I feel there's a little bit of morbid curiosity in how people go about certain things, so I wanted to talk about where I am with my blogging currently & the basics on my process behind it, what I use and why I do. I'm hoping that this is going to be a great way of tracking any progress I might make; I can check back here and see if the way I operate is any different or improved in the future. 

Overall what's most important personally is that I want to make my blog beautiful for me, however it can be easy to lose sight and waver; after all there's a lot of pressure out there in the blogging universe as you're putting something out there for anyone to read and potentially be critical of. When I first started dabbling in blogging just over a year ago, things were starkly different. Twitter wasn't as big a tool for blogging as it is now, content of posts was valued more than blog appearance, marble backgrounds and blog trends weren't something I was aware of! After taking a long break due to ill health (albeit ongoing) you can imagine I had the shock of my life coming back to blogging in a completely different world within such a short space of time. Don't get me wrong I know people still want good content, but if people hit up your blog and don't particularly like the way it looks, they're less inclined to read. Hence why my blog is my project and creative outlet, I don't wish to conform or achieve perfection, I merely want to create my own little space on the internet that I can be proud of. So, getting to the point here's how I've been doing that!

(Many of you are probably aware of all these things but I always find it interesting to know the behind-the-scenes)

Why I Use Blogger

As you may have seen in my Blogging Improvements post I'm on the hunt for better photography equipment, like a good quality camera and tripod. I'm in the process of saving up so at current I just use my iPhone 6 to take my photos; I do have a 'proper' camera but the camera on my phone is actually better and with it being so quick & easy to sync up to my Macbook it all makes for quicker turnaround time! As for blog props my supply is limited for now but I'm hoping to build a solid collection to match my theme and then I might even post about all the props I use. In the meantime I have a couple of fake flowers, some wallpaper samples, a few scatter crystals and a few of my own watercolours, that's about it! I don't have a specific place to take pictures I just usually go wherever the natural light is best in my house. I always feel that you don't necessarily need the best camera to take great pictures, after all a good camera doesn't automatically make you a fantastic blogger, though I'm sure it's helpful.

Onto editing, I'm sure a lot of people already use this I'm not going to go crazy on it, I use picmonkey to edit my pictures, I don't tend to do anything fancy and I don't have any intention of spending money on editing software. Plus the fact I like when things aren't complicated and picmonkey is so easy to use.

I'm sure many of you have heard of it but the final thing I find most useful (although a bit buggy) is Canva. It's quick, simple to use and presents endless opportunities for you to play with. You can use their selection of free images & text or of course your own; there's filters & other options for most things you add to your image so you can customise pretty much whatever you want. I've used Canva for lots of things but I mainly use it for blog headers, either for on here or to pop with my new post link on Twitter. 

Honestly I find this the easiest part personally, although I have to be in the right mood to write otherwise nothing happens and I'll sit around procrastinating by making coffee and watching stupid videos on Youtube. I think the reason I don't find writing a daunting task is because from a young age I've always loved to write and excelled at this in high school, going on to study it and achieve an A at A-Level. Now of course I am older and a little rusty so my past does not mean in any way that I am perfect at writing; everyone makes mistakes and can slip into colloquialisms, letting their accent shine through. For me I've always got that teacher voice in the back of my mind telling me to write in 'proper English' and as judgemental as this may seem I do have a tendency to cringe when I see others write with incorrect terms, spelling, grammar or tense (for example 'I like them ones' instead of 'I like those ones'). But as I said this is conditioning from my education; if your post is good and hits home with me then I'm not fussed about errors, I'm sure I've made plenty myself.

In order to avoid mistakes as much as I can I proofread until the cows come home! Both in edit and in preview as Blogger has a tendency to show different formats on both of these. I'll read and re-read at different times in the day and I'm a huge fan of reading my posts aloud as I find that mistakes are far easier to notice that way. I write because it's cathartic, and I feel the writing aspect of blogging is sometimes much more creative than anything else (biased much?). Please don't get me wrong, I appreciate a good, bright, crisp image but writing will always be my number one and the ultimate show of talent, after all what would blogging be without words?

