How to start personal blogging
When I first got interested in blogging, I didn’t know where to start. I only knew that I wanted to speak up and use my voice. I searched the internet, as you do, for advice on how to go blog successfully, and found suggestions such as “find your niche.” I imagine that’s great advice if you already have a niche, but I had no idea what I wanted to say in the first place, so locking in on a subject area seemed impossible and very, er, business-like.
What I was looking for, was advice on the step before finding your niche: how to build a writing practice as a way to find out what you think. It may feel counterintuitive, but I think, for this, you need a public space to play and experiment. In other words, you need a blog. Over time, you might find that a niche emerges. On the other hand, it might not, and that’s fine. What’s important is that you’re showing up regularly to create in your space and your goals are clear.
Perhaps the “find your niche” advice was not intended for people like me who are looking to nurture their nascent creativity and to learn something in the process. If what I’m saying resonates with you, allow me to:
point out that there is a step before “find your niche”.
give you the permission to play and explore what you think. It’s perfectly legitimate to create a blog with no niche to do this. This is what TheMindEx is. Eventually, your blog might morph into subject specificity, but for now, your only aim is to play.
Sometimes it takes someone saying that it’s o.k. to do the thing, for you to take notice.
Go play, figure some things out and do it in public. I promise you, someone will find your process useful and interesting.