So I started a blog....

I know who you are. Muahahahaha!

I started a blog a long time ago. I just never posted on it.

Now I'm reminded of an electronic photo frame that I purchased years ago and never really used.

But I digress... back to blogging.

One thing that surprised me was it took a lot more time to write one post than I expected - about 3 hours flicking between adventure capitalist and the blog. I had to do a lot of "research" alongside writing to find facts and figures which was really time consuming. I knew the facts I wanted to refer to but I felt I needed to link to semi reputable sources to confirm exact numbers.

From an enjoyment point of view Id like to be able to knock out a blog entry in an evening but I can see the quality will be better if I work on a draft over a couple of evenings. There are mistakes in my first post and some bits that could be improved.

I'm going to MI5 tonight (free tickets) so I won't be able to do my next one until Saturday.

It is fun though. If anyone wants to do a guest post to scratch the itch without setting one up that could happen. My blog is eclectic but it does have standards ?. Having said that it was incredibly easy to set up and get posting. Probably took 5 minutes.

Good read. This is why I tend to stick with old games.

Many successful bloggers - and writers in general - work on multiple articles over a period of time, that way they're constantly churning things out. Always have one or two smaller topics ready to go, so that you can put out something if the bigger topics are taking longer than you expected. You can also always just do multiple follow-up posts if a topic it too big for a single post. Despite how it seems, this will keep you from feeling overwhelmed or pressured - which is key to keeping your motivation going - because you're not in a topic for too long and getting burned out or anxious that it's taking too long, or is too much info to sort through.

And use a program like OneNote or Evernote (etc) to collect, and organize, your research.

And yes, if it's not obvious, I've done a bit of research on this topic. lol.


Best of luck!

Thanks for the tips and support guys. It's certainly been an interesting process so far. I had a lot of assumptions about what it would be like to write blog posts and it is surprisingly quite different. But as I said in my posts I'm feeling a big tired of gaming so it is an enjoyable alternative.

I have to say the Wordpress platform is amazing. It's very easy to use and has great functionality. As you point out though I have a lot to learn about the formatting side of things.

I totally forgot to add; good post.

I actually agree with, and totally relate to, the sentiments you've described in your blog.
It's part of the reason that I, too, have been considering starting blogging - or writing articles - about gaming, among other topics. I've also considering doing some streaming, but looking for away to set it apart from the plethora of others doing the same thing. That particular hurdle has elluded me, and held me back from jumping in just yet... well, that and my poor organization, lack of commitment to something (other than my wife, lol), and doubting my own abilities.

If there's another piece of advice I can give you; don't let fear hold you back. Don't be afraid that your writing might not be up to par (it's fine, really, and remember you'll always improve with practice), or that your subject is uninteresting. Write for you, and nobody else - write what you are interested in and passionate about.

You've got a great start, keep moving forward.

So if this discussion has been a catalyst for anybody's desire to blog, Id love to join you in a blog alliance (link blogs and potential cross post) or alternatively if someone wants to try out blogging as a guest blogger on my blog you are welcome to.