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31 Days to Finding your Blogging Mojo by Bryan Allain

By Anita Mathias


I slowly worked my way through some of Darren Rowse’s encyclopedic ebook

http://www.problogger.net/31-days-to-building-a-better-blog/ last month. It’s freely available online, though I bought the ebook, so I could read bits when offline, i.e. on holiday–well, until my laptop got nicked.

I found it so helpful that I volunteered to briefly review Bryan Allain’s 31 Days to Finding your Blogging Mojo.

.
Though I would recommend reading Darren’s ebook (which is hundreds of pages, including links) first, I think Bryan’s book might be useful to a beginner, or to someone who has lost her focus, stalled, whose blog is not growing, or who is no longer sure why she is doing this silly thing in the first place. It’s a nice “get back to basics, and start afresh” kind of book.

Bryan has useful chapters and lots of good ideas on the philosophy of blogging, on discovering content, and on finding and keeping readers. He’s good at helping you see your blog with fresh eyes. I have worked through a few days, and will work through the whole book–once I have got through the Rowse one.

If one has decided to blog, it’s worth making sure one does it well–writing (mostly) good posts and finding an audience so that your blog is a growing, thriving, satisfying one.

Both these books will help you in this enterprise.

Blogging is a rapidly developing art form, and part of its pleasure is that there are no rules. Some blogs are conversational, with lots of comments, but the posts won’t be worth reading a year later. Some, like John Piper’s or Ann Voskamp’s are more magisterial, carefully-thought out, well-written. These have turned off comments, for the most part, and the posts have the evidence of time spent on them, and will be worth reading five years hence.

So one needs to develop one’s blogging philosophy. Write prolifically, but stuff which has little lasting value? Or write less, but things which you are proud of, and which can be re-posted a year later, and still be a blessing to people?

Bryan’s book sets out his philosophy of blogging. I personally did not agree with several chapters, since my own philosophy is different, but read it, and develop your own philosophy, which suits your time, energy, talents, values and goals.

Thank you, Bryan for the preview.

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Comments

  1. Anita says

    September 22, 2011 at 8:02 am

    HI Jennifer, I waited 16 months, and it was only after much prayer that I felt the “go ahead” to try to develop by by working smarter, not harder–since the time and energy crunch remains. I wanted to develop it earlier, but the time never felt right.
    You have A LOT on your plate, so I guess the important thing is to hear God's directions for your day/week.

  2. Jennifer in OR says

    September 17, 2011 at 4:40 pm

    Thanks for the thoughts, Anita! I really like how you're purposely working to develop your blog. I know I can't do that at the moment because I'm in a different place with my young children (and perhaps I'm not ever called to that?); however, God in his perfect timing knows all these things, and I'm learning some wisdom in that regard. {Looking forward, though, to writing about those who hope in the Lord for you…} 😉

  3. Anita says

    September 17, 2011 at 9:32 am

    Hi Jennifer, I guess I was just sorting out my thoughts. I just wrote in my blog for the first 16 months, and left it to God to find me as big or small an audience as he pleased.

    Over the summer, I seemed to get direction that it was now time to develop the blog, which I am slowly doing, a little bit very day.

    There are no rules, and no two of us will travel the same path. I guess we have to discover the path which is right for us. Your writing is beautiful, and who knows? you might be given time to develop it once the children are older, and the business more established, perhaps with employees for routine chores.
    Blessings,
    Anita

  4. Jennifer in OR says

    September 17, 2011 at 12:18 am

    “If one does not expend the time in blog maintenance in a sense you've wasted your writing time, since no one reads it.” –ouch, I need help!

    Sometimes, though…when I think about words and thoughts captured for a present and future audience, I think there can be nothing better than a thought memorialized, a piece of you, really, ~ even if it benefits just you, or just one other. My favorite mementos from my mother are her writings. I recently realized this, actually. I used to think she wasted time writing when I was a child, as she wrote incessantly, often in lieu of mothering. And now, I see some value, as she is fading.

    “In the beginning was the Word.” Someday, I'll really understand that holy thought, but for now, I just barely do, but sense there is something HUGE behind that verse. I'm totally rambling here, Anita, sorry…I think often about the value of writing, as you do, and wrestle through how much, how little, I should spend time on it.

