Confessions of an Over-eager Blogger...

Or, what I have learned (so far) about blog etiquette.

This week has been a bit of a learning experience. I have never had anything "published" before, and now I know why there are teams of editors for people who publish their writings for a living.

I have my own team of sorts, that I didn't know was there, and it is a good, albeit humbling thing.


Lesson #1: Know thy audience: Or rather, know that you may not know thy audience, and they may not know you. They don't all have assumptions about your writings or personality based on personal experiences that they share with you, because let's face it, they may have never met you! I was checking out some of the features on my site tracker the other day and was amazed to see that people from Belarus, Slovakia, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, El Salvador, Brazil and Korea were checking in on my blog!

Lesson #2: Fact check: I posted something this week in a hurry, and I had a mantra running through my head that I recalled from somewhere back in US History. I used it as something I loved about this country, and then I was reminded that it was actually a segregationist mantra--yikes! *blushes* I really should have taken a minute to look it up and confirm what I was saying. Accuracy is important even in one's personal writings, when they are up for the world to see. Thanks for the save dear editors!

Lesson #3: Someone else's news isn't always yours to tell: So if you are one of my readers who knows me in real life, you know that I have a very enthusiastic, exuberant side of me that is extremely loyal to both my friends and family, and that when something great happens, I desire to shout it from the rooftops! Now, this can be a good thing, but sometimes your greatest strengths are also your greatest weaknesses. Sometimes someone else wants to do the shouting. This is something I will probably have to work on my whole life long. My last personality test compared me to Oprah. That is really great, but it also means that I require an audience of many people. Which makes blogging a super outlet. Unless you use it to steal thunder. Thank you again dear editors.

I don't do well with criticism. It cuts me to my core. BUT, it is necessary, and it will make me a better person and writer, so I cringe as I write this (because sometimes you get what you ask for), but in the interest of growth, bring it on!