Evolution of a blog

The past.

Heard something about this blogging lark that a lot of people at work are into. Have some spare time, play around on Google, before you know it, you have a blog. The only difficulty was thinking of a title.

First post-- embarrassing! What to say? Start to write, blushing furiously. Something anodyne -- of course you can always delete it later. A photo you've taken, a description of a walk by the river, a book you've read or a play you've seen. Ten minutes later, done. Go and read your book or play game with child.

Next day, do it again. Read what you wrote the day before. Feels good! Continue like this for a few days. Begin to get the hang of it. A couple of weeks go by. Find out about RSS. Sign up to Bloglines, key in some nice words, find blogs about them. Subscribe. Begin to read them every day before posting. Gives you ideas on what to write about.

Read a post on someone's blog about something you know about. Leave a comment! Next day, go and look, the blogger has replied! Do it more. Get into a routine of reading blogs, commenting, then posting on your own.

Someone has commented on your blog! Feel very excited. Write a post about it.  Some days later, someone else comments on their blog about something you've written. Feel excited again! Write a comment to thank them. Over the next days, receive a few more comments. You've arrived!

The present.

Bloglines subscriptions have reached 100. Takes an hour to read through them all each night while your family eat their supper. Comment on a few. Mark a few others. Check email, several bloggers have written about what you've written on your blog or or replied to your messages of yesterday. You started emailing other bloggers, and they you, when you "discovered" each others' blogs and wanted to know a little more about the blogger, or exchange views you might not like to broadcast to the world. This has set up another communication channel. Take another hour to reply to the messages or to write some new messages of your own. Stop to say goodnight to children.

Go to blog and post a daily feature. Write a different piece, about some previously bookmarked postings on other blogs, or related to an article someone (probably Dave Lull) has emailed to you. Check your comments and reply to any that you think would like a reply (or that demand one). Note that everyone has gone to bed and you didn't notice.

Realise that you now have twice as big a list of books to read since you started reading other people's blogs, and less than half of the time to read them. Realise you have not watched TV or a movie or gone out for a year (or since whenever you started blogging).

The future

Gave up work last year to make time for blogging. After family has gone out in the morning, sit down to read your 1000 Bloglines subscriptions, bookmark on a range of topics, post about them on one of your six blogs. It's lunchtime. Read a few pages of a book while you eat your lunch- you started it six months ago and are on page 25.

Read your email, reply and write messages. Do some Internet searches.  Write about some or all of these on some of your blogs. During this process, become vaguely aware that children have come in from school, partner from work, they've eaten their meal, done their work/homework, watched TV, and gone to bed.

Go back to Bloglines to see what new posts came in during the evening while you were blogging. Visit a few blogs, comment on some posts. Realise it is 2 a.m. and you haven't finished reading them all yet. Go to bed.

Comments

[Susan]

Something about this story seems so familiar...

Well done, Maxine! I'm sure it speaks to all of us.

[Sian]

I still feel like I'm in stage 1, but you've hit the nail on the head. V perceptive and wonderfully written...

[Debra Hamel]

Only six blogs??! Actually, I've got (must think...) six. But seriously, three of them are just announcement blogs associated with other sites (pass-the-book, Neaira, and BAFAB)! Then there's the book-blog, the deblog, and blogographos.

Tell me the truth: does this mean that I'm very, very sick? I am, aren't I.

[Susan]

We all have the same malady, Debra. Some of us just have a few 'spots' while there are those like you and Maxine who have the full, raging fever!

[Richard Akerman]

I think we all go through cycles as we try to fit blog reading and writing into our daily lives. I think read - write - respond can get to be a bit of a treadmill. Since the unread articles in my Bloglines now stand at 5529 (from 157 subscriptions), I'm free... but disconnected from my peers. Always a tradeoff.

[Minx]

Thank got for short sleep cycles - I'd never fit it all in!

[skint writer]

you need to toughen up girl :)

[Bibliophile]

Very funny, and very true. This actually sounds like a couple of people I know. I have been very careful to stay somewhere between stages one and two because I don't want blogging to take over my life.

[Marie]

I think I'm still at stage one. The future looks scary!

[Debi]

OK. Now I know I'm in trouble. I'm definitely in your scarey future. The only difference being substituting 'write a few lines' for 'read a few pages ...'
And I haven't got round to the Bloglines sub yet. Too busy blogging ...
Help! What can I do???

[mapletree7]

Brilliant!

So why did you choose 'Petrona', anyhow?

[Maxine]

Ok, Petrona is a typing error. I had to give Blogger a title so I went for Patronus (Harry Potter, alternative personality), it was taken, so I tried the female Patrona. But I mis-spelled it as Petrona. Debra Hamel pointed this out to me but by then it was too late to "change my brand". Minx says that Petrona means "little rock" so I will just stick with being solid, boring and dependable (on the whole -- the odd Petronarati can slip out), while others strut their crazy stuff and I look on wonderingly.
Debra, I wish I were at your stage with blogging -- you have your blogs, and how they look, under control. I just have to take what typepad dishes out. Also you probably "make money" from your blogs, a topic upon which I did not touch in my post, but which makes quite a difference in that you can actually justify what you are doing for deep visceral satisfaction!

Richard -- glad I am not the only one!

[Debra Hamel]

Well, my problem is that I am *never* fully satisfied with the appearance of my blogs. It's like a sickness, some kind of mental disorder. I'm driven to make changes to templates that are perfectly serviceable.

I do make some money off of blogging! Not a huge amount, but enough to cover any costs, enough even to cover the TypePad subscription now. Even though it's not a lot it is hugely satisfying to think that while you're doing other things your sites may be making money for you.

But: you are perfectly capable of putting google ads or amazon links in your sidebar. And Amazon links in your posts as well. Let me know if you want to and need instruction.

[crimeficreader]

Thanks for explaining where your title name came from Maxine, I was wondering...
Here I am at 07:15 doing the rounds before I really must get around to sorting out some real life problems during the day!

[Maxine]

Yes, early morning and late night seem to be the best times for blogging. I actually cooked the dinner tonight (a once a year event), and have sneaked upstairs after Dr Who has finished to look at what is going on in bloglands.

[Maxine]

Debra, your blogs are a goal for us all. Glad you make 'em work for their money.