What 5 Years of Blogging Has Taught Me about Writing
This past weekend, I passed five years of blogging. That’s about four years more than I ever thought possible way back when. *smile*
People tend to like nice round numbers like 5s and 10s, so reaching this five-year point feels like a major milestone. As I’m still deep into vacation and sickness-brain, I figured now might be a good time to look back at what I’ve learned over those five years, and share what those lessons might tell us about the rest of our writing career…
How Our Careers Grow
- Everyone Starts as a Newbie
My blog didn’t start off with a million hits or a thousand-plus visitors a day. I started off at ground zero, just like anyone else.
For the first couple of months, I was lucky to get views in the double digits each day. If you’ve blogged and celebrated over getting one comment? Yeah, been there, got the T-shirt.
- Slow and Steady Growth Adds Up
It took about 3 1/2 years to reach the point where my readership growth started accelerating, and I can’t point to a single factor that created the change. There wasn’t one post that went more viral than others. My worksheets had existed for over a year by that point. I wasn’t suddenly being recommended by a big name in the industry. Etc.
I think my blog just finally reached a tipping point. The more people know we exist, the more others will hear about us too.
- Patience & Consistency Work
However, I doubt that tipping point would have occurred at all if I hadn’t been consistently writing posts that whole time. About two-thirds of my daily traffic comes from search engines.
In other words, much of my traffic comes here because I have content people want. It takes time—and obviously writing that content—to reach that point.
I have 525 published posts here. That’s 525 chances for someone to stumble over my blog via a search or social media share.
How Our Fiction-Writing Careers Grow
Obviously, those same lessons can apply to our fiction writing as well. We all start with zero knowledge, zero platform or community, and zero readers.
Yes, we might get a big splash with a release push from a publisher, a well-known reviewer, or a write-up in a Best Of list. But we might not.
Even if we don’t have that viral or buzz-worthy push, our career isn’t doomed. Slow and steady growth works for fiction writing too.
We need to create content, and that takes time. But each book we release is another chance that readers will stumble over our work. And when they discover us, they might read our other work or tell their friends, and that adds up to success.
How We Find Ourselves and Our Passion
- It Takes Time to Discover Ourselves
One reason I couldn’t conceive of myself still blogging five years down the road back when I first started is because I hadn’t discovered how much I loved it yet. I didn’t go into blogging knowing that I’d love sharing knowledge or tips.
I started just because it seemed the thing to do. And I certainly didn’t think I had over 500 ideas for posts.
Even if someone had put a gun to my head at the beginning, I’d have had a hard time coming up with more than 20 ideas. Most weeks, I still have no ideas. *smile*
- It Helps to Be Passionate about What We Do
It’s only been very gradually that I realized how much I love blogging for all of you. At first, I loved it for the ability to relate to other writers and form a community, but that’s grown into a passion for helping other writers reach their potential.
Sometimes that means I share my knowledge, and sometimes that means I share my struggles. Either way, we know we’re not alone, and that’s the feeling that drives me to write a post when I’m not in the mood.
- Writing Consistently Is Hard
Even so, it would have been much easier to not write a blog post all those times. As I said, at least half the time, I have no ideas for a post when I force myself to sit down and write.
If I waited for inspiration to hit, I’d have about a quarter of that number of posts. Just because we love what we’re doing doesn’t mean it’s easy.
(Like this quote? 
)
- Practice Makes Better
The usual phrase, of course, is “practice makes perfect,” but this perfectionist knows all too well that perfect doesn’t exist. Instead, practice leads to improvement. (Hat tip to a toddler speak-o I once heard for the more accurate phrase in the heading.)
Have you ever heard the claim that it takes a million words before we’re good at writing? (That goes along with the idea that it takes so many hours to be skilled at something.) Blogging helps those words add up quickly. *smile*
How We Find Our Fiction-Writing Passion
Just as I didn’t know how much I would love blogging until I tried it (for a long while), we might not know the right fiction-writing fit for us until we experiment. We might struggle to find the right fit for our genre, point-of-view, themes, or voice.
Yet with enough experimenting, we’ll eventually find a style that we’re passionate about. Or maybe we’ll know the right approach because it feels comfortable. Or we’ll discover our voice as we learn more about ourselves.
