Confessions of a Blogger

After reading Manda’s post titled Confessions of a Blogger, I decided to answer the same questions.

I love answering questions, so if you have a question you would like to ask me, I’m happy to answer as long as it isn’t too rude or personal. I answered readers’ questions back in 2009 (in this post too) but it will be interesting to see what kind of questions people want to ask four years down the track. If I get any questions I will publish them in a blog post before the end of the year. :)

Anyway, onto the Confessions of a Blogger questions.

When did you first start blogging and why?

I started blogging in around 2002. I started out writing short, quick posts on my webpage, and quickly transitioned to LiveJournal. I knew about LiveJournal through one of my family friends, who said that it was great to find friends and connect with people at school. I liked the idea of blogging because I had started to use a computer more, and as someone who had kept a personal diary for many years, blogging made sense.

Have you had any past online presence?

Prior to my blog at Hey Georgie, I had a blog called Heartdrops (heartdrops.org) from 2008. I have kept a lot of my blog posts from that era. For many years before that, I had a semi-private MSN Live Space (when it existed) called Consolation in a Jar.

Before owning a blog/tutorial website, I had a pixel art website that moved from free host to free host, and was also hosted at people’s subdomains. I was a part of a lot of the pixel community forums & message boards, and also played Neopets for a number of years. My username across various websites was Jazzmo (after a high school nickname) or Ginsiez, and during my pixel art days I was referred to simply as Gina.

When did you become serious about your blog?

I think I have always been serious about blogging. There was never a point where I wasn’t serious about it. I started to blog more often when I opened Heartdrops.org, blogging every second day. I was dedicated in the same way, on Consolation in a Jar, but I barely had time to write, so instead of 500-word bursts every day, it was novels of 3000 words a month.

What was your first blog post?

My very first blog post, I don’t remember. I count my first LiveJournal post as a first blog post, because that was in more of a blogging environment. I remember writing in terrible chatspeak about my classmate playing pranks. It was a very short post.

On Hey Georgie, the oldest post I have published is from 2009, when I moved from FanUpdate to WordPress. I missed using FanUpdate and it was such a huge change. I would have kept my older posts but because FanUpdate was so niche, there was no importer for it.

What have been your biggest challenges blogging?

Keeping up with returning comments was a challenge, until I realised that you really don’t have to respond to comments at all. It was one of those things that emerged in my “generation” of blogging. You had to return a comment by responding on someone’s blog. I think this was fuelled by the fact that some popular website owners never responded to any of their “fans”.

What is the most rewarding thing about blogging?

Meeting people, and getting support from strangers. Getting support for something you’re so passionate about, from people who you don’t even know, is lovely.

What is the most discouraging thing about blogging?

Not really getting much response to what you write. Let’s face it. A lot of bloggers say they don’t care, and I personally don’t mind if one of my posts gets zero comments, but deep down I care a little. A tiny bit. I know a lot of people read my posts, but when someone leaves a comment or writes something to me, that confirms it. Sometimes, bloggers have a mindset that’s a bit like, “I love this post. I really hope everyone else does”. But there’s disappointment because not many people had anything to say in response.

What is your lasting inspiration or motivation?

I am sometimes inspired by what other people write and will refer to their posts. A lot of my writing is in the form of stories. I love sharing stories and experiences, so there will be a lot of posts that reflect on the past or retell stories from my childhood. In life, there are also a lot of bad experiences, and I want to share those with people by looking back on them positively. Staying positive keeps me inspired and helps me write.

What is your blogging dirty little secret?

I backdate posts. Sometimes. But that’s because I’m pedantic and I hate when I don’t post something before midnight, and I don’t want the date to read the next day when it’s only 12:03am.

What is your current goal as a blogger?

I don’t really have one. It would be lovely to get my blog recognised on a more global scale, but that is more of a dream than a goal. I hope that more people can be inspired by my posts.

Have you learned or become passionate about anything through blogging that caught you by surprise?

I think I became passionate about music journalism through blogging. I used to write website reviews, which were linked to my blog, and I decided to try reviewing some movies and books I had recently read. From there, I wrote about music and reviewed gigs I had been to. I wrote about them so passionately and it really made me want to write more. From there, I found some music blogs to write for and photograph for.

Comments on this post

After your post on five often-overlooked things to be grateful for, it’s nice to see you writing more posts like it! This time you’re answering questions, and I’ve commented before on how the Q&A format can be a refreshing change!

I remember your old sites that you showed me some time ago, the ones that somehow survived after all these years, much to your surprise as well as mine XD I still play Neopets to this day; shame that you’ve stopped though!

As someone who blogged only infrequently and seemed to have managed to completely evade the blogosphere that you’ve been a part of until recently, I was actually taken quite aback by the convention of returning comments that you refer to when I first discovered this particular blogosphere. To someone like me, it feels strange to have to comment on someone’s blog just because they did yours. Oftentimes I’ll find myself simply not having anything constructive or meaningful to say about someone’s recent posts, and I think it should be OK to not have to comment in such a case.

