Tag: writer

Hello 2019.

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

The start of a new year, already? It’s pretty scary how time just seems to fly by, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. It’s important to make the best of whatever time you have, and that includes relaxing.

This year, I have a few things I want to sort out.

1) Finances- I pretty much live payday to payday, which is pretty sad. It’s no way to live life, as you can feel permanently broke. So I am planning on setting up my bill payment account, and I won’t be able to touch the money that goes into there. It’s going to need a bit of discipline, but I am aiming to spend a lot wiser next year, and hopefully save some money.

2) Be Healthier- I am very unhealthy. I do a lot of walking, but I eat so much crap. This year is about progress, so I want try and move a little forward with my health. It includes eating better, and doing more exercise, as well as looking after my mental health. My mental health was awful last year, and it was like a brick wall that stopped me from doing so much. I want my health to stop being such a burden on my own life. So more ‘body positive’ and self-care in the year ahead.

3) Read More- this sounds a pretty weak one, but it’s important. I have always read, but last year I really struggled. Reading is something I need to have focus for, and I haven’t had the focus. So I am going to try and put time aside to relax and read to unwind.

It’s not a lot. But they are things I would like to achieve. The start of a new year always feels like a fresh start, but it’s not really. It does feel like a good opportunity to push myself to be better, but every day should be like that. But, it psychologically feels to close off a year, especially if it feels like a bad one.

Let’s see what 2019 has in store.

Breaking The Habit

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

I have been really bad at keeping my habits over the last few months. That includes everything like drawing, reading, writing and going to the gym. It is frustrating, because these are all things that help with my mental health, and keeps me calmer. However, when you can’t even stomach doing those things, it is horrible.

When you stop doing something, it can become hard to get back into it again. I can’t speak for others, but I know with myself, that I see the breaking of a habit as a failure. It seems pretty stupid, but is just how my brain is wired. It starts to cause a problem when I want to restart a particular thing, especially if it was something that was habitual before. Because I attach the feeling of failure, to something and feel so bad about, I am natural hesitant to try and start something up again, as I could fail again. For years, I feel like I have stopped doing things because I fear the worse could happen. Which is a bit sad.

The one thing about myself, which is good, is that I am pretty stubborn. So, I will try to get back into habits that I haven’t been able to keep. This means, I could type up a word post, but become too anxious to post it. Or I try to draw something, and get so irritated, the attempted creation ends up in the bin. It’s like, I try, but I worry too much. Which I have acknowledged before on here. But it is one thing picking up what is wrong, it is another thing to be able to do something about it.

The most important thing, is to never give up. Having a break from things is okay, you can get consistency again if you really want to.

10,000 Blog Views?

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

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10,000 views for this blog. It may not seem very much to some, but it is a milestone that passed a few weeks ago. I have no idea how my nonsense managed to get that many views, especially when my own visits aren’t counted.

I have been through quite a journey over the last several years, and this blog has documented it. I maybe haven’t gone as far as I would have liked in my ‘career’, but I have learnt a lot about myself and who I am. And, I think that is the best thing to come out of this blog. That despite everything, I am proud of the person who I have become. I am thankful as I reminisce about periods of my life I didn’t appreciate because I was so self-obsessed and depressed (2 things that incidentally are very closely connected).

That is maybe why I am so overbearingly PMA right now. Most of my early 20s were filled with me wanting to kill myself, because I saw myself as a failure. I spent night, after night alone, and this ‘ lack of a life’ became the focus of EVERYTHING. And when you spend all your time thinking about something so negative, it does get you down. It was only when I started forcing myself to do things as small as going for walks, that I left behind my negative mindset. And it has changed my life.

So here I am sitting on my bed, blogging from my iPad (laptop charger is toast) and wondering about who reads my crazy ramblings. Whether I have influenced someone, or whether someone has found comfort in what I have written. These may seem like ‘lofty ambitions’, but it is the magic of words. How letters and words typed by someone you don’t know can help you through something. It’s really beautiful really, and I think every writer, be it blogger, journalist, novelist or anything, wants their words to connect with people. To find an audience, and to speak to them.

The fact that people even glance at what I have to say, gives me a sense of achievement. And I want to thank every person who has ever read my blog at all. Thank you for keeping my dreams alive. I really appreciate it.

Tech, fashion or fame?

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

I have been recently trying to find some new blogs to read. Since blogging is one of my favourite pastimes, I like to draw inspiration from them. Like, you can get ideas of how to make a blog interesting and keep things going. But, I am finding that there is becoming more crap to filter through before I can find anything worthy of adding to any RSS feed.

What it is, I think, is that some of the most visited sites on the internet are based on a blog-like layout. Where page design is simple, things are posted on a regular basis, and people can read through entries and things. This is good, if you have something valid to say. The most popular blogs on the internet have something to do with fashion, technical news or celebrities. And I am going to be harsh and go through each one, and say why most blogs  on those topics are rubbish.

Tech blogs

Tech blogs are a bit hit and miss with me. It’s ok, if someone is showing their thoughts and reviews on a particular web browser release or something, but most of the time, people repost articles and review what is said in the article. That doesn’t really make your blog focus on technical topics, it is more like you are critiquing pieces of writing you found on the internet. People know that by posting and mentioning popular websites, they will get some ‘side-traffic’. Visitors that search for information of that particular site your post mentions. If that makes sense. So, in short, a lot of tech blogs don’t post about actual tech news written by themselves.

Fashion Blogs

One person becomes a professional writer through her own fashion blog, and I swear THOUSANDS of ‘fashionistas’ think they can do the same. -.- Whilst it is undeniable there are really good fashion blogs out there, but some are just a bit dull. Why show the same fashion that every magazine and every other fashion site blabbers about. I mean, playsuits make most women look horrendous, and they really don’t need to be the colour of my gran’s curtians. But, every single fashion  site features them, because suddenly every woman should want to look frumpy. Who knew? People who can talk about fashion well, are people who stay away from the catwalk, and use their blog to highlight some little Etsy shop they like. They look for inspiration outwith the magazines found on the newstands. But again, like tech bloggers, a lot of people just copy pictures from some other site, and just re-word someone else’s opinions.

Celebrity Blog

Ever since Perez Hilton started a Blogger account to report any kind of celebrity gossip going, mere mortals have tried to follow suit. Unfortunately, mere mortals don’t know famous people, and a part from meeting some local footballer, there isn’t much reliable gossip. So again, this is another topic which relies on other sources. Yeah, you might find a certain ‘fanbase’ by blabbering about Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers, but most of the time, it is stolen images and usually stolen words. Unless you actually have some contacts (an money), there is very little chance of you getting any story first. And with gossip, it’s who bursts the bubble, who gets the attention.

So, there is my thoughts. The main reason people start up blogs in either topic of interest, is mostly because it looks easy money. I mean, how hard can it be to post regular about something, and then you can get sponsorship and make money… Actually, no! No matter how popular blogging becomes, you need an average of 1k views A DAY to even think about getting sponsored. So if it is money you are looking for, go an look for something else to spend your time on. If however, you are passionate about what you talk about, it will show. You will get comments that will mean a lot to you, and you feel honoured if just one person reads what you have to say. Copying information from elsewhere will never make a good blog, no matter how much you try to disguise it. And following popular topics will also not make you popular. Remember, those topics are only so popular because some writers have put a lot of time and effort perfecting their own craft. Maybe rather than copying their ideas, you should work on your own.