The point is that it often takes time. And while we’re on that journey of discovery, we might not get a sense of when we’re close. It might only be after we’ve been doing something for a while that we even realize how well it’s been working for us.
Even so, writing will still be hard. There will still be days when nothing feels right or comfortable. The words will feel like they belong to a foreign language, or the story will feel forced, or our characters won’t talk to us.
We all know. We’ve all been there. We’re not alone.
But if we keep at it, if we push to learn more about ourselves and what does or doesn’t work for us or fit right, we’ll improve. We’ll always need editing. We’ll always struggle with some aspect of our work. But we will get better. *smile*
Do you blog? If so, what aspects do you struggle with? What lessons have you learned from blogging? Have you learned about yourself by writing? Do you have lessons or insights to share?
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Very encouraging! I had trouble finding a focus for my blog until I realized that scattering of topics was very much me. How did you decide on writing as a focus?
Hi Amy,
That’s a great way to put it! As I said in the post, sometimes we have to try things out for a while before we can recognize how they are or aren’t working for us. 🙂
I didn’t have a topic or focus in mind when I started this blog. I just started writing about what interested me. At first, I worried a lot about whether I was doing it “wrong” or focusing on the “wrong” things or being too scattershot.
But unlike some writing blogs, I don’t limit myself to only certain writing topics. I cover craft, the industry, promotion/social media, writing life, etc. In other words, I can talk about just about anything–and if I can relate it to writing, it fits. 😀
Like your realization, I finally decided that approach was me. My teacher-at-heart attitude has always been to turn anything and everything into a learning experience. So this blog is really an extension of that perspective. And even after 5 years, I’m not sure I’ve ever put it into so many words in my head until now, so thank you for bringing up the question! LOL!
I blog, but don’t really have a focus (much like my life!), so I jump around. The posts about my Aikido practice generate the most comments, but I don’t want to limit myself that way, so I continue to include other stuff.
You’re right about needing to sit down and write without having something particular in mind. When I wait for inspiration to strike for my blog, I end up not writing for months!
Thanks for the reminders.
Hi Kim,
Yes, some advocate for a narrow focus on our blogs, but beyond my experience (that I mentioned in my reply to Amy above), I’ve found that my favorite go-to blogs are those with a broader focus as well. I think if we’re passionate enough about something to pass on a bit of that interest or excitement to others in our post, people will read about things they normally wouldn’t. 🙂 Good luck and thanks for the comment!
Congrats on your anniversary! While I started my blog last year, it’s only recently I’ve decided I need to blog consistently, every day, so people know what to expect and hopefully once they find me, they’ll keep coming back. In the meantime all I can do is keep putting out quality content and sharing it where I can!
Hi Mary Kate,
Exactly. It takes time–and possibly multiple exposures to our work–to get people to recognize that they like our stuff. Even in the offline world, it might take several times of meeting someone to remember their name and who they are, and the same thing applies to blogs. 🙂 Thanks for the comment and good luck!
Congratulations on five years. I just checked my own stats, and my first blog post was in August of 2013, so I am just coming up on the second year mark. It’s encouraging to me, then, to see your traction picked up around the 3.5 year mark. It’s also encouraging to see your discussion with Amy about how having more than one focus can be the focus. It keeps it more interesting for me as a writer. Discipline aside, let’s face it– if I’m not interested in the activity of writing, the blog won’t go anywhere.
As much as I love to learn about how to make things better, when the day is done, I am most drawn to blogs that seem to have an authentic human being on the other side of the screen. If that’s true for me, it must be true for others as well. Thanks for being one of the real ones out there. Congratulations!
Hi Crystal,
I’m sure every journey will be different, but if sharing my experience can help show that yeah, it takes time, I hope that’s helpful to others. 🙂
Before that point, my blog readership was growing, slowly but surely, but at some point that growth became steeper, and like I said, I can’t point to just any one thing for that change. I’ve often heard that many authors didn’t find their fiction readership grow until they had 3-5 books out (especially in a series), so I’d guess this was similar.
Great point about authenticity being key. Another category of blogs I tend to read regularly are of those I’ve met in person, even if I’m not super-invested in the topic, and I think that’s for the same reason. When we feel like we know someone–either online or from meeting them in person–we care more about what they have to say.
