I didn’t originally set out to not blog in 2014. However, after failing to post for a few weeks, it became a running gag at the office. Then we found out Beth was expecting (again), and life got crazy.
But I missed it greatly.
Every so often, inspiration would strike, and I would head to the window in the office where I would jot down ideas and lists for humorous posts. The fact that this window was located in Aaron Earls’ cubical is of note because that’s where the majority of my ideas wound up last year—over at TheWardrobeDoor.com.
Throughout the year, we came up with some pretty good ideas and, in the process, started a firestorm over the top CCM albums of the last 25 years. But this year, those ideas come back home to HoweOriginal.com. I know you’re excited (or not) about that.
Even still, I learned quite a lot about blogging while not blogging in 2014. Here are the top four things:
- We all need a creative outlet of some kind. Whether it’s writing music or drawing or blogging, we all have an artistic side that needs to be developed. I craved that creative outlet at times. There were instances when I would slap together a crazy list post on Aaron’s window and it would go no where. Or (on more than one occasion) I would text him point after point of a post. He didn’t use them all (because we might both be looking for jobs if he did), but we developed a few and I had that outlet when I needed it.
- What’s interesting to me isn’t always interesting to others. This was helpful to realize because I think it will focus what I write about in 2015. There will definitely be a few posts that are kind of out there, but I’ll make a conscious effort to stick with mainstream interests. Otherwise, this would be a Swiftie/NASCAR blog. And that wouldn’t go over too well.
- Twitter is not a place for substantive discussion of ideas. I love twitter, but it’s not a place to lay out your ideas and opinions. Blogs are the best outlet for thought development. They provide avenues for feedback and interaction. I think that’s one of the main reasons they are so popular.
- Individual bloggers who post solid content daily work hard at it. It takes a lot to build a successful blog. I run two at work and they’ve both done more than I ever expected, but I am part of a team for both. That really helps. Finding time to post day after day after day with new, fresh content is very difficult. My hat is off to you bloggers who make that happen.
Do you have a blog? Did you used to blog? What did you learn about blogging in 2014?