Blogging

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

All my life I've found myself reading and thinking heavily about a wide range of topics. So unfocused, deep, and wide-ranging are my thoughts on life that I'm seldom ever in a situation where talking freely about whatever is on my mind is socially appropriate. I guess this is because my range of interests was never socially conditioned or circumscribed. That is to say, what draws my interest has never had a lot to do with what draws the interest of other people I'm with. As a outcast kid who took solitary refuge in books and magazines, as well as walking the streets of my home town lost in my own head, I suppose that's my cross to bear. I think having a place where I could just write freely about what's been on my mind would do me a lot of good. I don't really care who reads it -- if I can reach out and touch or inspire just one person out there, it would all be worth it.

Can folks who have blogged a good bit offer me some practical advice, from your experience? Some specific questions I've been pondering:

* What website do you recommend, and why? I care more about ease of use, likely stability over time, and layout (especially ad placement), than I do about maximizing exposure, because good, readable writing sells itself over time.

* I want to write both fiction and nonfiction. Do you recommend I mix them in one blog, or not?

* How important is it, for holding readers' interests, that I keep the topics of entries narrow and/or categorically sorted? I say this having done college radio, and being told that while DJs might think it's cool to play rap after classical, listeners won't. While my list of interests is broad, I'd say most things I'd feel compelled to write at length about would probably fall into about 10 or so topics.

* The advantages to using a pen name don't need any explanation. Can anyone give me a good, compelling argument for blogging under my real name? (I have no intention of writing frankly about my employer, and would be willing to forgo mention of any illegal activities, past or present.)

Feel free to offer me any other helpful tips that may not have occurred to you as a novice blogger.

 

[tackyspiral]

believe me i am far from being an expert but...
i say go w the pen name because using your real name may mean that you have to leave out the most interesting things
dont mix fact and fiction... the two are seperate genres for a reason... plus when you write something factual that is super cool then everyone will just think its fiction

 

[llama112]

I would recommend Blogger (or is it Blogspot?) as a plogging platform. As long as it isn't adult related, you can make money from ads there. And then, when you get enough viewers, move to something bigger.

I wouldn't mix fiction and nonfiction. I would, however, include a link to your fiction blog on your nonfiction blog and vice versa.

You can usually use "tags" while blogging. Make use of them. That way, they are easily sortable.

I'd definitely agree with using a pen name.

 

[yolk17]

I find your writing beautiful and topics introspective. If you decide to share your blog, I'd be interested in following

 

[kronedog]

I'd recommend wordpress.com for your blogging platform. I've found it to be a lot better than blogger but the downside is you can't run ads like adsense unless you're paying for hosting and the domain name from what I remember while blogger being a google product, comes loaded with adsense.

But I wouldn't get into blogging for the money

 

[His Name Is Frank]

* I want to write both fiction and nonfiction. Do you recommend I mix them in one blog, or not?

As far as fiction and nonfiction go, this site www.http://www.authorstand.com is great for posting your work. They have contests and it's pretty high profile. My niece had a horror magazine publish one of her short stories after they had read it on the site.