Wednesday, July 08, 2020

Still Blogging

A friend announced the other day that she was giving up blogging because her perception after looking at her reader numbers was that no-one blogs or reads blogs anymore. I couldn't disagree more. I have cut back on the number of blogs I follow simply because time is not infinite and I really can't afford enough of it to follow everyone I'm interested in every day. That doesn't mean there aren't a number of blogs I read on a regular basis and others I go to more intermittently and I see from my own blog figures that there is a core of people who visit my musings and I assume are doing the same.

Where else but on my blog would you get to see something like this update of how the cutting from my happy plant (more properly Dracaena fragrans 'Massangeana') is progressing. This is the beheaded top I chopped off one rather sad looking plant I had on the back veranda a few months ago. It has rooted well and now from having no stem it has one of about sixty centimetres in length. As you can see from the state of some of the leaves it didn't like the cold snap we had a few weeks ago but there is new growth coming and I think it's time I moved it from the propagation space and found it a permanent home.




Am I an established 'influencer? No. Do I want to be one? Also no. As my regular visitors will know I blog in hopes of providing something interesting for those who stop by for a read and I was somewhat surprised when I realised this morning that in November I will have been blogging here for fourteen years. I didn't expect that when I first began this blog largely to record my preparations for and time at Clarion South in 2007. From that it has morphed into a snapshot of my life both as a writer and as part of a family. This is where I talk about what's happening here, what I'm reading with an occasional review, any writing news - yes, I know that has been very sparse of recent years, and anything that catches my interest, really, and I hope will catch yours.

Unlike my friend I've no intention of giving up blogging. I love being in contact with my readers and sharing the good and the bad in my life, whether it's professionally or related to my interests. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

4 comments:

David M. Gascoigne, said...

I enjoy blogging and find that it has become a part of my life that I no longer give much thought to. I am a blogger and that's all there is to it. Blogging has become part of mainstream communication, in effect. I am looking forward to following your blog regularly.

Helen V. said...

That's very much how I feel, David. I can't see myself stopping any time soon either - and now I've found a browser that will let me comment i'll be able to comment on your blog.

Graham Clements said...

14 years, wow. I did blog for about six, nearly every week, but then my degree came along. Interestingly, a degree all about internet communication caused me to cut back, due to lack of time, on communicating on the internet. I only read a few blogs, and not all the time, usually during my 1/2 hour afternoon coffee, when I also check Facebook, so not a lot of time spent on both. And so far this year i have written two whole blog posts. I was gonna do book reviews on it this year, but of the ten novels I have finished this year, I have only had time to review one. :(

Helen V. said...

It's weird how at a time when you'd have thought we'd all be busily being creative most of haven't been at all. My blogging has been erratic times, though, whenever things have gotten on top of me. I only blog when I've something to say because I don't want to make it a chore.