I think that’s why sharing what we’re passionate about is so important. If we care about the topic, hopefully we can get across that enthusiasm to our readers. 🙂 Thanks for sharing that insight!
Congratulations on reaching the 5-year mark! My one-year anniversary is tomorrow, and your discussion of what it took and what you’ve learned is a real inspiration to a newbie like me. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Celia,
You’re welcome! Sometimes we look at those who have reached a certain level of success–like reading a fantastic story–and we despair of ever matching that. But we didn’t see the oodles of rough drafts and revisions along the way. 🙂
If sharing the sausage-making helps with correcting that misconception, all the better. LOL! Thanks for the comment and the congrats!
Hi Jami,
Congratulations on five years of blogging! I’m glad to know I’m not the only writer whose characters give them the “silent treatment”. It’s so frustrating when my characters stop talking to me. I always write dialogue first and then the action. But right now, I’m not writing anything. Do you have a post on how to get back on speaking terms with your characters? I would appreciate any wisdom/advice you have to offer. Thanks.
Hi Elle,
Hmm, good question! I don’t have a post specifically about that topic, but I can noodle it and see if I come up with anything. My initial thoughts…
I have this post about getting unstuck in general, which might help as well. 🙂 Thanks for the comment and for the congrats!
Hi Jami!
I always read your posts but rarely comment as I tend to think blogs like yours don’t really post for comments. But I’ve enjoyed reading the comments and your replies here.
I’ll take this opportunity to say thank you for how you’ve helped me in crafting my novel. I love your beat sheets!
Thank you,
Denise 🙂
Hi Denise,
I can understand that perspective, in that rather than “begging” for comments for the sake of comments, I typically strive to open up the conversation. However, I definitely enjoy comments (as my encouragement of long comments and conversations–even off-topic ones–and the fact that I reply to all comments shows 🙂 ), and when a post doesn’t get any for hours and hours, I worry the post was a misfire. (Self-doubt never fades–there’s another important lesson. LOL!)
Thanks for kind words–and the comment! 😀
Hi Jami,
What an inspirational post, I love hearing about how other people’s journey’s have gone for them, the ups and downs, the surprises and how sticking at something and consistently showing up builds a readership and your own knowledge of writing.
Thanks for your fantastic blog posts, I really enjoy them – so keep them coming.
Stacey
Hi Stacey,
Thanks for the kind words! I hope my brain keeps coming up with ideas, and I’m always open to questions for post topics. LOL! Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for this post among all your others, Jami.
I think you’re right – consistency is key. And it is hard, but worth it. Some weeks I’ve sat watching the cursor blink, but once I get going the words start flowing.
How long on average do you spend composing a post?
Hi Paula, Ugh. I’m not sure I want to figure it out. LOL! That’s a hard question, actually, especially as many of my blog posts are epic-length. 😉 I’d guess that from opening up the New Post screen to being done-done (all formatting, editing, blog image, etc.) and I’m can-go-to-bed done is usually about 3 hours. A bit over two hours of that would be the drafting and initial revising/formatting of the post (assuming a 1000-1500 word post–i.e., short for me 😉 ), then a bit less than a half hour for the backend stuff (finding and formatting the blog image, creating an excerpt, setting up links and images, etc.), and then the last half hour would be the reread for editing/proofing. That time obviously goes up for my more-typical long posts of 1500-2000 words. Those would usually take 4 (or 5 or 6…) hours. Part of the reason I often wait until the last minute to write blog posts (rather than spend a day writing all the week’s or month’s posts at once) is because of the truthism about a job taking up whatever time you have. The earlier in the day I start a post, the longer it tends to take–and instead of getting “free” hours at the end of the day after I finish, the post just takes up the whole day. LOL! Anyway, all that to say that it’s definitely a time commitment. No argument there. Part of the reason I started with my Tuesday/Thursday schedule… — Read More »
Hey Jami! Yay, I started reading your blog even before it reached the tipping point! :D. Makes me feel privileged, lol. I remember it was the plot-driven vs. character-driven story post that was the first one I read; yeah I was for some reason searching for that topic, so yay discovery via Google! On that day or the day before, I remember commenting on another blog on the same character vs. plot-driven stories topic. The author of that blog replied to my comment as well, but the reason why I followed your blog instead of his, was that though he was friendly too, I felt that you were even friendlier! He sounded somewhat more formal, but you sounded more informal and therefore more warm and approachable! Actually I find that the vast majority of blog authors seem to reply in a more formal, though still friendly and polite, style. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I’m personally more comfortable with informality, haha! :D. Yes, I agree that sharing your struggles with us is good. In fact, I think that when blog authors talk about their personal experiences and life, this makes them feel more like a flesh and blood, relatable human being, rather than just an expert you consult. It’s like how I like it when our uni professors talk about themselves and their lives, because this makes them sound human, so they aren’t just a prof, lol. As for myself, you know I don’t have a blog, but I… — Read More »
(Yikes–sorry, my paragraph spacing got a bit messed up there. I actually wrote it all on my phone, then put it on MS Word so I could use Grammarly on it, lol. But the enter spaces all disappeared so I had to manually space it. Argh, that I for some reason missed several. >_< Eek I added the P.S.'s afterwards in this box, and didn't use Grammarly on it. Sigh, I read it over already but still didn't catch the double colon…Hopefully there aren't any more mistakes! BTW, I wish there was a Chinese version of Grammarly too; it would be a huge help, lol.)
