Wednesday, February 2, 2011

5 Things I've Learned Within 1 Month (and 1 Day) of Blogging

One month and one day ago today, I established Rock Talk, my own personal blog on various topics of interest. Over a dozen original pieces of mine have been posted, from birds dropping dead out of the sky to the attempted assassination on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords to my takes on why most current relationships are flawed. And in that (short) stretch of time, I have come to realize five things about being a rookie blogger...


1. Coming Up with Witty Posts Was Harder Than I Thought
I knew what I was getting into when I signed up here. I wanted to write short (or at least, informative) articles about stories or ideas that intrigued me, preferably thrice weekly. Then, the stresses of school and work began piling on as the month wore on. I feel like I'm now at the point where I'll be lucky to have one original piece up per week. Even now, as I write this line, I find it somewhat strenuous to put together a decent post. I have several ideas in mind, and I do hope to have all of them up by the end of this year. Until then, I continue to "push" myself into having something, anything done for y'all's reading pleasure. It's not easy, but it's getting done. I promise.

2. Anything Greater Than 0 Page Views in a Day is Uplifting
Among the first things I do when I come home from school on the weekdays and wake up on the weekend is to log on and see how many people have looked at my blog. To my chagrin, I do occasionally stumble upon goose eggs when looking at my page views within the last 24 hours. Makes me feel like a polar bear in the snow. However, for every valley, there's always a little peak to cheer me up a tad. For now, the numbers are modest, I think. As of now, the most page views I've had for any one day is 17, which was recorded back on January 4. And on average, I have a little over 5 unique viewers reading this blog every day. Not bad for having zero followers.

3. Writing Is a Skill I Must Hone on Here
One of my secret passions in life is to write. Sounds feminine, but it's true. I think the written word is a vastly underrated tool of communication nowadays, with the advancement of technological products from phones to televisions to computers. Heck, all three can fit into one gadget the size of your palm, when you think of it. In that regard, the art of writing has all but dissipated. Okay, sure, I'm typing here, but this experience has allowed me to be more comfortable with writing sentences, constructing paragraphs, and developing arguments/fortified opinions. I may not be the fastest writer in the world, but I definitely feel like one of the most natural about it. Perhaps this may land me a career? Only time will tell.

4. Having a Global Audience is More Impressive Than a Domestic Following
Like the sun rising in the East and setting in the West, it surprises me none that the vast majority of viewers come from the States. After all, most of my "promotion" is designated toward my American friends and followers. But with all my posts, I've also attracted one more group that begins with 'F': foreigners. As of this posting, I've had people from the United Kingdom, Russia, Singapore, India, Germany, Denmark, Canada, Belgium and Italy stumble upon my blog posts at one point in time. I think that's like a badge of honor, because it means that someone somewhere else in the world spent even an iota of their life reading what I have written. That, to me, is more amazing. Now, I can truly say that I've had a global impact.

5. You Can Always Count on Friends
It's not that I hate people (quite the opposite), but I just prefer to be by my lonesome and work productively. Of course, it's practically impossible to get anywhere in life without some form of social connections. Hence the benefit of friends, most of whom I would be willing to carry on a brief conversation with, but nothing too deep. The way I see it, I've got one heart to give, and I'm gonna wait until I find "the one" who will accept me for me, and nothing less. Anyway, the vast majority of my friends are back West; I left there to go to college on the East Coast. But that hasn't stopped from getting several of them read my work and "like" what I have written. Trust me, I know. Thank you all. Your support is graciously appreciated. God bless y'all.

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