having a blog in 2024

20 May, 2024

i was feeling seriously pisspoor about my artwork and status as an artist, hoping to find comfort in my work as a writer instead... but then i read some notes about my writing from a supervisor and got embarrassed so i'm back to focusing on art (it wasn't anything bad, just saying that i'm more suited for sales-oriented writing due to my straightforward tone of voice). still, i've been meaning to write some stuff on writing a journal for a while.

over the past few years i've had many unsuccessful attempts to keep a public long-form personal blog. this dreamwidth journal (06/08 edit: now bearblog) is actually the first time i've ever kept it going longer than a week. i'm constantly coming across other people who have blogs that last no longer than a week as well, so here are some thoughts regarding the topic.

1. you don't need to code your own website

by this, i'm mainly referring to coding your own blog with github, n*ocities, or whatever other hosting platform you prefer, but it also encompasses blog formats with more manual setup like hexo. i like coding and making my own sites, but it's really overrated and unnecessary if you're talking about running a personal blog. the reason is that it's a pain in the ass to update unless you've got your own CMS or posting system built in.

don't waste your time on setting up a finnicky blogging system and just write already. if you really care about customizing things to look unique, you can edit the HTML and CSS of tumblr, dreamwidth, blogspot, hatenablog, bearblog, etc. all for free. my personal preference is actually hatenablog because i'd rather use an actual blogging site and not a journaling site (plus markdown is always better than rich text or html for writing), but i think i've been IP banned from it TBH.

2. keep your own tone of voice

my earlier attempts at blogging all involved capital letters and proper grammar, which was frankly just hard to keep up with when i was attempting to write about things that pertained to me and my daily life. it doesn't reflect how i speak online visually nor does using commas correctly accurately portray the pacing of my speech. i still use proper grammar on my more formal, informative blog, but that's because the information there is intended for other people as a wiki-like resource. if it's just for yourself, write as you usually do.

3. stick to twitter

while having a personal blog is nice, you don't need a daily blog. i think most working adults don't have that much going on each day, even if we consume new media or go outside. there's not much point in writing down long-form journals about stuff that just doesn't warrant that, and sometimes sticking it all on twitter in quick bursts is fine. it's why i haven't written about the kendrick/drake drama here despite how invested i was in it. i don't have anything interesting to add or say about the rap beef outside of how entertaining it was and like... even i don't care what i thought of that. ¹

this is all to say that forcing yourself to write a daily update about everything that is concerning you will lead to you very quickly getting burnt out and realizing how boring your weekday life is. but you don't need to leave a blog only for the most important moments either, just anything you can't fit in a short thread.

i've personally been too lazy about it though. there's so many things regarding media reviews and art that i intend to write and never get around to doing. i can't even be bothered to just post the artwork i've been doing recently, which is mostly due to 1) me using blogging as a supplement to my private twitter where i post WIPs nonstop, and 2) me preferring my posts to focus on a single topic yet not having enough to say about my art to justify a whole post.

so whether or not you follow this system more depends on whether having a permanent public record of all of your thoughts and art is important to you i guess.

#rant #writing