Personal Blog Reflection: Growth, Challenges & Favorites
Thank you for the reminders from your colleagues, I’ve already moved everything to a new file folder.
Original link: Your blog author wants to interview you with 9 questions! .
- Please give a simple introduction of yourself or your blog?
Personal blog: Notes on life, book and audiovisual reflections.
- What triggered the start of writing on the blog?
I can’t remember exactly. I guess because there are many things I don’t know where to share with others, and some things aren’t suitable for sharing with nearby people. So I chose to post anonymously online. Although no one actually read it, I still received a lot of email messages, which was really exciting.
- How did you complete your writings?
I write every day. After completing the content, I revise and delete as needed before posting. Basically, I removed my privacy settings, deleted overly emotional outbursts (although looking back now they’re kind of ), slightly adjusted punctuation and grammar. Regardless of whether it was published or not, I wrote daily. I think writing a diary doesn’t require much on the text level.
- During blog management, did you lose motivation? If yes, why did you regain it? If not, how do you maintain your passion for creating?
I used to write for a while but set access permissions only so that very few friends could view my writings. After stopping for a period due to various reasons (possibly related to the pandemic), I eventually resumed writing when I realized that sharing with more people was possible online.
Although I told some of my close friends about it, they didn’t pay much attention to their readings or whether anyone else did either. Since my blog is mainly a window into my life for those who are interested in knowing how my recent activities have been, if someone isn’t interested, that’s perfectly fine.
Writing and managing the blog is most challenging during its first one to two years when it receives no visitors. If it were completely ignored, I might abandon it entirely. However, since I’ve received some letters and comments from netizens, even though I don’t know exactly who they are, this level of feedback is enough for me.
Once the blog reached over 100 posts, everything became automatic. Whenever I feel like not updating due to the lack of new ideas, I feel compelled to write something (like how I do with my novels). So writing and posting is all I can dono half-measures!
- How did you set up your blog, and what annual expenses were incurred in maintaining it?
I asked a netizen to help me set it up (accidentally). I used GitHub Pages, watched some tutorials, built the site, but forgot how to maintain it until someone reached out for help or referred me to ChatGPT. Fortunately, there are still good-hearted people online willing to help! The annual expense mainly consisted of buying a domain name worth ten years and paying for website template design. I also gave some money to the website maintainer as a token of gratitude.
- Recommend one of your blog posts (preferably one you’re proud of), and recommend another blog you find noteworthy, explaining why.
Most of my blog posts are daily ramblings without any depth or formjust random thoughts. If I had to pick something meaningful, Id say the Japanese travel diary pieces, which I really like and often revisit them. The Japanese version is more concise and heartfelt than the Chinese one.
I highly recommend a blog called Sweet Fish/Ayu . The art and design are very charming and full of daily life vibes. It’s truly something worth exploring.
- Recommend one thing you’re currently interested in (e.g., books, movies, music, tools, software)?
I’ve been using Anki to learn Japanese vocabulary lately. Although it’s a fantastic tool, every time I try to go to bed and realize I forgot some words the next morning after hours of study, it becomes incredibly frustrating.
- Plan to do things you haven’t tried before or things you haven’t done yet?
I need to continue writing my novel. The thought of not doing so fills me with regret as I’ve been putting off revising and publishing for too long now.
- Take a moment to relax, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, or wander around the park; then return here and write anything you’d like.
I’m writing furiously but can’t finish it!
