blogging about blogs 2026 version
I’m reviewing some of what I said in a post I made last year about blogs. Also Dirchansky had some great q’s/points that I just wanted to mention here.
This could also be in the same family as Robert’s post about blogging workflows.
Why did you start blogging in the first place?
My answer hasn’t changed but I think that blogging then (and now) is just a great way for me to jot down my thoughts and share things on the internet.
What platform are you using to manage your blog and why did you choose it?
I recently moved to Bear Blog (from Bludit which was hosted on my website) after being curious about the platform for a few months. So far I have been really liking the simple interface (and also more functional things like an easy way for me to build my archive and tags list - two important features that I had to manually do myself). One thing I had to give up was my main post page where I could view 5~10 posts at once (very xanga, lj, blogspot, tumblr of me lol).
On the other hand, Dirchansky brought up a really good point about paying for webhosting and wanting to maximize it and having more full control of everything on your own website.
Oh! I also opted to have comments enabled on my individual posts. I agree with all the points pro/con comments. Mainly I’ve found that I like comments because my blog artist friends (dirchansky and also rurupoi) leave comments. (EDIT: I completely forgot to finish this sentence and added it in bold looool.)
Have you blogged on other platforms before?
Yes! They are listed from the previous post. I also had migrated my old blog posts to my previous blog (but those posts didn’t make it to this move). One thing I noticed is that I didn’t really have a lot of blog posts in the span from 2018-2023. I was more heavily tweeting/posting art on tumblr/ig rather than blogging. OR, I think I could have just been busy with IRL things as I had made a pretty big life change and was focused on that.
How do you write your posts?
I still write everything in Scrivener 3 (purchased in 2021). I made an effort to start using the program more last year for both my personal and work life since I bought it. Scrivener has both a Copy as Basic HTML and Copy as Markdown options which makes blog posts really easy to write. I also think Scrivener has an automatic save option which is super helpful.
For images I will put placeholder text while writing and then upload media when I’m at the post editor. I use Photoshop (because it is paid through by work) and size images to 400px 72 dpi jpegs (yummy crunchy) with an action. I decided on that size because I like having visuals but also want to discourage people from zooming in too closely.
When do you feel most inspired to write?
During the daytime! Usually a day or two after the event/day has happened when it is still fresh on my mind.
Do you publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?
Immediately after I “finish” a post. I’ll edit a post if I catch a typo after haha.
What's your favourite post on your blog?
OOOH I dodged answering this question last time. Since my original blogging about blogs post I’ve had ~50+ posts. I have two favorite posts from those:
- My DC/Otakon recap - memorable and fun time for me last year! This is the kind of post that a future version of me would enjoy looking back on.
- Life Laugh Yaoi - I don’t recommend reading this but I personally enjoyed writing about yaoi/BL/otp things I like LOL.
Any future plans for your blog?
Only to continue posting regularly!
My previous post mentioned wanting to be more consistent and finding more blogs to read on my RSS reader (I switched to Miniflux since that last post). I’ve done and kept up with this.
Dirchansky also asked me why I had turned off discovery on my blog posts (which is a good question). I don’t have an answer except that I felt shy and that no one needs to read my casual/life/hobby posts except for my friends who specifically want to follow me. If you do happen to read and like my posts I would like to check out you and your posts (and maybe I’m already secretly lurking!!).
All that to say - I’ve updated my post template to just turn discover on.
Why do you write?
My answer hasn’t changed much. After posting more consistently I can say that I definitely enjoy posting about my hobbies/process in a longform format. I also like that a future version of myself will enjoy reading my posts (see: my old blog posts).