Bear Blog Question Challenge
Started by Ava, and as seen on Jedda's blog.
Why did you make the blog in the first place?
I used to love blogging, back in the day, circa mid 1990s. A colleague showed me the basics of HTML and I began to build my own (simple) websites and blogs. I learned about domain names and got hooked on buying new domains for the next few decades!
Blogging back then was very new but there were communities of people connecting together, sharing other blogs on their blogrolls, engaging through comments, and taking us all down rabbit holes. It felt like a brave new world full of possibilities. Before then it would have been nigh on impossible to find those people by other means.
As time went on, the anonymous blogs evolved and became personal businesses promoting eCourses and other digital products that people were selling via their websites. I suppose these were the forerunners of influencers.
It was a good time back then. I think we lost something over the years as websites became more commercial. Those quirky blogs ceased but we seem to be having a renaissance right now and that can only be a good thing.
Why did you choose Bearblog?
I've used Bearblog in the past - I first came across it via Bob Doto.
I've used allsorts of different methods of publishing content over the years. I learned early on that simple is often the best. I wasted a lot of time configuring different apps and sites to do what I wanted, and not used that time to create content.
One of my all time favourite bloggers, although he probably wouldn't call himself that, was Paul Jarvis. Recently the ex-founder of Fathom, he was a web designer to lots of A list bloggers and website owners. His websites were minimalist and simple but his content was awesome. It was a lesson, for me, that you don't need an all singing, all dancing website to succeed.
Have you blogged on other platforms before?
I created my own websites and blogs using HTML from the late 1990s onwards. Tried Blogger for quite a while. Migrated to WordPress. Along the way I used Tumblr, Posterous, Ghost, Obsidian Publish, Blot, Postach.io, among others.
Do you write your posts directly in the editor or in another software?
A combination of the two. I use tools such as Twos, Obsidian, Napkin and Logseq to capture and draft ideas. Sometimes I will write a complete post in another app and then copy and paste, other times I'll write directly into Bear.
When do you feel most inspired to write?
When I should be doing something else! When I have little time, or the clock's ticking! I try to gather ideas as I go, usually in Twos, and then choose something to expand on. I log anything that piques my interest - I may have seen something on X or Instagram, read a quote in a book, had an idea while watching a film.
Do you publish immediately after writing or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?
Once I've written all I want to say, and read it through, I hit publish. Only occasionally, if the topic is very personal or perhaps a little contentious, will I leave a post in draft and come back to it. If I run out of time and can't finish a post there and then, I'll save it to draft and revisit when I have more time.
Your favorite post on your blog?
Blogging ... Back in the Day - very relevant to this challenge.
Any future plans for your blog? Maybe a redesign, changing the tag system, etc.?
I've learned, over the years, that blogs and websites are always a work in progress so no doubt there will be changes. I'm pretty happy with my setup right now. This iteration is fairly recent. But I'm sure I'll tweak the colours or fonts at some point. I'm still working on my tags so that they reflect the topics I'm pondering.