  5. Anita says

    September 16, 2011 at 5:10 pm

    Hi Dana, Sorry I meant 16 hours hammering out blog posts, not one, I assume, but several. I bought his book when I started blogging, and it has lots of great information. As does his ebook, 31 Days to a Better Blog. When my stats stall, I pull it up on my computer screen, and do 15 minutes of his exercises, and follow his suggestions. A few days of this, and I am back on track, with increasing visits and page views, etc.
    Blogging is weird. If one does not expend the time in blog maintenance in a sense you've wasted your writing time, since no one reads it. So as always, we have to struggle to find the right balance!!

  6. Dana Rongione says

    September 16, 2011 at 4:59 pm

    Wow! Sixteen hours on one blog! I can't sit still that long. The most amount of time I spend on my blog is when I'm “re-vamping” it to give it a new look and keep it fresh. Otherwise, I spend less than a hour per day on it. I'll definitely have to check out this book and see what I can learn. Thanks for the tip!

  7. Anita says

    September 16, 2011 at 1:34 pm

    Yes, that's really impressive. In his blogging book, he describes all nighters and 16 hour days on his blog. But since what he wrote had value, it can indeed be reused.
    I find it hard to do both–post daily and write things I'll like 1 or 5 years later.
    I guess one finds the balance through trial and error!

  8. Rhoda says

    September 15, 2011 at 10:24 pm

    Darren Rowse has such helpful stuff on his blog. I think he is unusual because when he was growing his blog he wrote really well-written stuff prolifically! But on the other hand he was making that his job, so I guess he had more time to put into it.

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Wandering Between Two Worlds: Essays on Faith and Art

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Francesco, Artist of Florence: The Man Who Gave Too Much

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The Story of Dirk Willems

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Recent Posts

  •  On Not Wasting a Desert Experience
  • A Mind of Life and Peace in the Middle of a Global Pandemic
  • On Yoga and Following Jesus
  • Silver and Gold Linings in the Storm Clouds of Coronavirus
  • Trust: A Message of Christmas
  • Life- Changing Journaling: A Gratitude Journal, and Habit-Tracker, with Food and Exercise Logs, Time Sheets, a Bullet Journal, Goal Sheets and a Planner
  • On Loving That Which Love You Back
  • “An Autobiography in Five Chapters” and Avoiding Habitual Holes  
  • Shining Faith in Action: Dirk Willems on the Ice
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Wanderlust
Rebecca Solnit

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Acedia & me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer\'s Life
Kathleen Norris

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Opened Ground: Poems, 1966-96
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anita.mathias

Writer, Blogger, Reader, Mum. Christian. Instaing Oxford, travel, gardens and healthy meals. Oxford English alum. Writing memoir. Lives in Oxford, UK

Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford # Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford #walking #tranquility #naturephotography #nature
So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And h So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And here we are at one of the world’s most famous and easily recognisable sites.
#stonehenge #travel #england #prehistoric England #family #druids
And I’ve blogged https://anitamathias.com/2020/09/13/on-not-wasting-a-desert-experience/
So, after Paul the Apostle's lightning bolt encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he went into the desert, he tells us...
And there, he received revelation, visions, and had divine encounters. The same Judean desert, where Jesus fasted for forty days before starting his active ministry. Where Moses encountered God. Where David turned from a shepherd to a leader and a King, and more, a man after God’s own heart.  Where Elijah in the throes of a nervous breakdown hears God in a gentle whisper. 
England, where I live, like most of the world is going through a desert experience of continuing partial lockdowns. Covid-19 spreads through human contact and social life, and so we must refrain from those great pleasures. We are invited to the desert, a harsh place where pruning can occur, and spiritual fruitfulness.
A plague like this has not been known for a hundred years... John Piper, after his cancer diagnosis, exhorted people, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer”—since this was the experience God permitted you to have, and He can bring gold from it. Pandemics and plagues are permitted (though not willed or desired) by a Sovereign God, and he can bring life-change out of them. 
Let us not waste this unwanted, unchosen pandemic, this opportunity for silence, solitude and reflection. Let’s not squander on endless Zoom calls—or on the internet, which, if not used wisely, will only raise anxiety levels. Let’s instead accept the invitation to increased silence and reflection
Let's use the extra free time that many of us have long coveted and which has now been given us by Covid-19 restrictions to seek the face of God. To seek revelation. To pray. 
And to work on those projects of our hearts which have been smothered by noise, busyness, and the tumult of people and parties. To nurture the fragile dreams still alive in our hearts. The long-deferred duty or vocation
So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I have totally sunk into the rhythm of it, and have got quiet, very quiet, the quietest spell of time I have had as an adult.
I like it. I will find going back to the sometimes frenetic merry-go-round of my old life rather hard. Well, I doubt I will go back to it. I will prune some activities, and generally live more intentionally and mindfully.
I have started blocking internet of my phone and laptop for longer periods of time, and that has brought a lot of internal quiet and peace.
Some of the things I have enjoyed during lockdown have been my daily long walks, and gardening. Well, and reading and working on a longer piece of work.
Here are some images from my walks.
And if you missed it, a blog about maintaining peace in the middle of the storm of a global pandemic
https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/  #walking #contemplating #beauty #oxford #pandemic
A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine. A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine.  We can maintain a mind of life and peace during this period of lockdown by being mindful of our minds, and regulating them through meditation; being mindful of our bodies and keeping them happy by exercise and yoga; and being mindful of our emotions in this uncertain time, and trusting God who remains in charge. A new blog on maintaining a mind of life and peace during lockdown https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/
In the days when one could still travel, i.e. Janu In the days when one could still travel, i.e. January 2020, which seems like another life, all four of us spent 10 days in Malta. I unplugged, and logged off social media, so here are some belated iphone photos of a day in Valetta.
Today, of course, there’s a lockdown, and the country’s leader is in intensive care.
When the world is too much with us, and the news stresses us, moving one’s body, as in yoga or walking, calms the mind. I am doing some Yoga with Adriene, and again seeing the similarities between the practice of Yoga and the practice of following Christ.
https://anitamathias.com/2020/04/06/on-yoga-and-following-jesus/
#valleta #valletamalta #travel #travelgram #uncagedbird
Images from some recent walks in Oxford. I am copi Images from some recent walks in Oxford.
I am coping with lockdown by really, really enjoying my daily 4 mile walk. By savouring the peace of wild things. By trusting that God will bring good out of this. With a bit of yoga, and weights. And by working a fair amount in my garden. And reading.
How are you doing?
#oxford #oxfordinlockdown #lockdown #walk #lockdownwalks #peace #beauty #happiness #joy #thepeaceofwildthings
Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social d Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social distancing. The first two are my own garden.  And I’ve https://anitamathias.com/2020/03/28/silver-and-gold-linings-in-the-storm-clouds-of-coronavirus/ #corona #socialdistancing #silverlinings #silence #solitude #peace
Trust: A Message of Christmas He came to earth in Trust: A Message of Christmas  He came to earth in a  splash of energy
And gentleness and humility.
That homeless baby in the barn
Would be the lynchpin on which history would ever after turn
Who would have thought it?
But perhaps those attuned to God’s way of surprises would not be surprised.
He was already at the centre of all things, connecting all things. * * *
Augustus Caesar issued a decree which brought him to Bethlehem,
The oppressions of colonialism and conquest brought the Messiah exactly where he was meant to be, the place prophesied eight hundred years before his birth by the Prophet Micah.
And he was already redeeming all things. The shame of unwed motherhood; the powerlessness of poverty.
He was born among animals in a barn, animals enjoying the sweetness of life, animals he created, animals precious to him.
For he created all things, and in him all things hold together
Including stars in the sky, of which a new one heralded his birth
Drawing astronomers to him.
And drawing him to the attention of an angry King
As angelic song drew shepherds to him.
An Emperor, a King, scholars, shepherds, angels, animals, stars, an unwed mother
All things in heaven and earth connected
By a homeless baby
The still point on which the world still turns. The powerful centre. The only true power.
The One who makes connections. * * *
And there is no end to the wisdom, the crystal glints of the Message that birth brings.
To me, today, it says, “Fear not, trust me, I will make a way.” The baby lay gentle in the barn
And God arranges for new stars, angelic song, wise visitors with needed finances for his sustenance in the swiftly-coming exile, shepherds to underline the anointing and reassure his parents. “Trust me in your dilemmas,” the baby still says, “I will make a way. I will show it to you.” Happy Christmas everyone.  https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/24/trust-a-message-of-christmas/ #christmas #gemalderieberlin #trust #godwillmakeaway
Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Gratitude journal, habit tracker, food and exercise journal, bullet journal, with time sheets, goal sheets and a Planner. Everything you’d like to track.  Here’s a post about it with ISBNs https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/23/life-changing-journalling/. Check it out. I hope you and your kids like it!
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