Tuesday, 28 June 2011

Fortnight of Guests: Black Nailed Reviews (Ten Myths Only Bloggers Know Aren't True)


I'm Alisha from Black Nailed Reviews, a blog dedicated to all things books and movies. I'm a student at the moment, but am inspiring to become a novelist while drinking orange juice. Before I get started, I wanted to thank Megan for letting me apart of her Fortnight of Guests and dealing with my indecisiveness!




So, here is my list of myths that bloggers know aren't true:

1) Blogging is a part-time gig.
I think we've all spent that one all-nighter catching up on blog posts or getting ready for interviews, etc.
2) Blogging is a fad.
Blogging is something that let's people express themselves and talk about hot topics in society.
3) Bloggers get freebies.
Freebies are a privilege, so yes we do get freebies from time to time, but aren't entitled to them.
4) You have to be an expert in blogging.
Technology and the Internet is constantly changing, so the blogging world changes too which means you can't know everything about blogging.
5) You have to be professional (on your blog).
*looks around* I wonder who said that. As a blogger, you make your blog to fit you, so if you love to cuss or have tons of pink decorations on your blog, go for it! The more personal the blog, the more readers will remember it.
6) Blogging is a women's world.
Most of us are female bloggers, but we do have our male bloggers out there. Male bloggers are just as beneficial as female bloggers are and bring the male's perspective on issues.
7) Bloggers blog for a living.
Many bloggers have careers or are students or are stay-at-home moms/dads. We love to blog and blogging is a 24/7 job in itself, but we have lives upon that...that's why blogging gets stressful at times.
8) Bloggers are grammar police.
We don't all sit on Thesaurus.com looking up synonyms that go with books. It just looks like we have proper grammar because we abuse the Spell check button so much, we start seeing our own errors. Rereading your post always helps too.
9) You have to blog EVERY day.
Blogging is never quantity, but quality. If you have three blog posts and they all have tons of comments, that's what matters. You want your readers to take something away from your blog, not just let them see that you've blogged five times yesterday. But, that doesn't mean to wait three weeks to post another blog.
10) Blogging is a hobby.
I started BNR back in January 2010 and thought it would be a great hobby. Now, I'm constantly blogging or doing stuff for the blog. A blog is an unpaid career that teaches you so much. There's so much time and effort that goes into it that it's hard to just say it's a hobby.

---
Ah, gotta say I believed in a fair few of these myths before I started my blog.  *looks guilty* I'm sorry.  ;)  Thanks for this amazing list of myths, Alisha!  It was great fun, and I even picked up a few tips!  :D

4 comments:

Cliona said...

Interesting post, thanks for this!

TheBookAddictedGirl said...

I'll make sure Alisha knows! :)

Amy said...

Definitely agree with this. Nice post.

Alison Can Read said...

Haha...blogging definitely takes over your life if you do it seriously. Although I do think you need to be professional. Not that you can't cuss or have pink things all over, but if you want your blog taken seriously, you need to put serious effort into it.