Blogger Recognition Award

I was nominated for an award last year and I did nothing with it, so, I wanted to be sure that I responded to this one and followed through… but then I did nothing, yet again. I got caught up with life and let this post sit as a draft for almost 2 months. When I stumbled across it again today, I thought of just letting it go by the wayside, certain it was far too late to respond. But, the longer I stared at it, the more I thought to myself, who cares? It’s my blog and I do what I want with it!

So, here we go! Better late than never, right?

Thank you Susannah G. of The Impractical Dreamer for this nomination! Take a few moments a check out her blog where she just keeps it real. She shares about her life, the things she’s learning, and works to keep the main thing the main thing.

How it All Began

Like so many other things in my life, I started my blog on a whim 8 years ago. I don’t even remember the genesis of my idea, just sitting out on my back porch on my day off, feeling so proud of myself for actually starting a blog.

For many years I did nothing with it, posting sporadically and talking about being a writer but never doing any of the work necessary to achieve that goal. Then, about 4 years ago, I began posting regularly and began to see some results.

I’m so thankful that I started my blog all those years ago because, had I not, I don’t know that I would’ve found how passionate I am about writing. Were it not for this blog, I never would’ve written and published 2 devotionals (His Story and My Story) and I wouldn’t be a freelance writer. The process of writing every single day has led to immense growth in my own skills and a growing business that I enjoy.

So, with all that being said, my two pieces of advice are this: be consistent and never edit while you write.

Consistency Pays Off

Seriously. Cultivate the habit of writing consistently and learn to post consistently. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re posting once a week or five times a week, as long as you’re regularly putting out content for your readers on a schedule. More than that, you need to be writing frequently, especially if you want to make a living writing—you need to write every day. In the beginning, I set a daily writing goal of 1,000 words just so I would do it. I was working a more than 40 hours a week job and volunteering on top of that but, because I wanted to write, I found the time to do so.

Step Away from the Laptop

Honestly, this is probably the best piece of advice I ever received. Writing and editing are two opposing processes in the brain, so you should never try to do them simultaneously. If you’re writing and trying to edit yourself at the same time, it’s going to be like pulling teeth. More than that, you’ll feel less proud of your creative work because your editor brain will be constantly telling you it’s not good enough. Then you won’t want to create because you feel shame or guilt or some other negative emotion. It’s no fun, trust me!

Now my method of writing is always this: write, walk away, wait at least 24 hours, and then come back and edit. Sometimes I have to come back after that and edit again, but I make sure the two processes are always separate.

Finding a Blogging Community

One of the most fun parts of blogging is the fact that we get to connect with others. Some of the people listed below I’ve known for years in person and others I’m just getting to know in the blogging world. I’m so excited to nominate the following bloggers who have encouraged me in one way or another!

Stacy — http://stayingstacy.com/

Jean-Michael — https://jeanmichaeltoro.wordpress.com/

Stephen — https://fracturedfaithblog.com/ 

Savannah — https://rejoicinginhope1212.wordpress.com/

Meredith — https://mywayhomelife.wordpress.com/

Brandon — https://brandonjadams.com/

Jeff — https://jeffrab.com/

Rae — https://northernwords.blog/

Joshua — https://warmteaandcomicbooks.com/

Friends, please keep writing and reading and doing what brings you life. If you want to continue to the chain (even if it’s 2 months later), here’s what you do: 

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.

2. Write a post about your award.

3. Give a brief story of how your blog started.

4. Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.

5. Nominate 8 (or 9) other bloggers for this award.

Talk again soon!

Disclosure: some links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.