THE DARK TRUTHS OF BLOGGING SHALL BE REVEALED TODAY. Dun dun dunnnnnn.

Am I being a tad dramatic? Maybe. I like to think of it as preparing you for what is to come. Ahem.

Hello everyone, and I hope you guys are all enjoying your day/night/whatever time of day it is (gotta love the international aspect of blogging!).

I’m sure posts like this have been made before, but I haven’t seen many and I thought I might put my own perspective on the situation! I think almost 2 years of blogging (although I suppose the 7 months I’ve been away should be deducted) has me slightly qualified to reveal the truth behind the reality of blogging vs the expectations we (or I) have! Let’s do this.

Expectation #1:

“I’m going to have over 1000 followers and comments in one night, for sure! My posts are awesome.”

Reality

waiting — Waiting for followers and feedback…

Now, I don’t know about you guys, but when I first started blogging, it was way too easy to get trapped into the stats count of things. (Sometimes still is.) And the reality of it is, it is extremely rare for the stats to go sky high immediately! Having expectations such as the above will most likely not give you the results, which I learned the hard way haha. 😉 I didn’t have the exact expectation as above, but you get the idea?

Expectation #2:

“I’m going to have a perfect blogging schedule 100% of the time! I ❤ organization!”

Reality

Me trying to keep up with life and never being able to keep a proper blogging schedule... — Me trying to keep up with life and never being able to keep a proper blogging schedule…

I mean, I love organization, I swear I do! But… way too hard to keep a consistent and perfect blogging schedule ALL. THE. TIME. If you do, I swear you will find me at your feet begging you to give me your skills. As proven by my hiatuses and life in general, sometimes it’s impossible to control everything! And I’ve felt bad about leaving blogging for so long, but sometimes it’s necessary. And it’s okay. So, no, my blogging schedule was never 100% perfect, and probably never will be! And that’s okay too. 😉

Expectation #3:

“Blogging is so easy, it hardly takes any effort at all! I could do it in my sleep.”

Reality

I mean, maybe for some the above expectation *is* reality, in which case, again, I PRAISE YOU. But for most of us (I’m assuming, anyway, based on myself, haha) BLOGGING IS DIFFICULT. Lots of fun, of course! But it takes a lot of effort and dedication to run and maintain a blog, you know? Saying blogging doesn’t take effort is like saying it’s easy for me to wake up early in the morning. They’re both LIES.

Expectation #4:

“I can totally comment on all the amazing posts out there? What are you talking about, it hardly takes any time??”

Reality

If we (I) tried to keep up with commenting on all posts... also can we just appreciate this gif here?? #muppetlove — If we (I) tried to keep up with commenting on all posts… also can we just appreciate this gif here?? #muppetlove

This one still makes me sad, guys! I want so so much to be able to keep up with ALL of the great posts being posted by lovely and wonderful bloggers but it’s impossible! I love talking to other bloggers and spreading the comment love, but it actually takes a lot more time than you’d think, you know? I try to visit a bunch whenever I get the chance lately, but trying to keep up with all the posts that show up in my reader would drive me insane due to the HUGE number of them, not to mention rob me of my life haha. I do try to comment as much as I can! I love talking to you guys all. ❤

Expectation #5:

“It’s so easy to come up with new content, and my posts are so original!”

Reality

I’m not discounting the fact that there are a lot of diverse and unique material out there, but…. let’s face it, at one point, there was probably a post very similar to the one we write. It’s pretty much all been written about at some point. Sometimes it’s easy to come up with new content, sometimes not. But when it comes down to it, majority of the time, the reality is that it’s not always easy to come with new posts, or with truly original material. And that’s okay!

Okay, so this has been mostly positive expectations with a negative reality?? Let’s switch gears a bit to a more positive note for the realities, shall we? That was kind of depressing, geez.

Expectation #6:

Opposite to the “I will be so popular really fast” mentality, there is also…

“No one is going to read my posts?? I’m going to forever be stuck with 2 followers, one of which who happens to be my [mom/friend/sister/second account/whatever].”

Reality

The blogging community is huge and I promise you, as long as you interact and have good material, there will be more than a couple people interested in your blog! It’s hard to believe at first, but I guarantee it! After all, that’s exactly what I thought when I started blogging (after the realization that followers don’t come super fast) and I’ve been proven otherwise haha.

Expectation #7:

“The more experienced, “big” bloggers will probably never speak to me anyway.”

Reality

NOT TRUE. All bloggers, from my experience, no matter how long they’ve been blogging, are always welcome to chatting! Always. I haven’t met a single blogger that ignored me completely, or if I have, the number of them is so low that I can’t even recall the memory! The bloggers I have met, even the “big” bloggers (I put big in quotations because, well, it’s subjective) always manage a reply and are always super sweet. Seriously. This is the one of the biggest myths ever!

Expectation #8

“My posts have to be 100% perfect 100% of the time or else people will stop liking my posts and following me.”

