. Well ok, I already knew it. But the point is, I'm terrible at it. Not so much at the writing. I don't care if I'm terrible or not at that, I like to do it. I love reading about people and getting to know them and taking a dive into their lives. But only a select few of my friends blog. The part of blogging that I'm truly dissatisfied with is connecting, friendship, empathy. It's not there.
And when I try to find new blogworld friends, it's just a plethora of "look at me in my pretty clothes" blogs, or "look at all the delicious things I cook" blogs (now those I am ok with...many a good recipe I've gotten from them), or "look at how crafty I am and all the things I've made" blogs or "this is my sunshiney life where nothing ever goes wrong and I'm always pretty and happy and my bubble never bursts" blogs or some combination of every one of those blogs plus 10,000 followers and sponsors and money and here let me give away the things I've made or the clothes I'm wearing in this picture and force people to write completely insincere sickly-sweet comments on my page for publicity and follow me on facebook and twitter and pinterest and tumblr and every social networking website known to man and holy crap you have too much time on your hands *Sheridan takes a ginormous breath* and for the life of me I can't find any good, healthy, meat and potatoes, THIS IS MY LIFE blogs.
Where are you? Good bloggers of the world who admit to having normal lives where you're not always pretty and things go wrong and who appreciate and write about all of it, good, bad, beautiful, ugly, hilarious, simple, heartwrenching, giddy....WHERE ARE YOU?
I wish I could find you. =(
2.5 years and I still have no idea what I'm doing on this thing. Anyone more experienced and able to give me some advice? How did you find your blog friends?
Oh and don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the friends I do have on here. You are loved.
I'm here and still reading. I do enjoy your "this is my real real realllll life" blog:) Glad to hear you've found a good man, and that you're surviving your new crazy life! Maybe I'll get my butt in gear and get back to blogging myself!!!
ReplyDeleteSheridan,
ReplyDeleteWhen you post your blog on facebook you totally get creepy blog stalkers like me, yikes watch out! JK. You can read my blog if ya want www.congergation.blogspot.com it isn't all rainbow and butterflies but here is my little view on blogging. a) I sometimes stop reading blogs cuz I get sick of reading about how wonderful everyone else lives are when
I feel mine isn't quite going the way I expect. b)My blog isn't always rainbows and butterflies but it does portray a more positive aspect of my life. I would never write anything that would hurt those I love or make them feel that I am upset with them or disappointing in their actions so sometimes the hard things that make me angry or upset are skipped over. c) I have read some blogs of people who are a little "too real" for me, I think you need to be respectful of those in your life and when you write about everything you tend to alienate those in your life. d) in conclusion I also often remember a quote from President Hinckley where he spoke about the fact that we have enough women who are harsh, sarcastic, hard and pessimistic and we need more women who are kind and loving, so I don't try to make a fairytale of my life but I do try to take an optimistic view to life. Anyway my blog may be boring to you but yours is really well written and I look forward to reading more. PS expect a blog post about the idea of blog writing you did make think about how I write.
preface: I am the loser who spills orange juice on her keyboard and thus damages her d key, of which she has since copied and pasted, but cannot make the upper case d without an additional copy and paste. I trust readers will not think I have temporarily gone grammar-insane and instead accept that I am typing with a handicap. A very real, orange juice-inspired handicap.
ReplyDeleteahem.
you know what you're doing on this thing. after 2+ years, you know that blogging makes you happy. You're committed enough to keep doing it, and that makes you a blogger. Most blogs don't last beyond a few months. Thus: you've figured out something that works for YOU. and that makes you a good blogger. so: kudos.
secondly, those sunshiney blogs pay the bills, because people want an escape. Like a rom-com. They want blogs that deliver a life they don't have, an escape, a neatly-packaged paradise with pretty pictures and (relatively god-awful) writing. like disney or pretty, empty-headed blogs, people want to believe a perfect prince charming (or charmed life) could ride up at any minute and bestow them with pretty clothes, a handsome man, and a pinterest-worthy house without any work whatsoever on their part. Bahaha on them when they realize these blogs are pretty little liars with a pretty little layout.
good blogs are simultaneously the easiest and the hardest things to find in the world. Easy because there are several billion (I'm not lying) blogs out there in the blogosphere. Hard because so many of them are crap. It takes time. A lot more time than I'm willing to admit (those daily blog-reading sessions take up RIdICULOUS amounts of time, and I'm always behind). And picking good blogs is such a personal thing: something I may LOVE may be something you say "meh" on, and vice versa. Also, blog first impressions are so finicky. A blogger generally only has 3 (or so) posts up at a given time. If you don't like one post, you may turn around and leave that blog—even though that may not necessarily be a good representation of that blogger's usual posts.
there are mainly three strategies to go about finding blogs, and if anyone knows more, please share!
you have:
1. the heavy-hitters: these are the big-deal, everyone-reads-them, book-deal-on-the-way bloggers. they're awesome for a reason, but they're not the most accessible.
2. the community round-up: you meet one blogger. they travel in the same blog-circle (i.e. if you read one blog, you also read x, y, and z, blog). it's like a clique. The bad news is that if you will probably attract less-than-stellar bloggers who are in the same circle, whether you want to know them or not.
3. the comment chain-chain-chain of fools: you comment on a blog. Another blogger comments on the same blog. You regularly laugh/think about/raise an eyebrow at their comment. you check out their blog. you fall in love. you join hands at blogger meet-ups and slurp spaghetti, lady-and-the-tramp-style. I don't know. I'm not good at this networking stuff.
Browse what your friends read, browse what your favorite blogs recommend. If you're looking for food blogs, smittenkitchen.com is a favorite of mine, but it really depends on what you're looking for— 20-something-friendly stuff (big girls, small kitchen)? hi-larious narratives (bevcooks.com, eggton.com)? ethnic/regional stuff (homesick texan)? Family-oriented dinners (dinner: a love story)? Just good, basic, seasonal recipes (Food Network dish)? more baking-related stuff (annie's eats, dorie greenspan, etc.?)
well, I'm officially cutting myself off before I turn this comment into the sequel to war & peace. in short: finding good new bloggers sucks. ask your friends to give you a list of their favorite recommended blogs (I'd be happy to oblige) and start browsing from there. I wish you the best of luck in your blog-search, padawan.
omyheavens I swear that did not seem that long when I typed it. sorry I spammed your comment section :(
Deletelove,
the apologetically wordy english major
Thanks Nicki-cole, you are the best! ;) No apology necessary, I appreciated your novel.
Delete