As I’ve been writing this blog for three months now I thought it would be a good idea to take stock of what I think I’ve learnt so far. So here goes.

1. It’s better to have loved than to never loved at all.
Sounds a bit of a cliche, but I’m really glad that I started this blog and kept updating it. As I’m a bit of a perfectionist, I’ll end up deliberating over what I should write about for ages. However, what I’ve learnt is that the most important thing is to just do it. So what if you don’t know all the answers, or you can’t write like Shakespeare. For me, when I write it’s like I’m thinking about things for the first time. I’ve got so many distractions, I can allow myself not to write or think about what I’m doing at any time. So top marks to me. A1 for effort. So far so good.

2. People exist!
There’s a scene from Pink Floyd’s The Wall when the chief protagonist (Pink) is descending into a pit of self-induced despair, echoing the words ‘Is anybody out there?’ (‘Comfortably Numb’, go check it as it’s a brilliant song). Blogging for the first time is a bit like that. All you want to do is to have your posts read by someone. Otherwise it all seems a little pointless and a bit narcissistic. But, when you finally start to get comments from people then everything changes.

Not that people will be agreeing with what you say at all. I’ve had good comments and bad comments, comments from authors when I’ve written a review of their books or just random people who have completely slated what I’ve written. Whatever happens, connecting with people really does improve your writing. Most importantly for me, it’s taught me to be less worthy as I have a tendency to drift up my own backside when I write. Obviously, nothing like that is happening at this very moment in this post.

3. Techno, techno, techno!
I started a blog to start writing but there have also been some other interesting outcomes. Hosting a blog has made me think about which CMS to use, where to host it, SEO, design, how to tweet posts and a whole host of related topics that I don’t think I would have considered if I hadn’t started this blog. So, it’s better to throw yourself in at the deep end and try to work it out later than to sit there pontificating.

I’ve also become a fan of WordPress is the process. I just love the slick ‘app’ nature of the product and the fact that I just don’t have to get my hands dirty with HTML. That said, it’s not perfect, you can happily add modules to your heart’s content but you’ll still need to figure out how the WP environment works. That cool Theme that you’ve just loaded might lead to slow page loading times, or that Cache module might conflict with your Twitter app. It might be quicker than building a site direct from code, but you’ll still need to get under the bonnet from time to time.

4. Blogging is like learning to play the blues.
At the moment I’m teaching myself to play the guitar. And it’s bloody hard work. It started off easy, I had one section of the fret board mastered. But now a whole new world has opened up since I began to learn from others and its become a little spooky. And my fingers now hurt.

And that’s how it feels for me at the moment blogging. I’m still not sure what this blog is about. I know you’re supposed to define a niche and stick to that but I think that would put too many obstacles in the way of me actually writing. I have a vision of what it’s going to take to become a good writer, but I’m still at the starting line and a bit daunted by the whole process. But I really want to improve, I think I have things to say and readers out there who’ll feedback and enjoy it.

So, still early days. I’m enjoying it and hope you are too!