Hello Fellow Writers,

Today marks the official 365 day mark of having started this blog and it’s been a real teaching experience for me. Here’s what I learned:

◊ There are blogs about everything on the WordPress Reader. I never would have expected to find blogs solely dedicated to nail art, theatrical play festivals or even math jokes? I don’t know about you but these are creative blog ideas that I wouldn’t have thought of making in a million years. There’s a whole host of unique thinkers on this website, all merging their passions onto this central platform of knowledge…and that’s beautiful.

◊ The benefit of connecting with similar blogs. Although all the unique blog topics are a refreshing new perspective, it’s rewarding to interact with similar-minded blog owners. They further motivate me in my blog’s development and purpose by sparking new ideas and inspiration in my most passionate area.

◊ Just because it’s a writing blog doesn’t mean it can’t involve other topics.
The other day, I remembered this advice from my my previous English teacher. “This blog is a chance for you to experiment and develop your writing style,” she told me in her blog-starting advice. “There’s less of an expectation on young people to know the exact area they want to write about [before at least dabbling around].” Thinking back on it, she’s right, not just for youth but all ages. Why should anyone cage themselves into just one subject without at least exploring a few of the multitude that exist. Not that I suddenly hate blogging about literature and writing; I still love them both! I’ve still taken it upon myself, however, to occasionally search for additional areas of interest for my posts in the following year. This year I learned that we bloggers have a whole world of topics to explore; to let that got to waste would be a shame.

◊ Why you have to stick to your declared post frequency. Instead of keeping followers hooked for a week of daily posts and then leaving for a month-long hiatus, it would’ve been better to keep a constant frequency so my followers could know what to expect. This year I learned the importance of proper posting etiquette…Which leads to my next point…

◊ It can be REALLY hard to maintain proper posting etiquette with busy school/work/life schedules always at stake. Throughout all of her advice and motivation, my English teacher warned me that blogging would take a lot of time sacrifice. OH BOY did I underestimate what a lot of time sacrifice meant. I apologize for clocking out of blogging during my busier times this past year. Now I’m back to give my best AND just because I took a break, doesn’t mean that I forgot about all the projects I promised before (I’m talking about those Hunger games novel reviews!) My followers who patiently waited for those reviews won’t be let down and neither will those sticking around to see what happens next with this blog. Here’s to a new year of The Writing Wave.🎉🎉🎉🌊