This is something I have been thinking a lot about since writing the A-Z of me post.
I’ve had a few trial and errors when it came to blogging long before Weesi’s World became what it is today. When I was 17, I had a blog set up and tried my best to get it going, but between school and a busy Summer something always got in the way. Eventually, that domain ended and with it, my first blog.
For as long as I remember, when someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, the answer was always an author, even at age 13 when this question was put to me by a teacher in my first few days of secondary school. Somewhere along the way my confidence in my writing dwindled a little and I think it was the constant writing for school rather than fun that was contributing to this.
Blogging was a way of reigniting that love so I think by starting a blog it gave me the outlet of writing for fun that I needed.
When the first domain ended, it was a little disheartening but there was not a doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t make this work. I took to Blogger, and put so much time and effort into a new site but I can tell you now that it looked nothing like my blog does today. The logo was pretty nice, the background was pink and shiny but the design of the title looked horrendous. I soon realised that blogger wasn’t giving me the creative freedom I was yearning for at that time so a free WordPress account was started and after transferring all the posts I was proud of from Blogger to WordPress, my motivation for blogging heightened.
Still though, it wasn’t all plain sailing, even with the WordPress account. The design aspect was sorted in my eyes, but I had no idea of what direction I wanted my blog to go in and I started writing purely for the sake of posting content which was my first downfall. If you want to make a blog work you have to be comfortable in what you are writing about and not care what other people reading will think of it.
I used to think I didn’t have a ‘niche’ and although I still feel free to write about whatever I want to on this site, I’ve found what I love writing about most which is music, books, the odd beauty post and opinion pieces when I am trying to make sense of the world I am navigating, just like any other twenty-something. It’s because of this that my confidence in writing has shot way back up, and I’ve even had opinion articles published elsewhere too.
I guess you could say that the first domain expiring was a blessing in disguise. It forced me to take matters into my own hands and learn what it takes to create and keep a blog going. There were times I thought I didn’t have it in me to keep going, that there were bloggers 10x better than me but I pulled through because writing and editing was something that I loved. Slowly building this website and it’s social media gave me a purpose when I needed it most and that’s why I blog, and why I am glad that I still do.
To cut the story short, I started blogging to find my passion for writing again, I wanted somewhere to go to release the creative energy that was going to waste. I have received all these things and more from the simple act of starting a website and building it up from scratch.
If you’re thinking of starting a blog then go for it. If you really love something, you’ll always find a way for it.
Do you blog? If so, what was your reason for starting one? I would love to hear your blogging stories in the comments below!
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