{"id":378,"date":"2024-02-06T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/?p=378"},"modified":"2024-07-04T23:14:55","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T22:14:55","slug":"5-blogs-ive-written-and-10-things-ive-learnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/06\/5-blogs-ive-written-and-10-things-ive-learnt\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Blogs I’ve Written And 10 Things I’ve Learnt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve been blogging for years on and off. It\u2019s how my writing expressed itself for the longest time, and it\u2019s only recently that I\u2019ve finally leaned into my enjoyment of the craft and written a novel. I\u2019ve written five blogs, and a combination of good fortunate and technical tinkering means they are all still up on the Internet. They are all still alive and well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are my five blogs in the order that I created them, and what I learnt from each of them. Every one was a teacher. I was the errant student who struggled to listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Onward to Glory<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/onwardtoglory.blogspot.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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This was my first blog, and it\u2019s borderline insane – perhaps not even borderline. On \u2018Onward to Glory\u2019 I\u2019m pretending to be a retired colonel in the British army, navigating the modern world. It lasted two blog posts, both written on the same afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d forgotten all about it until blogspot emailed me a couple of months ago, threatening to shut it down. I showed it to my daughter and she thought it was hilarious – not because the writing is funny, but because of the level of madness it took to construct it. It\u2019s very amusing for a thirteen year old to realise that her father was a delusional lunatic, and probably still is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesson 1: Nobody cares<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

They really don\u2019t. People imagine that other people care what they do, but honestly they don\u2019t. What people care about is themselves, and perhaps their family and that\u2019s about it. That seems cynical but it\u2019s glorious and freeing. Do what you want, no-one is looking. The chances are that very few people will read your blog, so write anything. By the time someone is looking, you\u2019ll either be quite good at blogging, or will have given up. Either one is good. I gave up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesson 2: Give it a go<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you want to publish a blog where you are pretending to be a retired army officer\/love struck werewolf\/martian with a heart of gold – just do it. If you want to publish a blog on something more sensible, even better. Just do it. You can give up in an afternoon if you don\u2019t like it, or carry on for years – I\u2019ve done both. It\u2019s all very low stakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tech Splurge<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/technosplurge.blogspot.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My first serious blog. It\u2019s a software development blog and it ran for over a year. I liked it, and at points I was obsessed by it. I got my first comment on this blog which was a heart stopping thrill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesson 3: Stick to your subject<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When blogging you should know what the purpose of the blog is and what subjects you are covering, and stick to those. Gone are the days where you could diarise your daily movements – unless you are an astonishingly well know celebrity, no-one will care about your choice of toothbrush. It\u2019s OK to write the occasional personal post, but aim to keep the total volume of personal posts to 5% of your blog (my personal opinion) – otherwise your blog will be deluged by rubbish that only your mother would care about.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesson 4: Blog to a schedule, unless you are writing rubbish.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve got mixed feelings about blogging schedules. On one hand, it\u2019s good discipline to stick to a sensible timeline – I posted on Tech Splurge once a week. On the other hand, if it starts to feel like a chore then cut yourself some slack and take a break. It\u2019s always OK to come back after a gap. Otherwise you will end up posting rubbish – and this is rubbish even your mother wouldn\u2019t care about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The death knell of Tech Splurge came when I posted a series of pictures of cats in boxes<\/a>. When I read that back a few days later, I knew the jig was up. It was time to stop posting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Code Buckets<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/codebuckets.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My third and best blog. Another technical blog but a more focused attempt than Tech Splurge. The aim was that the ideal post should contain computer code samples, and those that didn’t should have a very clear link to the software development process. It was created to promote myself professional and I needed to be confident that I could show it to any prospective employer. Cats sat in boxes were definitively off topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Code Buckets is on a temporary hiatus now, that may become permanent. My spare time focus these days is on writing, rather than coding, so I\u2019m posting here right now and I suspect that my passion will stay with my writing. Never say never though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesson 5: Get a decent blogging platform<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I moved away from blogger for this one and bought hosting and created my own installation. It elevated the blog significantly and made me love it even more. My general recommendations for a blog\/website set up are<\/p>\n\n\n\n