Hi Serena,
No worries! Those are very minor things that people wouldn’t notice. 🙂
Hi Serena, LOL! Yep. And wow, you remember the first post you read here? That’s amazing. 🙂 Thanks for confirming the idea that authentic and genuine is the way to go, and that means we don’t want to hide our personality online. We might choose to show the best parts of our personality, but still…personality that is genuine to who we are wins. 🙂 I love that you’re recognizing that your target audience might be bigger than you thought. We never know where we might find people that enjoy our work, so it’s good to not limit ourselves too much. Back when I first started blogging, every day or 3 times a week was the normal blogging schedule, so my twice a week was already cutting back by quite a bit. If I were to start over now, I’d probably do a once-a-week schedule, which is more common now. Oh! I think blogging your experiences as a bilingual writer would be awesome. I had someone contact me several months ago in fact, asking if I had recommendations for resources about writing in a second language, but I didn’t know of any. So that’s a definite need. 😀 And yeah, I agree with you that just writing a bunch of crap words wouldn’t make us good writers. We won’t automatically improve without knowledge and skills we pick up through other sources like feedback, editing, classes, etc. To answer your question, the first couple of stories in the Mythos Legacy just happened… — Read More »
Haha yeah hurray, my memory isn’t always bad! XD Sometimes I believe that I have a bad memory for everything except for exams and tests (I think I mentioned this before), but of course this is too pessimistic a view of my memory, lol! You know, I think I could call myself “an optimist who often thinks pessimistically”, lol! Meaning that I’m optimistic in general, but can be ridiculously, even ludicrously, pessimistic sometimes, haha. Hurray for being genuine! Yeah, we don’t want potential blog readers to think we’re a bit distant, so I like the warm and friendly approach better too. Lol yeah we may be showing our best sides, but our best sides are still genuinely a part of us. 😉 Hmm I wonder why the norm has changed from so many blog updates a week, to only once a week now. Oh my! I dream of the day when I can find online resources, websites, and communities for bilingual writers, because I couldn’t find any. (I could try again.) I also asked on three different writer Facebook groups, including ALLi, whether anybody knew of any online communities for bilingual authors, but nobody had any answers. 🙁 For Chinese and English writing specifically, one reason why it’s so hard to find fellow bilingual writers, is that, from what I’ve seen, most Chinese people are either the type who are great in Chinese but not that great in English (for writing, specifically), OR they are fabulous in English but don’t… — Read More »
Sorry, silly me forgot to copy and paste the second part of my reply too (I’m writing on my phone’s notepad, so I have to split it into two notes if my comment is too long..lol.
)
2. How do you personally define “good writing?” (Writing as in the language and prose itself, not the plot or characters.)
Yesterday I was reading this very long thread on writing vs storytelling in the Writer’s Group Facebook group, and the OP of this thread seems to define good writing as being grammatically correct (maybe even perfect), not using too many adjectives or adverbs, and some other things that I don’t recall now.
