It sometimes seems like writing for yourself or finding joy in capturing a memory or a moment has become self indulgent. Blog posts need to be slick, shiny, informative AND easily digestible in the ten seconds that you have someone's attention before they click off your page to inevitably scroll through Instagram.
Or why bother? Magazine-standard content and soundbites are where it's at.
Bloody hell, it must be daunting for anyone wanting to start a blog right now, having to have an uber professional site from the get go with seemingly no time to learn, make mistakes and gradually improve. It's daunting for me and I've been writing this blog for years! Recently, it's led to many a midnight 'What the hell am I doing?' texts to Jess (Jess Soothill - A Mummy of Boy Girl Twins) and morning FaceTime calls to reassure each other than the only path to take is the one that lets you be yourself (but a better version of yourself obviously, otherwise why would anyone read what you have to say? - that's a joke but one with a touch of uncomfortable truth).
With many sounding the death knell for blogging and hailing Instagram as the only social platform to be seen on, maybe it's my wrong-side-of-forty age but I like reading more than a caption and seeing more than a snippet. Instagram is brilliant but it doesn't replace blogging for me; merely sits alongside it.
So what do I look for in a blog? What keeps me returning to read more about someone's life?
While I'm drawn in by beautiful photographs, it's good, old-fashioned story telling, simple home styling and cute crafts that capture my heart. I slow down for sweet blog posts much like I stop awhile whenever a Simon and Garfunkel song comes on the radio. I love words that you can roll through your mind rather mindlessly consume. But you tend not to find these kinds of posts on the 'how to be a blogging success' lists out there anymore.
Once popular, perhaps they've lost their charm?
Currently, maybe.
But not their soul.
Not slick by any stretch of the imagination but this school desk makeover was my very first interiors post. A post that sparked my interest in all things home decor related and ultimately led to paid brand collaborations and setting up and editing Make A Happy Home, Great Little Trading Co.'s blog.
Not shiny when compared to all the amazingly styled bar carts you can find on so many other blogs, but the tropical pegboard mini bar I crafted with my two boys last summer was chosen as the runner up (or first loser position) in the Best Imaginative Idea category at the Pinterest UK Interior Awards 2018.
Not informative but if I hadn't put pen to paper about our trip to a local nature trail, I'm not sure I'd remember what a magical couple of hours it was because the sleep deprivation was almost killing me at the time and my memories of the boys' early years are sketchy at best.
Not easily digestible ... because very few of my posts are. What can I say? I write in paragraphs, not soundbites.
I honestly believe that there's still joy to be found in blogging ... just do it your way. Trends will come and go ... readers will, too ... but if you're capturing what you love, either through writing it down or snapping photos with whatever camera you have to hand (the whole 'to be a good blogger, you need to have a DSLR' advice SERIOUSLY annoys me - I use a compact), you'll have a small space on the internet that will always bring a smile to your face. And you really never know what it will lead to. But hopefully, it will be a gin bar. Because blog posts about gin bars are always a joy.
As a reader, what keeps you returning to a blog? And as a blogger, what do you think of the current blogging climate? I'd love to know your thoughts.
