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The Life of a Full-Time Blogger
By Jay | January 6, 2008
Well, my two week retirement is almost over, and tomorrow I’ll be back at my desk on the 38th floor of a Manhattan office building. It’s been a good two weeks, even if I have spent more time at the computer than I intended to.
I learned three things about blogging over the past two weeks: number one, I really enjoy blogging, number two, people actually read this blog; and number three, to blog well is hard work.
In the past I have used my blog like a diary, throwing up my thoughts or putting out my passions. This has been therapeutic for me and has led to some good blog posts, but such introspectiveness only goes so far. What I’ve found while blogging over the past couple weeks is that there are a million things to write about, but to write well one needs to think, to edit, and to do a bit of research. For example the post I wrote Friday about Kiva.org. I think they’re a great charity that harnesses the power of the internet to make a better world. The post is just a few paragraphs, but I spent over an hour reading about Kiva before feeling like I knew enough to write the post recommending it. Finding the picture and then setting up the YouTube video took another half hour. I love doing this sort of thing, but it’s not as easy as you would think. Some bloggers make it look effortless, but behind that smooth,easy-to-read post is a lot of thought.
I’d like to thank Dawn over at Frugal for Life for linking to my A Penny Found post. My traffic tripled for several days: it was exciting to watch! And thanks to everyone who made comments on my posts: your comments are always interesting to read.
I probably won’t have time to put up multiple posts per day, at least for the next few weeks, but I will try to come up with a good post every day or so. I find doing this personally enriching: I have caught the blog bug, and I don’t want to stop!
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Topics: Blogging |
January 7th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Jay,
I can really relate to your post. I work full time, but took the past two weeks off as well. I’ve been glued to my laptop and desktop working on my blog. My wife is hating me. :)
I second your thoughts on research and the required quality of posts. There comes a time when readers will demand more, and to be respected you can leave no stone unturned in what you present or people will call you out on it. I’m up for the challenge as it appears you are.
Best of luck blogging in 2008!
January 7th, 2008 at 10:23 am
I had a couple weeks over Christmas off and I’m still reeling mentally from having to come back into the office. Good luck on that 38th floor (hopefully you’ve got a window you can stare out of every now and then)
January 9th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
PT, I can certainly relate to your issues with your wife: my partner wasn’t too happy about the time I spent on the computer over vacation either! Blogging is a concept that he does not understand.
Matt, it’s been just awful being in the office. I miss puttering around with business ideas and blogging, which is how I spent most of my vacation.
There is a window though, about 30 feet away from my cubicle. I can even see a little sliver of Central Park off in the distance.