Post Promotion

This is something I toy with but as I blog for a hobby I don't tend to push my posts down people's throats, in fact it's quite rare that I'll even remember to promote my posts on Twitter. I usually pop it up in the #teacupclub Monday meeting and then pop a link up the day after, that's usually it unless I actively choose share it again. I don't schedule tweets or any post promotion on Twitter but every so often I'll share a blog picture & link on my Instagram. I solely enjoy blogging as it is and not all the extraneous tasks that can accompany it, I find them too stressful and if I'm proud of what I've produced then I don't need to go out of my way to gain affirmation from others. However, what I do appreciate is comments that give me feedback on how my post was received, thoughts on my photos and on my writing as these are all great in helping me to improve and learn new things.

What are your blogging failsafes? Let's get nattering!

Stay curious

A short post, more of a little note-to-self about the main things I want to achieve to make my blogging experience better, to learn new things and be proud of/content in what I'm producing. I have a mind like a sieve so I figured that making a pretty checklist and popping it on here means I can't forget and can easily refer back to it! All in all the main goal for me is to be able to look at my blog and be filled with a sense of pride; that the place I put aside as my creative outlet is a positive place for me to be. Here's how I hope to achieve this in the near future:

Follow me on Bloglovin'

As the crude title suggests, I actually used video editing software for the very first time in my 24 years on this earth! This may seem small to some but for me this was a big achievement in a long line of things I'm hoping to accomplish at some point this year and beyond. A lot of things I wanted to do this year but I'm learning to be more realistic with my goals and accept that anything I achieve whether it be now or down the line is still a big thing. I'm only human and I shouldn't put so much pressure on myself. Albeit this post is public, for me it's more of a personal record of what I've done and how it made me feel (which is great when I'm on a downer and trying to chuck my life out of the window metaphorically). If anyone can gain some insight or this gives you a boost into finally doing something you've wanted to do but have been putting off then I'll be a million times happier and will feel like I've achieved so much more.

Okay, so what did I use exactly? Nothing special of course, the only thing I had to hand is Windows Movie Maker - an outdated version at that - but for me personally that seemed like an excellent (not to mention simple) place to start considering it was free and at my immediate disposal. However, my first try didn't run too smoothly and if I hadn't attempted it again then this blog post wouldn't exist and I would most likely still be in a complete funk thinking I'm stupid and I can't do anything. First lesson there, don't give up/if at first you don't succeed try and try again/insert other cliché sayings here. This first failing was completely down to a defect in my personality which means I don't read instructions or do my research first, I instead just blaze in balls to the wall and get everything completely wrong thus contributing to a self-fulfilling prophecy of "I can never do anything".

After a week of moping my stubborn side kicked in and assured me I wouldn't be defeated, so I calmly looked up some help videos, got to grips with the software and then I decided to film a practice video to edit. Filming was an experience and a hellishly awkward one at that. Now, I feel I'm a seasoned expert in the way of talking to myself (and my cat) but as soon as I was sat in front of a camera my anxiety took over, I struggled to make eye contact and my limbs were out of control with nerves. I have such respect for people who do YouTube as a job, as I know many suffer also with issues such as depression or anxiety and honestly I was quite shocked at myself that I was so affected. Nevertheless I powered through because the filming wasn't entirely important, I just needed something to edit. Baby steps and all that. But the experience in itself was significant, and as a person that albeit doesn't read instructions, does actually like to plan for things and craves being prepared for upcoming projects. It made me aware that if I do start to film and put videos on YouTube, I know for sure that I need to do it for myself and no one else, so that I can build my confidence, be able to do spontaneous and unscripted things and also have a good time and keep a record of those memories; without them being edited to perfection. If anyone happens to like what I do then so be it, I'd be just as happy. I believe you've always got to start with yourself and do things for you; know that it isn't a selfish way of behaving.

Is there anything you're looking to achieve this Summer/this year? 

Stay curious