But what do I know, right? /eee I haven’t exactly been part of this blogging community — I just happen to know you and we both happen to be bloggers and we’ve connected through that among other things :) And what am I doing now? Writing a comment. And not only because you want comments… honest! /um

I don’t have any questions for you myself, but I can’t wait to see your answers to other people’s questions later!

I liked reading about your blogging history. I may have to do this, too!

I agree that lack of comments can be discouraging, but I’ve reached that point where I just want to write for archival purposes and for my own enjoyment.

I also wondered about the whole return comment thing. I think for me, it’s a matter of whether I want to comment or not. Say if a post makes me think of a response, then I’ll write it. But if a post doesn’t, then why force myself?

Hi Georgie! It’s me, Lecxis :) But I go by ‘Lex’ now because it sounds cooler… and it’s shorter. XD In case you don’t remember me, I was one of the people you hosted under Heartdrops a few years back. I can’t believe that I’d still be able to drop by and get in contact with you when I typed in your former website in my address bar. I decided to take a quick look if Heartdrops was still alive and running because I have to create a website as a submission for my public exams, and you were the very first person that I thought of when I started to create my site. /hehe

I’m completely envious how you’re still blogging for so many years now but of course, that makes perfect sense because you’re really serious and dedicated to it. I don’t think I’d be able to do that!

Oh yes, I remember the time where I also had to reply to a comment on their blog. It was really fun and exciting as I get to meet new people but at the same time, I felt like if I didn’t do it, they’d get angry and shut me off. Hehe! @_@

Believe it or not, I read some of your past posts and trust me, you are now one of the people that inspires me. Especially because of your post “Performance Goals vs. Learning Goals” as it motivated me to actually put in more effort in my work than just keep going with the attitude of ‘Meh, i just want this done. I’ll settle with a passing grade.’

Hi Lex! Wow, what a throwback, I do remember you indeed. I remember some people instantly but to be honest your name didn’t quite ring a bell until you mentioned that I hosted you! I am glad you dropped by and left a comment. When people leave comments and I “met” them a long time ago, it’s sort of hard to believe I’m still around myself, haha. I go by Georgie most of the time now (rather than Georgina), and although my website has changed quite a bit, I still blog.

In the past year I have blogged a lot less, sometimes just once a week, but I still have that dedication to it. The whole returning-comments thing has died down a little though. It used to be a big deal before but now not so much. After all, it’s one of the only ways to connect with other bloggers!

I am so glad to hear that I have inspired you. It means a lot, and I am glad you could also learn from my experiences. ♥ If you need any help with anything website related, don’t hesitate to get in touch. :)

I did this and scheduled it. c:

It seems like everyone had a LiveJournal. I only see a few who were members of MatMice. :x I think I’m alone. D:

I agree with the comments! When I get 0 on most posts, I feel a bit down. Sometimes I don’t mind receiving 0, but it isn’t often that that happens. But it’s not that I get so upset that I feel like it’s too important, it just makes me worry that maybe I was too boring. (Like, my latest post probably isn’t going to get many comments, if any at all. I really, totally expect that given its grotesque content. :X)

My questions:
How long have you and James been together?
How did you get into blogging?
Has blogging changed or influenced you in any way?
Have you ever had biscuits and gravy? Do you like it?
How do you decide what picture to take/use for a thumbnail?
— On a side note, I almost asked for small thumbnails to appear, but I felt like they wouldn’t at all fit in with the current look of the theme. But I like them when they’re smaller because they’re like little splashes of pictures.
How do you feel that blogging has changed since you started blogging? How do you feel that you have changed (in the blogging sense and in life in general)?

With the biscuits & gravy Q, I wanna add ‘Would you try it?’ after the last question on that line. /cool

Haha I started typing up answers to your questions. I am going to have to disappoint you and say that the majority of my answers are “no” or just very boring, so I may or may not include them.

Also RE the gravy question, typical gravy is made of chicken and I’m pescetarian and don’t eat land meat, so the answers would be no. LOL.

I like these questions! It’s always fun to read about other people’s blogging history. I might answer these on my blog too.

I remember Heartdrops :) Returning comments is a challenge to me too. I try to do it because it’s fun to read other people’s blogs, but I also don’t force myself if I really have nothing to say for certain entries. Getting comments is nice too and definitely makes blogging more motivating.

Hm… questions for you…
– What’s your favorite outfit or outfit piece?
– Do you have any big future plans?
– Do you miss any of your previous sites?

Oh my gosh, FanUpdate. I totally forgot about that system! I never used it for blogging, mind you – just for updating my fanlistings.

I struggle with returning comments, too. I do what I can, but lately that hasn’t been very much at all since I’ve gotten so busy. I also don’t want to come across as a blogger who only comments when returning comments, if that makes sense? I have encountered a few of those and it rubs me the wrong way. I need to work on keeping up with the blogs I do want to comment on better, haha.