~ You’re invited ~
WHAT: A tea party, hosted by Susan, Tori, and me
WHERE: Around the bistro table in my sunny backyard*
TIME: Whenever you’re ready
Please join our online conversation about this ‘n that, plus The Beauty of Blogging. Or nibble on tea biscuits and let everyone else do the talking.
EVERYBODY’S WELCOME – hats, gloves and ostrich boas are optional.
*We’re actually into Day Whatever of an unusual deluge. No matter: We’ll unfurl the café umbrella and pretend the sun is shining.
After you’ve read our column about blogging, we’d love to hear what you think! Let the conversation drift where it may, but here’s some questions to get you started:
What do you like about blogging? What would/wouldn’t you like to change?
Who do you blog for, and why? (Are there topics you choose to avoid? Are your entries targeted to a certain audience?)
Has blogging brought about positive changes for you? Any negative fallout from what you’ve written?
Is it important to you that people leave comments on your blog entries? How often do you respond to other people’s blogs?
What are your thoughts about “friending” and being “friended”? How do you decide which blogs to watch?
Anything else you’d like to add?
Thanks for stopping by!
Gotta love the rain!
Have fun teapartying.
I do, I do love the rain! It’s a welcome sight…except for the fact that in this downpour, our new cabinets are being delivered. Ha — it figures. 🙂
I hope you’ll join our tea party. I’d love to hear your thoughts about the article and/or the questions.
Will you be linking thru your blog? If so I will read and cheer you on!
We’re planning on holding the conversation here, not on the SisterDivas site. As well, Susan and Tori (aka 2skippingstones and Britlitfantwin) will host satellite tea parties on their LiveJournal blogs. Fun, eh? Thanks for cheering us on — I hope you’ll chime in!
Fun article 🙂
I think blogging is just a way to reach out. Life is pretty solitary for most writers, and starting a blog was my way of inviting others into my world. I enjoy comments (of course), but don’t always expect a ton of them. Sometimes I get comments on things I would never have expected. I remember venting one day about the struggles of motherhood — I wasn’t blogging to make a point; I just needed to blow off steam. The responses really blew me away, and I felt so encouraged and blessed by this group of friends — most of whom I’ve never met in person — who reached out to support me.
AS for the friending stuff, I friend people who I ‘know’, at least a little bit. If I’ve seen how they react on Verla’s or to other people’s blogs, then I’ll friend them. I have different levels of my friends, and only those whom I trust get access to my most personal rants and thoughts. Some people have compared the friending features to high school, and I see where it can be like that. But for me, if someone doesn’t friend me, I don’t take it personally (even if I should, heh). After all, they have their own lives, their own concerns and challenges. They don’t need my stuff too 😀
Thanks, Melodye — this was fun. Great tea, heh.
Okay The Beauty of Blogging ROCKS!!!
I LOVE that site girl and am all flubbergusted with awe.
You are out there kickin some you know what!
I am always up for a tea party–and look at those tea cups! Bestill my heart–I collect tea cups and those are beautiful!
I loved your Sister Divas article, especially this line:
“Blogs are like patchwork quilts, aren’t they? They piece together the colorful, sometimes mismatched fabrics of our lives, caddywompus stitching and all. ”
I also agree with you when you say you chose LJ because it feels cozy. I also have a Blogger blog, and although I like the format better, I love LJ.
Blogs ARE like patchwork quilts. I started mine with the intent of writing about my own writing journey, and I do. But I also write about parenting and life, when appropriate. I just recently changed the format of my blog so I could go in a slightly new direction, with more thoughtful, thought-provoking, and sometimes humorous posts that better relate real-life to writing.
I particularly like being vulnerable in my blog–letting people see that, yes, I’m a professional, but I’m also a fallible human. No, I don’t reveal my deepest secrets (I don’t think that’s appropriate when the focus of your blog is at least semi-professional), but letting people know you’re deathly afraid of, say, bees, is a little way to say, “Hey, I’m approachable and I’m human.” I like to do the same thing for my characters in books.
I love blogging–it soothes my soul much like a cup of vanilla coffee. It provides distraction when I’m procrastinating, and reminds me that I’m not alone in this writing journey. It has given me lovely online friendships, and a few new “real-life” friendships (you, Kim) that I’m so very, very greatful for–and it keeps me tied to the writing community. It keeps my spirits up when I log on and read about others’ journeys.
Yay for tea parties! Next time I’ll bring the Devonshire cream. 🙂
Cathy
Oh yeah! A tea party with you, Tori, and Susan? I can’t imagine a better spot at the moment…pour me a cup. 🙂
(Actually, I’ll have to come back and read your column…but I never pass up a cuppa tea.)
A tea party, with the three of you? I’m so thrilled to join you!
I know blogging is different things to different people. I know some people think your blog should have a focus. I know the blogs people often enjoy the most are the ones where you either learn something or are entertained.
I blog because I like being part of this community – I like being connected to other writers. Because of my job and my family, I can’t spend a lot of time on my posts. I have a few minutes each morning to post and the topics vary widely.
I guess I think of my blog as getting together with friends over a cup of coffee or tea – what’s on your mind today kind-of thing. Sometimes I get anxious about what my blog is or isn’t, but I really can’t do that or I’ll have to take the thing down and miss out on this amazing community, which I don’t want to do!
I try to respond to some friends’ posts every day. I can’t respond to everyone every day. But I can do a few each day, so overall, I’m keeping in touch with everyone throughout the month. I think we all understand that LJ should be fun, not ridden with guilt about how much time we do or don’t spend here. 🙂
Lovely column, Melodye – fantastic job getting to the heart of it all!
Lovely article!
As I posted on Britlit’s journal, I really liked how you linked to specific entries to illustrate your points. It made the article stand out from a lot of other blogging articles I’ve read lately.
And since I love tea…
I started blogging because I was a lurker for a long, long time. I finally got up the courage to start my own as a way to track my writing goals, and it’s been an invaluable tool to connect with other writers. Live Journal is an incredibly close community (at least our little corner is!).
Getting comments on my posts is a fun treat, but I accept that not all posts are comment-worthy. Sometimes I’m just writing stuff down to get it out of my head, and it’s just not that interesting to other people. And that’s okay. I read my friends page religiously, but don’t always have time to comment. So I try to sprinkle my comments around and always hit “the big news posts.” And there are a few regular lj friends who I comment on more often than others because I know them in real life.
I’ll friend anyone, because I rarely post anything that needs to be friends-locked. I do have some smaller friend groups that I’ve put together in case I write something that’s relevant to a specific group of people, but I’ve yet to use that list.
A tea party, with you, Susan and Tori. I’d love to join you! Those cups are lovely and remind me of ones I had years ago. Sadly they were broken during one of our many moves, and I have always meant to replace them but for whatever reason have never gotten around to it. Maybe now is a good time to do so.
I had thought about blogging for some time but was very leery about it, when a member of one of my critique groups got an LJ account and began blogging. She was so enthusiastic about the writers she had friended, that I soon took the plunge and have never regretted it.
Writing is such a solitary way of life that it’s wonderful to be a part of a community of writers and illustrators. It’s also a way for me to track not only my writing goals but my growth as a writer.
I agree with you about LJ feeling cozy. I also have a Blogger, MySpace, and 360 account, but to me LJ is ”home.”