~Austin Kleon
The only way to find your voice is to use it. It’s hardwired, built into you. Talk about the things you love. Your voice will follow.
I sat down the other day and wrote what I think is a beautifully written blog post about something that was going on in my head at the time, but after reading it several times and loving it even more, I never ended it up posting it because I felt like it wasn’t the right time.
I don’t mean time of day, or time for me, or consideration of the time we’re living in. I didn’t feel it was the right time to post it on my blog.
I guess that’s me, over-researching this whole blogging thing (for a second time), believing the hype that other bloggers give, those people that tell you how to run a blog as if their way is the only way and if you don’t follow their rules, you are doing it wrong.
I had written a post – ONE post – and left it there for awhile, a post about where this blog came from and where I would like to see it headed, but I had never introduced myself, not properly, and that really bothered me. I have a hard time talking about myself and everything I wrote just sounded… dumb.
But who says I can’t just start writing? I mean, why not jump in? Rip the BandAid off in one fail swoop. Write what I’m feeling when I’m feeling it. Don’t hold back. Be in the moment.
These people make blogging so difficult.
Have you ever noticed just HOW many posts there are out there telling you how to start and run a blog?
THAT was a rabbit hole I fell into on Pinterest, even after being a book blogger all this time. I research things – that’s just what I do – and I wanted to make sure that I knew what direction I wanted this blog to go in, and that I did it “right.” I got in bed around 11:30 with my iPad, and by 4am, I was convinced that everything that I had done with my book blog all this time was wrong. Not only that, but I just knew all the ways that I had failed with this blog, through all it’s iterations. I finally had to force myself to put it away, and spent the rest of the night tossing and turning.
I can’t say that was the one and only time that I did this. I became obsessed. “The 12 Things You MUST Do Before You Start Your Blog.” “Not Doing These 5 Things Before You Hit Publish on Your First Blog Post Will Doom Your Blog to Failure.” “15 Things You Are Doing Wrong Right Now with Your Blog.” “8 Things You Must Have in Every Blog Post.” “Why the Name You Chose for Your Blog Was the Worst Mistake You Made in Blogging.” It’s never ending. Post after post after post after post.
I kid you not when I say that I read over a thousand of these posts. And the more I read, the more stressed out I became.
It had to stop. I had to stop.
It was all I was thinking about, all I was dreaming about… and it was making me quit before I even got started.
I find that writing really helps me, so I sat down one night – another night of restless sleep after reading post after post for hours – and just began writing about what I was reading and what I was feeling and where I was confused and how much of a failure I felt. Twenty-six pages later (and not an exaggeration), I realized what I should have known all along.
There is no RIGHT or WRONG way to run a blog. Yeah, there are proven things that work, and there are proven things that won’t work, but that still doesn’t mean that they WILL work or WON’T work for you.
You also need to take a look at what you are trying to get out of your blog. Do you want to share your opinion on things? Do you want to share something you’re very passionate about? Do you want to teach people something that you’re really good at? Do you want to have a voice when you feel that you don’t have one?
What is YOUR outcome? What do YOU consider success? What is it that YOU like in other blogs that you would like to utilize in yours?
Your blog is YOUR blog, and you are not a failure for not listing to those people, for running it the way that you want to run it.
The point is that YOU expressed YOU in such a way that your blog becomes a part of you, and through it you are able to share your voice with the world.
As long as you are happy, as long as you love what you’re doing, then it looks like you’re doing EVERYTHING right.
Go on. Start your blog. Be yourself. Don’t worry about the “rules.” Get sharing. Make it your happy place. You got this.
Beautiful Screamer 