Reality

Nobody’s perfect! And nobody cares if we slip up here and there. Am I right? There have been countless times where my posts have been less than great and were actually quite terrible, if I look back on them now (those archives are forbidden, guys) but it didn’t really matter? People are always so kind and it just gave me an opportunity to make my posts better for the next time.

Expectation #9:

I will never become one of those “big” bloggers! They have so many followers, oh my gosh. I’m never going to be match them.

Reality

Liessssssss! Never lose faith in your blogging abilities! I’d say not to be so occupied with stats, but it’s easier said than done sometimes. And I know how it feels to be discouraged that our blog will never be as popular as other people’s. But I mean, I never thought this blog would go past, like, 20 followers, tops? I’m not bragging, but I’ve come a long way since then and I just wanted to tell you guys, anyone who’s feeling discouraged, or just in general, don’t get discouraged. Keep blogging. Keep working. You will reach your goal! Those “big” bloggers started off at the bottom, too. And at the end of the day, it’s just a number! Don’t let it determine your value. Because you and your blog are so much more than that!

Expectation #10:

“Blogging will totally change my life.”

Reality

… You know, this is actually 100% true. In the best way possible!

Sooooo I think that wraps up the end of this post. Please comment and let me know your thoughts! Which of these do you agree with? Disagree with? Do you have any other ones to add? I’d love to know and grow my collection of blogging secrets. LOL. I’ve also been blog hopping lately, trying to make up for my lack of participation for the past 7 months haha. Leaving a comment would make it easier for me to stop by your blog, not to mention make my day! ❤ I hope you guys enjoy your day/night. Hugs!

It’s been a long day, without you, my friends.

Sorry, that song has been stuck in my head for some reason. But hi, hello! I know it’s Tuesday, and I swear, I had really meant to do a Top Ten Tuesday post, but it’s felt like a while since I posted the last discussion, so I thought, why not write up another one? I promise I will be doing Top Ten Tuesday posts once again sometime, but today is not that day! As the title dictates, for this post, I’m going to be talking about things I wish I knew or did back when I was a newbie blogger. In many ways I still consider myself to be one, to be honest, (there’s new things I learn everyday!) but I suppose technically, since I’ve been blogging for a year now, I’m not as much of a newbie anymore–at the very least, I have the basics of the whole blogging thing down. 😉 But back in the day, when I first started blogging, there were many things I didn’t know! So, now, to walk down memory lane, I’ve decided to think about those things and reflect on the things I know now–that I wish I had known before. Oh, also, warning: this is a no judgement-zone! Mine is a fragile ego. XD (LOL jk but entertain me, why don’t you.) If you judge you shall get no chocolate. And that’s a horror you don’t even want to consider, right? Right. Exactly. *nods*

Alright, now that we got that cheerful little thing out of the way, let’s get on to it, shall we?

1. I don’t have to post everything on one single day.

Erm, I hope I’m not the only one who thought this? Back when I first started blogging, I was under the impression that I had to write several posts in one day. And can you guess? I wrote many posts, for one day. Uhhhh, nope. I was most definitely mistaken! Firstly, there’s no requirement for anything. If I wanted I could post nothing on a day, or 10. Who knows. Secondly, there’s really no point in posting everything in one day (though if you wanted to, of course, that’s all your choice). So. Once I noticed that I was just wasting time posting so many posts in a day, it became much better, yes yes. Which brings me too the second point:

2. There’s this magical thing called a scheduling button.

Okay, so I knew I had the option of scheduling posts, like, many weeks (perhaps months, I dunno really) after I started blogging? (Hush hush, no judgement here, remember?) But I (in a move that boasts of utter ridiculousness, to be honest) kind of ignored it for.. oh, I dunno. Months, definitely. Lots of months. I don’t even know why? Maybe it was just paranoia that it wouldn’t work, or… I really don’t know. Once I actually took the big step and used it (like, 10 thousand years later. Well, slight exaggeration, but whatever.) it turned out to be great and quite useful! So yeah, I most definitely would’ve wanted to have use it before. XD Again, I don’t even know what kept stopping me from using it? What can I say, I’m a confusing person. We’ve established this.

3. I don’t have to be worried about putting my personality out there.

I think it’s kind of natural, at the very start of blogging, that our personality isn’t, perhaps.. as clear? Okay, okay, I know that explains nothing whatsoever, but like, I mean.. aghhh sorry excuse my moment of utter failing-at-lifeness there. Basically what I’m trying to say is that I feel like when I first started blogging, in the back of my mind, I might’ve been more reserved in terms of letting my voice and my personality show through my writing. Now, as I am more comfortable with blogging and everything, I think I make more of a conscious effort to be ME in my posts, and show more of who I am than before. And I love it? It makes the blogging experience so much the more genuine and I wish I hadn’t been so worried about my voice and personality and what other nonsense had been going through my head back at the start, lol. 😉

4. Creating graphics is nothing to fret over!

Back when I first started blogging, I had been in awe of all the amazing graphics I saw on other people’s blogs. When I saw that the blogger himself/herself created the graphic, I was in even more awe! Yes, I know I know. Hush children. No judging, remember? XD Come on, I can’t have been the only one in this situation, right? But anyway, yes, I was in awe. And then I became confused as to what I would do in terms of graphics. I love design and appreciate art (though I’m terrible at art like drawing, music and the like) After all, pictures always make everything so much the more interesting! But as I discovered later on, creating graphics is not too difficult! After searching online (because duh, Google has basically all the answers. LOL) I found many helpful graphic design websites, like PicMonkey, Canva, among others. My only wish was that I took the initiative to find out how to make graphics much earlier! It’s not that difficult, really, when you have the right tools.

