To blog, or not to blog? That’s quite a question.

With apologies to Shakespeare, here’s my take on a smattering of great writers.

The Bard himself, trawling for ideas, getting known. The Blogging Beast.

Dickens, the ultimate showman and self-promoter. Why travel extensively to reach hundreds when you can reach the world at the press of a key? His novels were published like modern soaps – short episodes ending on a cliff-hanger. Perfect for a Blogging Diva.

Walt Whitman, man of the world, man of the universe; blogging into the dark nights reaching fellow souls, speaking of their pain. And wanting nothing back. The Wise Blogger.

Kafka, using the Blog as pivotal to touching a disembodied society searching for answers to which there are no questions. The Humanitarian Blogger.

What’s your take on your favourite writers as bloggers?

I’ve been blogging now for five days – that’s hours and hours at the computer to produce a dozen posts. But I’ve also been learning and refining. Not just learning the mechanics about how the site works, what each theme can do, how to navigate within the site, but learning what to do and what not to do when it comes to publishing. Before publishing a blog, I’ve learned to:

• plan what I want to write and then compose it as a Word document first; I can then copy & paste and do final tweaks on site; for me this process takes the pressure off doing everything directly on site
• get images ready to go, checking dimension requirements, how they will appear on the screen, and how the Title will look on the background image
• be myself, in the way I write and the way I present; that’s the only way I can be consistent, so if people like what they read and come back they shouldn’t be disappointed
• and read advice from successful bloggers who post great tutorials that I can relate to; I’ve found one that I find particularly relevant and useful – The Art of Blogging by Cristian Mihai. http://artofblogging.net

So, yes definitely blog if you’ve got something to say that’s worthwhile, that will reach out to individuals, that you feel passionate about, that you care about. My blogs are about my first-hand experience of autism and mental health. I believe I tick all those boxes. And I believe that they are worth all the time and effort they take to do. But mostly I believe I’ve got to keep learning because it’s the only way to get better.