So, after taking a look at some other blogs and reading the content, I am realizing...I'm not on their level. There are bloggers out there making money, and being interviewed because their blogs are popular and feature great content. Not only that, but, their blogs have great designs and each blogger has their own distinct style and voice.

I think that my blog has distinct content, posts that make you think in Say What?!, and laugh in Buzz-Kill. However, my design isn't what it could be. The design is awkward as I'm still using the Blogger.com platform and because of this I'm very limited in terms of design theme. I want a three column template, but, a couple of months ago, I tried downloading one and lost a lot of the blog's content. Then, I had to put everything together all over again. Then, I was going to get some grand blog designer, but, as my funds are tighter than fresh cornrows, that didn't happen. So here I am with a blog, with a black background, and pink, purple, and blue font. Go figure right?! I was in some type of weird girly mood when re-doing the fonts, yesterday.

But, no the point is that I need to get on their level. I want to be interviewed, and commented on (in posts), and become a respectable site. I want to make this blogging thing more of a reality than it already is. I've got big dreams and they go beyond my Blogger.com platform. I'm working my way up slowly, but, surely. For instance, since my month off from blogging this is the first time I have posted three days in a row. Not much to some (cause that's what my behind outta be doing), but to me it's a big accomplishment. It's easy to blog when you have 30+ comments, hundreds of followers, and your site is being recognized. But when, two weeks go by and no one visits but you and the comment box still says zero...motivation is far and few between.

But, I gotta take my own advice and find the motivation. The accolades will come later...I hope.

And there you have it. The Pen Has Spoken.

Oh and to all my followers on this blog, please check out my main blog and true passion, The Loudest Pen Ever at http://theloudestpenever.blogspot.com. This is the blog that I post on daily and content is always new and fresh. This blog is simply a supplement to that one, which why I double-posted this post on both blogs. So anyways, just wanted to make that note.

Okay, so the Pen Has Spoken post is always my chance to vent about my adventures in this world of blogging. As you all have seen and observed, my blogging has been very sporadic over the past month and a half. I took a break from blogging and it ended up lasting longer than it was supposed to. Oopps, my bad, mumsy made chilli for lunch. Sorry had to say that...quote from an episode of Martin.

But, really I was starting to get frustrated with lack of traffic, no ideas for new posts (at least on When the Page Comes to Life), and very little time. Between working two jobs, trying to freelance on the side, and write two posts a day, I was getting ready to fall out. So, when enough became enough, I decided I needed to get back up in it. Now, I'm almost ready to get back and be better than ever.

I'm going to come up with a plan to combine the LPE and WTP into one full blown blog, and the How to posts on WTP will simply be a weekly feature. Meaning, the blog is going to be redesigned (funds are becoming available), and I will implement all the changes into the one blog. Hopefully, this will drive some traffic my way. If not, then I'm going on vacay again. And for real...I might not come back.

The Pen Has Spoken.

First of all, I would like to announce that both of my blogs are finally starting to get read and commented upon. Any blogger knows how great that feeling is. But, let me get to the point. Today's lesson is How to Find Joy in Writing.

As I discussed in my last post, it is hard for new writers/bloggers. You're just starting out so, it's hard to find your niche and because you don't have a major readership, you have no one to tell you what you're doing wrong. So, what do you do? You find little things about writing/blogging that makes you happy. How do you find these little things?

Ask yourself the following questions, "Why did I start writing this piece?", "Why did I start this blog", "What is this piece about?", "What is this blog about"? Answering these questions will give you more knowledge of the topic you are writing about and therefore, more direction. Once you have more direction, your writing will improve. Also, you'll be happy with the content you are writing or blogging.

This is where you find the joy in writing; because, you have now removed the element of misdirection and how to please people. You are now more comfortable and relaxed. Your newfound relaxation mode will make writing fun again. You can now write for yourself and yourself only. This means that you could care less about whether or not the writing or the blog posts get read. All you care about is the fact that you wrote something and it was beautifully crafted. So, who cares if you wrote the Great American Novel and no one knows. The fact of the matter is it got written.

Remember, when the page comes to life...so do you.

Yesterday, I discussed the key to writing. Today, I would like to identify what writing has done for me and what it can do for you. Writing or being a writer, I should say, has made me more aware and has forced me to grow as a person. I have become more in tune to my surroundings and this forces me to see and notice details that the average person wouldn't normally take notice of. This awareness has made understand things that are different from me so I am more diverse because my knowledge is so vast. My personality now reflects my broad interests so I can interact with and get along with all types of people. Also, retaining knowlege in so many different areas makes you seem more intelligent because you know something about everything.

Writing is how I discovered myself. I became what I wrote on the page because that was the only time I wasn't judged, criticized, or made fun of for how I felt. Writing gave me the freedom to say what I want when I want. But, not only that, it made me be more truthful with myself about my own issues and shortcomings; Everything I was thinking and feeling couldn't always be someone else's fault, I had to take responsibility for my mistakes and wrongdoing.

Now, let me tell you what writing can do for you. Writing can be your path to self-discovery (as it was mine) or it can be an outlet for you. Writing can be the time where you create an imaginary world that features characters you'd like to meet or hang with or people you would hate because you want to explore the psyche of someone different from you. Or if you can't find a man/woman then write a story/book about your dream man/woman and you will figure out what you truly want in mate. Or writing could be a chance for you to vent about the woes of life that will remain unpublished in a journal or diary. Whatever your writing is about just write.

So to conclude, writing can do for you what it has done for me and that's any and everything. On that note, I'll leave you with the following lines from my poem The Power,
The Power makes me anything and everything
it makes me as constant as the time
and your sweet tooth cause suga ain't got shit on me