Okay! So here's yesterday's "original-supposed-to-be" blog post.

A friend recently emailed me to catch up and just chit and chat. She wrote and I quote: "I love your blog, though you take FOREVER to post sometimes. Jeez! What's with that? You know what you should do? You should totally write a blog post about blogging! I could use tips. Yes, that's right, I'm thinking of starting my own blog. I know, I know, 'blogs are lame', but you've convinced me I should give it a try. Me? Goin over to the dark side? *think Luke Skywalker 'noooooooooooooooo!'* Nice going, Darth." 

So, Ash, this blog post is for you. (And yes, I'm very proud that I've got you considering starting a blog! Squee! *in a Darth voice, of course*)

Blogging. I started blogging when I was 17. I wrote about my mundane, day-to-day life, stories from work, music and movie rants/loves...now, about 3-4 blogs later (haha, yes, 3-4. Lame, I know.), I've stuck to my Nightbirds on Nantucket blog for about...I dunno, going on 2 years? *goes to look* GEEZ LOUISE! It's goin on 3 years! I think this is the longest I've stuck to a blog! :P

So, how do I do it? This whole blogging thing? Why do I like it? How'd I start? What goes into this whole process?

First off: Blog Title. This was extremely important to me. I actually remember how this blog got started. I had another blog at the time...I was sitting on my bedroom floor, journaling. I looked up at the long stack of books on the chest in my room, and the title of one of my most favorite children's books stuck out to me: "Nightbirds on Nantucket". (Check it out! It's awesome! Nightbirds On Nantucket) And suddenly the idea came to my mind: "That would make a great blog title!"
So I pulled my laptop over, pulled up blogger, and created this blog. I remember thinking, "This blog has a magical name. It's going to be a blog full of magic." Now, my idea of magical is anything from vibrant colors, to detailed snowflakes, ordinary but colorful kitchen dishes to fog on a sunny morning. Simple things in life that make me catch my breath...it's all magical.
I'm not too sure I captured magic on this blog, but that was the original idea.
I chose the title because "Nightbirds on Nantucket" has a ring of poetry to it. It is so simple, yet so unique. It is full of WONDER...the kind of, "What's the story behind that? Nightbirds on Nantucket? It sounds mysterious. The very words just ooze with potential. They are magical. (And for the record: Yes, I tend to be a Nightbird...I hate mornings, love my nights! But, no, I do *not* live on Nantucket. Never been. Hopefully one day. Visit, I mean, not live. As far as I know right now, I don't want to live there!)

Second: Design. Here's the fun part! Designing your blog! Giving it the look you want to give it! I've done many many different designs to this blog. I can't quite remember what was the original look to this blog. If I remember correctly (which I can't exactly...it may have been a different blog I did this to...like I said, I've had several blogs! It's hard to keep track of what I did to each one :P), it may have been a old-fashioned map as the background. Who knows. All the same, it was magical to me. It was vintagey-looking and I thought it captured the essence of the title: Nightbirds on Nantucket.
Today, Nightbirds is about simplicity. I like fresh, clean, bright, simple! Hence the design choice for this blog. Plain white background with an elegant script for the blog semi-title. Classic. Font easy to read. An uncluttered look overall. I used the words by Lemony Snicket, "The World is Quiet Here" because it seemed to suit the purpose behind the blog. This is where my world is quiet for me. And of course, I added the whole Facebook & Twitter as a way to get to know me better (if you don't already, go on and friend me, just tellin me who you are. ;) I just might follow/friend you back!), and my Pinterest because I am so so so so so so SO addicted to Pinterest. So addicted. And of course, I have to share my addictions.)
And I included the whole follower box because I think it's cool to see who follows my blog! It gives me a chance to click on their profiles and visit their own blogs! I also have a site meter, which I highly recommend. It keeps me on top of who is viewing my blog, how many hits my blog gets, and even shows me referral links, so I can actually stalk back to where a reader got my blog address!