5. It takes time to get successful stats and followers.

Although the definition of success depends from person to person, the universal key to remember is that everything takes time–especially stats and followers. Building up a successful following takes a while (most of the time). Having the types of expectations that you’ll get 100 followers in a day sadly holds no weight and will get you nowhere. For me, I wouldn’t say I had such an expectation, but it did take a while to accept that I won’t be receiving tons and tons of likes, comments, and followers in just a little bit of time. 😉 I did end up accepting it in the end (it might’ve been hard to find amusement in blogging if I hadn’t) but I do wish I knew this when I first started blogging! The first couple of weeks can be tough (lol), when you kind of find that no one is actually reading your posts and you’re talking to yourself. XD But the important thing is not to be worried or stressed out! It’ll happen eventually.

6. It’s okay if I have to go on hiatus.

This is something which I still don’t like to do very much, LOL, but it is especially something I wish I knew back when I first started blogging! I was in grade 11 when I first started, and at times (lol, who am I kidding, almost all the time) it became tough to juggle so many things at once; school, reading, blogging, there’s only so much time you have to spend for each. And sometimes taking a break is what we need to balance everything, you know? I know that now, but it would definitely have helped if I had known that before. 😀 I think, it felt like if I took a hiatus and didn’t blog, for, I don’t know, even a week or something, I’d lose followers, and people would forget about my blog, and whatnot. It’s a worry that’s long gone now, but as a newbie, I couldn’t help but think that way, lolllllll.

7. Other bloggers don’t bite!

As a newbie in the book blogging community, where I was surrounded with a bunch of other bloggers who had so many more followers than my humble, like, 10 (lol I don’t actually know how much I had back then) it definitely could be intimidating to actually find the courage to talk to them! Now, I know it’s ridiculous to think that way–bloggers don’t bite! They’re just as human and just as friendly as the rest of us, and it’s 100% okay to talk to them. Thank goodness I ended up talking to other bloggers in the end after all; or else I’d be quite a hermit and quite lonely, lolllll. XD Talking to these bloggers back at the start, and even now, created such lovely friendships and it’s the greatest. Truly. ❤

8. It is impossible to read each and every single blog post that appears in my blog feed.

Truer words have never been spoken, if I do say so myself. I mean, have YOU been able to read every blog post that arrives in your Reader? Didn’t think so. But back then, I tried quite hard to do so (and comment too!) which, proved to be quite futile in the end save for the posts I actually did manage to read and comment on. I followed quite a lot of blogs back then (and even more now!) and there were SO MANY posts appearing all the time. It’s impossible to read them all! Don’t fret if you can’t read/comment on each post; I doubt it’s even possible unless you follow, like, less than maybe 10 blogs. Which I doubt is the case? I did (and still do) put an effort into commenting and reading at least some of the posts that appear in my Reader, but it would’ve definitely saved me a lot of time had I not attempted to read all, or almost all, of the posts that I find. 😉

9. It’s okay to be different.

Whether it be in terms of what you post, what your blog looks like, how you talk and how you fangirl, it’s okay if it’s not like everyone else. Normal is overrated! Be unique, be yourself, and that’s all that matters. I think, when I first started blogging, I wanted more to be like the other bloggers? Kind of? A smidge? Not that I was afraid to be different, but more that I felt like I should be like everyone else. Wrong! Totally wrong. There is no need whatsoever for you to be like everyone else, and when I accepted this, it became so much more fun for me and more, I don’t know, free. It’s partly the reason why I’m still holding on to the theme I currently have (light text on dark background), despite thinking about changing it. It’s a lot more uncommon, as far as I’ve noticed!

10. I’m blogging for MYSELF first and foremost.

Perhaps one of the most important things I wished I knew as a newbie blogger, this is one that I still remind myself about. When blogging gets tough and we get caught up in the stats game and it becomes, you know, less of a hobby and more of a job, this is the best thing to think of! We blog for ourselves and no one else, and that’s what matters. (LOLLLL notice how all the other ones I ramble about FOREVER yet this one I spare three sentences. This says nothing about importance or anything! I’m just lost at what other things to say. :P)

Alright, so that’s it for this post! The 10 things I wish I knew as a newbie blogger. Don’t leave me hanging; do let me know your thoughts in the comments! ❤ I’d love to know which of the YOU wish you knew as well, when you first started blogging. Feel free to let me know all and any of your thoughts! I’d love to chat. Oh, and just a little note; I might be disappearing, in and out for the next couple of weeks! It’s getting super busy and it’s incredibly difficult to keep up with blogging sometimes. But I will still be around!

Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying your Tuesday! ❤