70 / 30

Well well. Doing the daily prompt two days in a row. No, I haven’t been assimilated by the alien master race and forced to do the daily prompt. Both of the most recent ones have been things I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about, so why not respond out loud?

Today’s was about the percentage of personal vs. numbers driven your blog is. For me it is a little tricky, but I will be honest with you. When I first started this blog back on the final day of November last year, I didn’t write one of those “Hey, I’m a new Blogger. Treat me with kid gloves as I adjust to this new medium” newbie blog entries. That was for two reasons. First off, this wasn’t my first blog. But more importantly, it was because I always envisioned this blog as an extension of my personal journaling that had been going on for years.

That’s why the title of my blog is the none too inventive “Sam’s Online Journal.” It was meant from the start to be my thoughts laid bare, like in my actual handwritten journals. Of course, though, if that had been the only reason, there really was no reason to make it a blog. A blog is meant to be seen by others, and it encourages response. So, on some level I did want followers, and I wanted responses to what I had written.

Once I admitted that to myself, I honestly thought about changing the name of my blog to something ironic (because I’m a writer and that’s what we do), but I dismissed that out of hand. Regardless of wanting to drive traffic, I still knew my primary goal had remained to just write my thoughts. That hasn’t changed, and that’s how I came up with 70/30. 70% personal, 30% seeking response and acceptance.

The 30% includes my photography, something that I had no idea I would take such a liking to when I first began entering my photos in the weekly challenges. Now I am taking pictures with the express purpose to share them with others. And the response has been incredible.

And I think my blog has definitely shown my creative side, as well as my various interests and types of writing. When I look at my top all-time posts in terms of views and likes, I see a wide array of post types, and that is true to my idea of capturing my thoughts in this blog, as my thoughts are varied and numerous.

Sam