The Good, The Bad And The Ugly About Blogging v.1

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Blogging for just over two months doesn't exactly make me an expert on the subject. Far from it: almost every day I am left with more questions than answers. But it has definitely been a great learning experience, nonetheless, and I hope to keep learning much more about it in the future (2014 resolution right there!).

So, from someone who has no expertise whatsoever on the matter, here is the good, the bad and the ugly about blogging:

- You are putting yourself out there for the world (or at least your 10 loyal readers) to see, which is pretty brave if you ask me (which you didn't...)

- You learn a lot about photography, which is a crucial part of any blog (but you will most likely have to spend big bucks to get at least a semi-pro camera, though!).  

- You start interacting with other bloggers: some big, some starting out just like you. They are mostly incredibly friendly and helpful, and they can really help you grow your blog (by sponsoring them, for example), or at least give you moral support (which is super important too!).

- You start acquiring skills you never thought you would: such as baking delicious Mickey-Mouse-shaped chocolate chip cookies! All because you are constantly on the lookout for fun, interesting things to share on your blog.

- It's a better way to spend time than say, playing Plants vs. Zombies for hours, isn't it?

- You get to dream of being a big-time blogger, receiving gifts, samples and invitations as part of your full-time job, which is a pretty awesome dream to have!

- It is incredibly rewarding to write something that people admire and compliment you on. Even if no one comments, I feel really proud about some of my best posts. 

- To create something out of nowhere and see it starting to grow and people starting to respond to it is an incredible achievement and it brings me a great deal of pleasure. 

However...

- For your first month or two, 99% of your posts aren't getting any comments (just me? oh, please tell me it's not just me!)

- Sometimes you have such a huge bloggers block, that all you can come up with is an article about "Why the chips I ate today tasted much better after a 7up instead of coke".

- You are forced to learn at least the basics of HTML and computer coding. This could be dead boring for some people. I for one, found it interesting, but also extremely frustrating most of the time!

- It can be quite cringe-worthy to realize that your fiancé's parents and grandparents are reading what you are publishing. Like this article, which was read by Sean's entire family! (yikes!).

I intend to make a sort of series of this post, documenting my experiences and what I have learned about blogging as I go along (say, at six months, a year, two years, etc). It will be very interesting in a few months to reflect on all the acquired knowledge that I don't have now, and be able to come back to see how my perceptions have changed since I begun this journey.