Tater Talks Blogging

I will begin this by saying that I am a nobody when it comes to blogging. I have no following. I feel like it is a success if I average 20 views a day. That is peanuts when it comes to blogging and I don’t see it ever changing. So, what I’m saying is that I’m the last person you should ever go to for blogging advice. Good news! I’m here to tell you to stop looking for blogging advice. I’ve been there. I’ve read posts about being a successful blogger. I’ve written a post about how to fail at blogging. Guess what? I’m still lucky to get 20 views a day. I don’t think there is a formula for being a success if you want to maintain your individuality. I’ve seen so many different takes on how to be successful:

Don’t write too much. People will get tired of you and your posts will not be quality posts – Everyone was tired of me before I started blogging and my posts have never been quality posts.

Write every day or people will forget about you – I could write every day or stop writing and still be invisible.

Find a niche. Only write about one thing – I am not an expert on anything. I write whatever pops in my weird little brain. A niche would be forced and artificial.

Post pictures, post videos, promote your old posts! Self-host! Learn how to maximize your random acronyms I can’t remember! That sounds exhausting.

In theory, I would love to have hundreds of views a day or more. In theory, I would love to be so popular that I could make money doing this. In real life, making money or even getting more views than I do is not something that will ever happen for me. I don’t have the skills nor the energy to get there.

I guess if there is a point to this post it is to relax, write what makes you happy and if you have the time do what you need to do to increase your numbers.

Blogging Resolutions

I know it’s not the beginning of a new year or anything, but as I thought about posting this morning and had nothing pop in my head, I decided I should probably reconsider how I do this. So, the following are some things I will try to do to make the blog better(it can’t get any worse)

Stop pressuring myself to post – It’s better to post nothing than to force a post. I would like to have something to say every day, but that might not be realistic. If I’ve got nothing I will move along and go about my day postless.
Jot down ideas – As I think of things throughout the day I will try to write them down or record something on my phone. I tend to have my better ideas at inopportune times.
Plan my weekly posts all week – Write down my thoughts on movies, books and TV all week so I’m ready for my week in review posts. Write down good things as they happen for my What’s Good posts. They should be easier.
Use my alone time – I have two hours alone every night. Seems that would be a better time to write than the short amount of time I have in the morning before work. It might make the posts better if I take my time.
Be better at interacting with others online – I read a lot of blogs, but rarely comment. I should be better about interacting with other bloggers.
Be more willing to write about every day life – I sometimes start to write a more mundane post about y daily life and decide it’s too boring. I should let the readers decide that. Write it if I want.to write it.
Stop over thinking – posts like this will show you that I over think things. Just write when I feel like writing.

I don’t know if I will follow through in any of these, but I will try.

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My Top Viewed Posts Over The Past 365 Days

Today should have been the day I was able to write a decent post. I work 1-9. I had all morning. I was not in the right head space to write this morning. I got out of the house and got coffee and read my book for a while, but it didn’t help. So, instead, here are the five posts that have been viewed the most over the past 365 days.

My Philly Adventure

Photos from my trip to Philadelphia for the Public Library Association Conference. Likely the most viewed because I shared it in the conference’s Facebook group. There is a video in there of me at the ax throwing fundraiser.

My Life As a Jailbrarian: Library Fight Club

A series I guess I have discontinued since I haven’t written one in a while in which I talked about my life working in a jail library. This one is about the fights in the library.

Please Read Before You Comment

In which I complain about people commenting on posts without reading the post first.

Photo Challenge: Cheeky

One of my posts in response to a now dead photo challenge.

A Short Rant

In which I complain about people complaining about books because they have words they don’t like in them.

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My Blogging Brain is Empty

Laptop is open. Glimpses of ideas pop in and out of my head. I write a title. I write a sentence. I delete the sentence, think for a minute, and delete the title. I can’t seem to get past a general idea and form a coherent post. Some ideas are just not great ideas. Here are some of my rejected ideas from this morning:

A post about the rain – using the word moist a lot because I know people don’t like it.

A post about how I enjoyed being in the city for a conference and wish I was in the city every day for work.

A “what I’ve done over the last few days post” – it would have been very boring.

A post about some current events, about which I have no expertise and when I thought about them had no idea where to go with the post.

Something funny – I’m nowhere near the proper head space to write funny right now.

A post about my good sports streak(Braves still in 1st, Ravens blow out win, Kentucky beats Florida for the first time in 32 years)

A post about what I didn’t post about – Here it is in all its terrible “glory”

Maybe tomorrow I will wake up and be ready to write something real….probably not.

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Why Do I Still Do This?

