So, I have a question...or more. Firstly, though, I'm a struggling writer. I have these really great ideas that I want to put out there as something, but I never feel...fulfilled? Like I'm not good enough. I know, I know, nothing anyone can do about that but me. I get it. So let's move to my question. I want to maybe start up a blog. How would I go about starting something like that? Do you have any advice for starting a writing blog or what kind of content it holds?
I'm so sorry about the delay in replying to this! First I just want to give support because I absolutely know what you mean about not feeling good enough. It's a horrible feeling that happens to all writers (and if they say it doesn't, I think they're just in denial) - I think it's something to do with what we can see our story becoming verses the skill we have with writing. We're always improving, but our skill never quite meshes up with what we can see in our heads. The trick is seeking out the good in what we write, the things we like about it, and trying to use that to drown out the voice that says we’re not good enough. It’s hard, but I hope you can push past the negative side of it and keep writing. :)Let's see... I've never been asked this before, so hopefully I can be of some help.-Writing blogs can really be anything! Some writers post advice, some talk about the process that they're going through as they work towards publishing (or whatever their goal is), some answer questions sent in about writing, some post stories or excerpts. I tend to share updates about what's going on with my writing mixed in with short stories whenever I finish them. I'll also reblog stories that other people write and reblog quotes about writing or writing advice that I like. There's no one way to do it, so I'd just say to share whatever you're comfortable sharing. If at first that's just reblogging stuff about writing like advice or resources, that's totally cool! :)-Tumblr is great because there's a huge writing community of really friendly people. I'd recommend making an introduction post talking a little about yourself and what you like to write, saying that you’re new to the community and looking for other writers to add. There’s a very good chance other writers will reblog it, spreading the word about you and your blog and giving you people to follow and who will likely follow you back. You could tag a few writers in it (feel free to use me!) to help get it out there.-Get chatty. This helps a lot! In my experience writers on here love it if you reblog posts about their writing (especially if you add a comment about it in the reply or in the tags) or if you leave a reply to their post directly. Tag games are a wonderful thing, too- there's always a bunch going around and as you make more writeblr friends, you'll get tagged to do these writing games and you can tag other people back. (These are fun games that range from answering questions about what you're writing to posting a line or excerpt from what you're working on and everything in between.) I'm painfully shy so it's really hard to just start chatting with people, so tag games or reblogging/commenting on other people’s stuff is always the easiest for me.-Tags! These are important and help get you found in the writing community on here. Our big one is "writeblr" but I've seen variations on the spelling (like "writblr"), and you can also use tags like "writing" and "writer" or whatever is relevant to the post you make. -Make an info page. This can be as simple as an about page about you with a line or two about what you're working on (or even a line or two in your sidebar or bio!) or it can be as detailed as pages about your writing once you have more info to share. I always love when people share info about what they’re writing because then I feel closer to their projects.-Pick a username and avatar and stick with them as often as you can. This might be a personal thing, but I have a terrible time remembering names. If someone keeps the same username and/or avatar, I'll remember who they are and it's easier to remember how/if I've interacted with them before. Sorta connected to this is if you’re comfortable disclosing multiple blogs that you have, put the username of the writing blog in your main blog and mention on the writing blog that you follow from whatever your main account is. This’ll help you get followed, too, because it’s easier to know who you are. (You don’t have to do this, of course! Do whatever you’re comfortable doing.) -Check out @writeblrconnections and see if you want to join. That'll put you in a database of writers and help you get into the community.This is getting kinda long and it’s probably more info than you wanted (I really hope I didn’t overwhelm you! I have a bad habit of being long-winded), but basically the best advice I can give is to just go for it! :)