While I do agree that grammar is important, at least in most cases, and that overuse of adverbs and adjectives can be very annoying to the reader, my friend and I define good writing differently. We define it as the ability to express what you want to express, so your “power and effectiveness of expression”.
This definition leaves room for poetic license, like when writers use nonstandard grammar or punctuation, use words in strange ways, or even make up new words. Our definition also puts a strong importance on finding the right words, so word choice, rhythm and speed control in sentences and paragraphs, etc. So this is all about conveying the message as accurately, effectively, and powerfully as possible.
So what’s your definition of good writing?
Hi Serena,
It cracks me up how some people write essays on their phones, but I know several who do. 🙂 Anyway…
For me, I love writing that has a rhythm that flows and carries me along. I don’t want grammar or spelling issues to take me out of that flow either. But things like adjectives, adverbs, wordiness, etc. don’t stand out to me if the flow is there.
So our definitions are probably similar. 🙂 Thanks for the comment(s)!
Hi Serena,
Interesting experiences with your struggle to write in two languages. I bet you’re close to sounding native. We know how English grammar can sound a tiny bit off without going full Yoda. LOL!
Answer to question #1:
I’ve seen more writers misuse semicolons than use them correctly, so that might be part of the reason why modern voices don’t seem to use them very often? I don’t know. The basic rules seem easy to me, but then again, I understand most comma rules. 😉
However, I know they take some readers out of the story because they are so uncommon, so I tend to use them only when it’s the best option. That means I use them only once or twice a book generally.
My writing style leans toward non-convoluted sentences, so that makes them less necessary. One time I’ve used them are for really short sentences: He’d promised; he lied. But see, even there, I’d tend to think that two sentences would be stronger. Or an em-dash. I’m an em-dash addict. 😀 If I didn’t restrain myself, I’d have an em-dash in almost every sentence. LOL! So yeah, although I’m confident with semicolon usage, I don’t usually use them. *shrug*
Yeah I care a lot about flow and rhythm of the writing too! I am gradually feeling more confident about communicating online in Chinese, as people are liking my comments and questions, meaning they understand them AND like them, haha. Thanks for saying that I probably sound close to native. 🙂 Semicolons…lol well for now, I would use my excuse that Christopher Paolini, Cassandra Clare, and Allison Croggon use lots of semicolons beautifully, to justify my extensive use of them, lol. As long as I use them properly and effectively. It’s like how I ignore the no adverbs rule, because I see a lot of traditionally published books I love using lots of adverbs anyway. As long as nothing looks too heavy or overdone. And as always, I think it’s more important that we use the most appropriate method for each specific occasion, rather than applying a general rule for everything. If it would be most effective with an adverb, then do it; if it would be more effective with an action description instead, then go for that instead! Oh this may be interesting to say too, but my mom told me that Chinese sentences are in general longer. Once, I let her read a paragraph of mine composed of mostly short sentences. She said that sounded weird, and I said I was just using the (English) technique of multiple short sentences to create that certain effect. But my mom just said that Chinese sentences are usually much longer than… — Read More »
Hi Serena, That’s interesting about sentence length in Chinese. Yes, 7-9 commas would be considered excessive in most modern English sentences. LOL! Do you know if the grammar for semicolons is the same in Chinese as it is for English? For example, in English, an author has to pay attention to whether a comma is for a compound sentence with a conjunction (where the comma could easily be replaced by a semicolon if the conjunction is dropped) or for an adverbial/adjectival phrase or subordinate clause, etc. (where the comma could not be replaced by a semicolon). That’s the mistake I see authors make with semicolons. I see a lot of things like: Although she wasn’t trying to avoid Jack; she simply didn’t want to be near him. In other words, it seems like they pick any-old comma and replace it with semicolon, but that’s not how they work. Each side has to be a complete sentence on its own, and the “although” turns that first clause into a subordinate that can’t stand on its own (even though it has a noun and a verb). I know many, many authors who aren’t strong enough in grammar mechanics to understand the differences between the pieces and parts of a sentence to know which kind of comma is which. (And if we have a good editor, we don’t necessarily need to be that strong.) But that means those who try to use semicolons and get them wrong in a published book just look… — Read More »