One of my blog friends posted this morning about why she blogs. She also discussed the prospect of making money blogging She correctly pointed out that it takes a lot of work and a specific type of blog to make money doing this. I would love to be able to make money blogging, but I know that will never happen for a few reasons:

Work – She correctly points out that you can’t make money blogging if you are spending a few minutes a day on the blog. You need to take a lot of time thinking about what you will write, writing it, editing it, tailoring it to your audience, etc. I have a full-time job. Some days I barely have time to spend the 15 minutes or so I spend churning out my mediocre posts. I could probably spend more time on it at night, but after work I’m tired and just want to watch TV or read. Maybe in August when my daughter leaves for college I can spend a little more time on it, but I will never have the time it takes to build a money-making blog.
Specific blog type – I want to write about what I want to write about when I want to write about it. Most of the experts say that to build a following you really need to narrow the focus of your blog. I can’t do that. Partly because I want to write about everything and partly because I have no specific expertise. My blog will always be a meandering, confused mess. Me in blog form.
Me no write good – I’m just not a good enough writer to inspire thousands of people to follow me and that is what it takes to make money. I could probably be better if I spent more time on my posts, but see #1.

So, why do I blog if I know I will never make money doing it? Why do I blog when I’m lucky to get 20 views a day? Why do I blog when I have struggled to get over 200 followers and others have thousands after blogging for a year? I blog for the same reason I still post a lot on Facebook. I have things to say(on Facebook it’s more trying to be funny) and I want people to read it. I blog because it feels good to see those 20 people read my post. I blog because I enjoy the writing process, even though my process is 15 minutes of vomiting my thoughts on a page and posting. Honestly, there is always the small thought that if I keep it up and send more time with it I might eventually get a post that gets shared by more famous people and the thousands will follow me.

So, I will keep posting and being read by a handful of people. I might work harder on it in the fall and see if I can get two handfuls of people.

Speaking of money – My periodic sharing of my link if you would like to support my blogging habit or buy me a cup of coffee – click here

Many thanks to my to my two friends who actually did donate. I appreciate the support.

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Should I Write About It?

So, I’m sitting here again with an open laptop and a blank mind. There are some current event things recently that I could write about, but I’ve been hesitant. I make the mistake of reading comments on articles and Facebook posts and everyone is angry all the time – on both sides of the issues. I read Twitter and I see post after post of people saying why everyone else is wrong and there are no grey areas. You either agree with me on everything or you are the enemy. It’s tiring and depressing and makes me less likely to discuss anything of importance with anyone ever.

I could post my thoughts on Starbucks, but would that lead to people hating more than they already do because our views don’t match up? I could post about Roseanne and if ABC should have given her a show but, again, would that alienate more people? Is it easier to just keep quiet? That shouldn’t be the case. If everyone kept quiet there would be no possibility of change, but it is sometimes hard to speak up given this environment. I’m already tired, stressed and a little depressed about some things(college decisions, impending empty nest, travel, career stuff, etc). Do I really want to add to it with possibility of people yelling at me about political views? But, if I don’t write about current events what do I write? My life is way too boring to write about it on a consistent basis. I guess I will just have to get over it and deal with the negativity that comes from the posting of opinions.

A brief look at my views on the aforementioned topics:

Starbucks – Yes, someone being arrested for waiting for a friend at Starbucks is bad and people should be upset, but can you really blame all of Starbucks for the action of one manager? Especially when they are already moving forward with trainings to try to keep it from happening again?

Roseanne – I’ve watched three of the episodes. It’s OK, but not great. The first episode is the only one that mentions Trump, so the entire show is not a pro-Trump show. I don’t agree with the people who say ABC should not have given her a show. Her political views should not prevent her from working. You have the choice to not watch. You can’t make that choice for others.

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I Don’t Know What to Write

I planned to post today since I took the day off and have plenty of time to sit and write post. I opened my laptop and then sat here for a while trying to decide what I wanted to write and never could settle on an idea. I considered writing about the movies and new TV shows I’ve watched recently, but I’m terrible at reviews so I didn’t really know what I would write about them. I will leave a list at the end of the post if anyone cares.

I considered writing a post based on the lyrics a Patent Pending song where they say they’ve got no f#$%ks left to give and how sometimes I wish I could really say I have none left to give and my problem is I care too much about things that don’t matter. I have a f#$%k surplus, but I could never get it quite right.

I considered a post about the Roseanne reboot and the question of someone’s personal beliefs and how it affects your ability to enjoy their work, but I’ve written about that before. Or the question of should the network reconsider the show because of her beliefs(I say no, let the viewers decide). But once again didn’t feel like I could do it right.

My last real post was the one from my trip to Philadelphia, so the obvious answer is that I should quit my job and become a travel blogger. I will propose that to my wife tonight. I’m sure that will go over well.

As promised, the list of stuff I’ve watched/am watching:

Movies – Black Panther and Ready Player One – both very good.

Nw TV Shows – For the People, Rise, Alex Inc, Splitting Up Together, Roseanne, The Resident, Good Girls, Deception

I really like Good Girls, The Resident, For the People and Alex Inc. The rest are OK, but I wouldn’t be sad if the others went away.

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