Third: Profile. I choose to do just the basics. As I've said SEVERAL times now, I love simplicity. So when I saw the simple way another blogger did her profile, I just had to copy! Basically, it's just 22 words about myself. 22 because I am 22 years old at the moment. 22 words that describe me as me! When I turn 23, I'll merely add another word.
I think profile pictures are important, because it connects a reader to you in a way that simple words cannot. Plus, I *heart* pictures. Especially ones that capture personality. Instead of just one of myself smiling, like I could have done (and have done in the past...there's nothin wrong with a smiley picture! I just think a more interesting one holds more character. It's all about taste!), I chose a self-portrait that showed off my dorky side. I'm not always serious and overly passionate. Sometimes I'm just plain randomly weird.

Fourth: Pages. I chose to set up my blog with 3 separate pages: "Home", "About Me", and "Photography".
"Home" is merely the homepage, THE heart of the blog. "About Me" is a little more in-depth post about myself, slightly different from my profile. Just in case people were curiouser about me. Plus it's easier to find than my profile. "Photography" merely is the factual stuff behind the photos I post on my blog...what kind of camera I have, how I'm a photography student, etc. It's more just info stuff in case people were wondering. Instead of cluttering up the general look about my blog, it was simpler to just divide some of the "extras" onto separate pages. It cleans up nicely, and isn't too distracting for readers. If you stuff everything onto just a "Home" page, I find that it gets too over-whelming for readers...at least it does for me! I don't like being faced with all these boxes, sub-boxes, and sidebars that I have to read! A mere click of the button, and I can figure out what I want to look at. :)

Fifth: Posting. The most important part about a blog. Posting. What to write about? I am a writer. It is something that just comes naturally to me. I've always enjoyed writing and it's spilled out of me since I wrote my first just-for-fun story at 8yearsold. My blog isn't about me writing for people. That was the one and only rule I created for myself when I created this blog. "This blog is for me. It is for no one but me." It doesn't matter that only a couple people comment now and then, because I am not writing to impress anyone on here. In fact, I know I'm not impressing anyone. This blog was simply a place for me to write whatever I felt like, where I could be free to just write random and weird and fun stuff. It's a place where I could be me. It's not about being inspiring or writing the best I could ever write. I just sit down and type the first things that pop into my head. (Occasionally I'll plan a blogpost ahead of time, but that rarely happens.) My grammar isn't perfect, my punctuation sucks at time...if you notice I use an overload of commas, and in just my last post I wrote: "I just got back from a run just 10 minutes ago..." Two "just"s in one sentence. Awkward. But I don't care. And I left it in there even though I saw it as soon as I posted it. My blog is not about being proper, even though I *usually* try to be careful in how I word things and spelling, etc. I don't want to be confusing to my writers, plus it teaches me to carefully think about how to word things. However, sometimes mistakes slip through and that's okay. I'm not going to be paranoid about it. This is the one place where I don't have to be. 

What to write about? I never write about anything that doesn't interest me. I write about my daily, things that are heavy on my mind, weird & random things, LISTS (have you noticed I *adore* lists??), memes (I'm not that into myself, I promise! I just find them fun and they're a quick post to do on a blog! :P My blog, my rules!) like those 30-day blog challenges, and sometimes just photos. Photos: I prefer bright, colorful, magical photos. They just give a bright and cheery look to my blog! Easy on the eyes, non-distracting...just kinda like a sigh of relaxation. Photos that make you *feeeeeel* good! 
I write like I talk. Quickly, jokingly, seriously, passionately, quirky...and I think that should be how every writer writes. Each person has a voice completely their own and that's how writing should be. Magical in it's own way. It's so much easier for me to do non-serious posts because it's not as uncomfortable as it is to bare my soul and be open with a serious post. But this is my blog and I try to focus on that. I have nothing to fear here. Cuz it's mine. 


Blogs may not be *cool*, a place for nerds, but blogs are love, they are a place to create, pure and simple.