Blogs of the Year
There are so many levels upon which the trajectory of 2020 has been full of unexpected diversions and strange surprises, most of them on such a grand scale that it’s easier to discount the little things. Like that I wasn’t sure where Blog School was heading as the year began. I launched Blog School in September 2019 with a self-guided course only, thinking that blogging itself is pretty solitary even IF the point is connection, and so a self-guided courses seemed to kind of make sense. (Maybe also I was lazy?)
But the people wanted more! And so I designed the MAKE THE LEAP program to run in February, my Blogging Spark course condensed into the shortest month. And an absolute DREAM TEAM of writers signed on to be part of it, and it was the best thing ever. I loved it. We had so much fun, and it was so inspiring, and I have never ever loved “work” so much. It wasn’t “work” at all.
I was planning to run the course again in June, but then the whole world went off its rails. Instead of a formal course, I decided put together more of a hang-out. LET’S GET TOGETHER ran in June, just as protests against police brutality and racial violence were taking place around the world, a harrowing and heady time, and it was a lot to process—but the bloggers in our group were doing it, putting the pieces together to make sense of it all, to write their way toward racial justice. It was inspiring and amazing.
And then a small group signed on for another MAKE THE LEAP session in September, and I loved this group just as much—who would have thought it possible? Another fabulous group of writers whose central feedback required was just mainly me shouting, “Yes! Yes! This EXACTLY!! Keep doing it!” It was really, really good.
Some of the blogs that were born or developed out of all this:
- Topaz Literary
- A New Tea Leaf
- Becoming Janine
- DeRollerCoaster
- The Wilderness of This
- Loving a Spouse Who is Living with Dementia
- Beyond Word Count
- Littlewood Art
- Lisa Bradburn at Medium
- Julie Paul’s Blog
- Rhonda Douglas’s Blog
There are more, but I particularly wanted to highlight those which have been updated in the last month or so, those whose writers have discovered the key to blogging success, which is DON’T STOP DOING IT!
Thank you to everybody who has played a part along the way—those of you who read blogs, who’ve participated in my courses, those of you who keep writing, all of you affirming that the future of blogging (still!) is RIGHT NOW.
MAKE THE LEAP is running next in February 2021, and registrations are beginning to come in! Sign up today to claim your spot (and a reminder that three two left! discount spaces are reserved for people who have signed up for my self-guided course already).
5 Great Reasons to Take a Blogging Break This Summer
1) Um, because it’s possible you haven’t updated your blog for awhile anyway, so let’s frame that as a good thing. Achievement UNLOCKED. Well done. (I’m not kidding.)
2) Because online traffic always falls off in the summer…almost like the universe is trying to tell you something.
3) Because you’re a human being, not a robot. and taking breaks from work is what human beings do. It’s also how to make blogging sustainable.
4) Because it’s useful and good for your readers to be reminded that you’re not a robot, seeing as humanness is what we all come to blogs for, and also your example might inspire those readers to take their own breaks from the internet too.
5) And finally, because time and distance from your blog will give you space to reflect on your project, to remember why you wanted to do it in the first place, to think about what you might like to do differently (because a blog needs room to grow and space to wander), and to have experiences and see things that you can come home again and actually blog about once your break is over.
A Reason to Say YES?
Are you looking for a reason to finally say YES?
Here’s one: just FIVE spaces are left for my online blogging course this June, and they’re filling up fast.
LET’S GET TOGETHER is a fun and casual community-driven blogging experience. If you’ve enjoyed one of my courses already, this new one is right up your street. And if you’re #MyBlogSchool-curious, this is a great and low-cost opportunity to get a taste of what my approach is all about.
And what’s it all about? Program is capped at 15 participants, and each of you will be part of a private online space where you will share and respond to each other’s work. You will create 8 blog posts over the course of the month, inspired by a variety of prompts that you can interpret according to your own blogging vision. I will also be sharing ideas and resources throughout the program, and sending feedback on each of your posts privately by email. Cost is $100 CDN. As ever, our group is coming together amazingly, and it’s going to be so good!
You can reserve your spot today, and while you’re here, why not check out what other Blog Scholars are saying about my courses?
A sample: “I signed up for this course on a whim, after putting off the creation of my blog for months. I thought at the very least, it would force me to buy a domain name and create the website, but I had no idea just how deep it would inspire me to go in my own writing and self-discovery. After just one month my blog is up and running and exactly what I want it to be!”