A Year in Blogging
My blogging goal for 2017 was to write a post every day. Due to family illness, I’ve missed approximately 10 days during the course of the year, however considering the circumstances I feel I have done well to maintain such a schedule. Compared to 2016 which saw the website decline and even go offline for a while, 2017 has been far more productive. Traffic has increased, and I feel that Contains Moderate Peril is finding an audience once again, as it did during it’s heyday in 2014. Broadening the scope of subjects that I write about has proven a sound decision and one I would recommend to other bloggers. It certainly allows for greater freedom of expression and technically, if nothing is off the table, then there’s always something to write about. Subsequently, I can see from my website statistics that the readership is becoming increasingly diverse and global in nature. As a writer, I therefore feel that it has been a successful year and I am satisfied with what has been achieved. My writing process has improved, and I can order my thoughts and structure a blog post far quicker than I use to.
Outside of my own writing, there are still many fellow bloggers who continue to write on a regular basis, sharing their thoughts and expressing their views. I try to read as broad a spectrum of writing styles and opinions as possible, as this is not only entertaining but can often provide an invaluable source of material to reply to or debate. I also follow one blog whose author’s world view is the complete opposite of mine. This is mainly to see how others think, irrespective of whether their views have been formed through analysis or critical thinking. Again, it can provide some interesting prompts for writing. Furthermore, as my gaming horizon inevitably contracts many of the blogs I follow, keep me informed about games I no longer play or aspects of the industry that I no longer focus upon. Then there are a few that I read just because I enjoy the author’s writing style or personality. Gaming can become awfully serious at times. I like those writers that still remember it’s also about having fun.
Sadly, there were some bloggers that decided to hang up their spurs this year. Real life demands, and pressures are usually the main reason for this. However, for some writers, there were less pleasant factors that led to their decision. Negative comments, abuse or the sheer blinkered zealotry of certain fans can certainly erode one’s pleasure in writing. Misogyny and prejudice still abound online, and the current political climate seems to have emboldened certain parties. Then there is the matter of blog post comments per se, which are few and far between these days. I have given up trying to encourage them. What responses I do get to my writing are often via Twitter. This situation just seems to reflect the changing nature of online social interaction. And it would also be remiss of me if I didn’t mention how I miss writing based online events such as the Newbie Blogger Initiative and Blaugust. Perhaps we will see someone else pick up the baton in the next twelve months and arrange something.
I intend to keep blogging in 2018 but it will be less frequent. I haven’t decided on my new schedule as of yet, but it will no longer be daily. I have a non-fiction book that remains unwritten, despite a great deal of preliminary work and planning. This will be my primary writing focus in the months ahead. I have a clear timetable and an end date that I wish to achieve. Perhaps I can blog about the process of writing something more substantial than a blog post? We shall see. In the meantime, I’d like to thank everyone who has visited Contains Moderate Peril in 2017 and helped make it such a good year. If you are thinking about writing in 2018 I would certainly encourage you to do so and stick with it. Google loves a website that posts new content regularly. Writing is also a very rewarding pastime and a great way to improve your written and analytical skills. We also need more rational and measured voices contributing to our online community.
