thought-log: blogging
Note: This is a list of things that I thought of / noticed while blogging. It's a "garden post" that will be continuously updated. I was originally planning to make a long-form post about this, but meta-blogging (blogging about blogging) isn't exactly the most unique topic, and I think most of the things don't require a long explanation anyway. So I'll just collect them all here.
April 2026
- (Personal, non-monetised) blogs are bit like those little libraries ... just in a digital format, and the books in them don't disappear when people take something with them
- Sometimes I start writing a post thinking "this will be a short one", only to end up working on it for an hour or so
- Daily blogging has been rewarding, but I'm also so ready to be done with it! I think 2-3 new posts per week is more "my style"
- The opposite of "idea overflow": "Energy drain", where you look at all your ideas and drafts that you started and simply feel nothing, no enthusiasm at all
- All these blogging pet-peeves also serve as memos to myself or self-admonitions: I am not without "sin"
- Blogging pet-peeve: "Vagueposting" (writing about things in a way that sounds good, but is deliberately or unintentionally obfuscating)
- Sometimes I experience "idea overflow" where one thought leads to the next and I'm generating new blogging ideas in my head by the minute. It's exciting, but also can be a bit exhausting. Every blogger must have experienced this at some point
- Receiving even just one e-mail from someone who liked your blog post is so much better than getting a bunch of toasts / upvotes
- Blogging pet-peeve: "Announcement posts" (I'm doing X - Leaving X - Pausing the blog etc). I get the motivation behind them, but I'm a lot more interested in reading about people's experiences after they've done something instead of the announcement for it
- I feel most motivated to write / blog in the morning. I have the most and best ideas for blog posts while at work
- Creating and maintaining a (personal) blog is a bit like building a house: It has to be "presentable" to a degree, but since it's your home, you should mainly build it for yourself, not for others
- Might just try posting daily for a while to really feel out what I want to write about, how I want to write etc.
March 2026
- Since re-starting the blog, I am taking a lot more notes than before (not just blog post and customisation ideas, but also other random stuff)
- I prefer scheduling posts a few days ahead of time and "letting them sit" for a while instead of hitting publish right away
- Metrics are a distraction (I've hidden the toast counter)
- "Stocking up on posts" and scheduling them ahead of time helps with consistency (and bridging low-motivation stretches)
- Reading the blogs of others is a great source of motivation and creative inspiration
- Blogging is a good tool for self-reflection - writing things out helps with "thinking them through"
- I'm not super confident in my writing ability yet, especially when trying to write more in-depth, formal-essay-like stuff
- For now I want to experiment with lots of different post types and topics, consodilation can come later