Jami, sorry for taking so long to reply! Yeah, Chinese semicolons are similar in use to English ones, where semicolons separate two clauses that can stand independently but are linked to each other in some way. So independent but related clauses. Chinese is weird, though, in that many of our “clauses” don’t have subjects, lol! So that may be one reason why people can tell I’m not native; I’m used to English and feel uncomfortable having such a lack of subjects, so I put in subjects (pronouns and stuff) where a native Chinese speaker would think subjects are not necessary. Also, I sometimes find it unclear if I don’t put in the pronoun, so even though I know I don’t need a “he” there, I still put in the “he” because the sentence would look clearer, at least to me. But again, that might be how a native would see through me as being not really native, lol! Well, I still haven’t given up on my “excessive (for Chinese) subject insertion” habit yet, haha! Yet what is more interesting, is the use of commas in Chinese. Commas in Chinese indicate pauses and they separate phrases, not just clauses. The phrase might be something as short as 4 words! (One word as in one character.) Such a short phrase separated out by a comma or two MIGHT look strange in English (sometimes), but it looks completely normal in Chinese, lol! The other interesting thing is that comma splices are allowed and… — Read More »
Hi Serena, That’s interesting about the use of subjects and run-on sentences in Chinese. 🙂 As for the issue of conjunctive adverbs, I just memorize the coordinating conjunctions as FANBOYS (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So). That way I know everything else needs semicolons (or periods) without having to think about it too hard. 😀 From everything I’ve seen, as long as each side of the semicolon is a complete sentence, it’s grammatically okay to use one–even with a conjunction and with or without a complex clause on both sides. Think of it this way, if we changed the semicolon in this sentence to a period…: “With the coordinating conjunction rule, you can use a semicolon if both independent clauses are complex clauses with one or multiple commas (or are long clauses); yet, what if only the first independent clause has lots of commas, but the second independent clause has no commas and is relatively short?” …we’d end up with a sentence starting with Yet. Some people don’t like sentences that start with And, But, etc., but they’re not really incorrect grammatically. So using a semicolon and a conjunction with two complete sentences (whether complex or not) might seem redundant to some, but it’s not necessarily incorrect. 🙂 (In my humble opinion, anyway… LOL! I haven’t heard of any rules against it at least.) Using semicolons is definitely a voice thing. Some readers might be impressed by them, and some might think it’s pretentious or too formal sounding. And… — Read More »
My day job is creating content for businesses and more than half of what I do is executive blogging. I sometimes call myself an “executive impersonator”. I would just add that business bloggers have a lot to learn from fiction writers. So many of them do great ‘7 tips’ type posts and then clog the post up with a bunch of fluff at the beginning. Just as fiction writers need to hook their readers fast, so too do the non-fiction writers.
Hi Mary Jean,
Oh, great point! Thanks for sharing that insight. 😀 I’m not sure I always do a great job of that with my blog posts. LOL! But it would be a good thing to pay attention to. Thanks for stopping by!
(I’ll have to reply here since there’s no more reply button for our very long convo, lol)
”
Using semicolons is definitely a voice thing. Some readers might be impressed by them, and some might think it’s pretentious or too formal sounding. And I know some editors love them, and others hate them, so as I was developing my voice, I avoided them “just in case.” I think I’d have to think a bit to add them back in now.
”
Yeah, disagreements about semicolons even among readers make editing a headache. Well for now, I will try to reduce the number of semicolons in my stories, but I probably won’t eliminate them completely.
Good point about some people disliking “And” or “But” sentences. 🙁 But LOL I use them all the time. Yet, I think the modern reader is more used to “And….” or “But…” than “… ; and…” or “… ; but…” , just like you said. In fact, is it just me, or has the society changed in this? I feel like when I was still in early middle school, “And…” sentences were highly discouraged, but nowadays when I see articles online, I think even formal articles, “And…” sentences are pretty common. Maybe the society has grown to accept “And…” and “But…” starters, yay!
FANBOYS! Now that is a mneumonic I’ll definitely remember! XD
Haha, non-writers would probably go, “Yikes, nerds!” LOL, just kidding.
Hi Serena,
LOL! at our long conversations. And hey, I used a semicolon just today–for a blog post, but still… 🙂
Schools still teach against And and But sentences, as far as I know. But for casual (non-formal) writing, most people accept them. (Obviously, I see nothing wrong with And or But sentences too. 😉 ) Thanks for the comment!
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