I thought I would do I post in a question and answer style, just to make things more interesting for myself as the writing style has become tiresome of late.
So, why did you start and why have you continued to write?
Thanks for the questions. I started writing, as I explain in my ‘About me page’ to practice the fundamentals of writing. I had been writing, and keeping it to myself, for three months before I considered making a blog.
The initial motivation was that I liked the idea of making a blog as a technical challenge, and getting feedback on my work from the writing community.
I have continued to write because I am disciplined and I have come to enjoy the routine of doing so.
Are you sure? Did the idea of those superstar bloggers making lots of money by merely blogging not come into your decision at all?
I have always liked the idea of working for myself, and the idea of doing it via blogging is appealing. However, as someone who has a relatively high level of training with data and statistics. I know that this was not a feasible goal. As far as knowing how much this fantasy had an effect on me I cannot quantify.
Okay.
What were your expectations when starting out?
I didn’t really have any, I putting things out onto the internet and watching to see what happened. One year later I still don’t have any goals for the blog.
If you don’t have any goals for the blog then why continue?
It’s a habit at this point.
I see you have put out a lot of posts of, let’s be honest, average quality. Is this because you’re lazy, inept or have genuine contempt for the reader.
I definitely don’t have contempt for the reader. The quality, I think, is related to the amount of time I put into the posts. I have a lot of hobbies and interests. Writing and blogging is not always a top priority.
Let’s change direction a bit. What has been your favourite thing about blogging for this past year?
Interaction with people. I have had no bad interactions, and the vast majority have been pleasant, which is one of the reasons I had for starting a blog.
So you have a poor social life in the non-internet sphere and are trying to plug that hole with semi-anonymous people online?
No, you’re barking up the wrong tree there.
Okay, so what has been the worst thing about blogging?
I realised you can’t just write and expect people to read it, you have to go and get an audience, which is a bore.
Don’t you like marketing?
It is the worst thing! I think it should be a meritocracy.
But surely those who are the best at marketing are the ones who are the best bloggers?
Shut up.
I notice you have been nominated for many of these ‘Blogger awards’ by you fellow bloggers how do you feel about that?
They are pointless, so far I have not been able to turn the critical acclaim into financial gain. But I notice many of the greatest artists of all time have died in poverty.
Did you just compare yourself to a great artist?
I was taking an exaggerated, sarcastic, position for comedic effect. It apparently went over your head…
Do you find your snarky, sarcastic attitude is some kind of defence mechanism?
I like to think it is because I like that kind of humour.
Let’s get back on track.
Sorry
I’ll only ask a few more. As it says in your tag-line ‘Just your average PhD student trying to enhance their CV’, have you enhanced your CV?
Probably, because you can comfortably lie on your CV and make things sound much better than reality; however, it would depend on what I decide to do next as to how important my blog would be.
Would you recommend blogging to a friend?
Only if they wanted to get better at writing, or promote something online.
If you could start over again what would you do differently?
I could start again. I am not sure if I would do anything differently. I would probably track more statistics, just for the fun of it.
Also, I might have tried to make a site with WordPress.org: for the challenge. Perhaps I will in the future.
Do you have any concluding remarks?
Thanks to all of those that have commented on my posts and have helped me along the way. Thanks for all the love and support.
One year of blogging, an interview with the author – week 52

Congratulations on the blogging milestone and being one year into your PhD!
LikeLiked by 2 people
LOL cute post. I am also a fan of snarky, and sarcastic comments which others either don’t get or take acute offense to. Thanks for the smile and congratulations on completing your first year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am a new starter but so much of what you say rings true. I want write and as a consequence improve my writing and thought processes. Keep going, congratulations on your first year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Typical, I leave a comment and it is grammatically incorrect. Second sentence should say, I want to write. Cheers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cool post, thanks for sharing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Writing blog is a good way to practice fundamentals of writing, I agree~
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congratulations – from a semi-anonymous person who happens to read your blog from time to time. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Sarah!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love this post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
i have recently set up my blog for pretty much identical reasons as yours so I completely understand where you’re coming from. I have been doing creative writing for a couple of years but was not confident enough to put my words out there. This blog has really helped me overcome that and I’m happy I took the chance.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congratulations on your anniversary. Hope you have many more!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the Q&A format. It’s an interesting idea for getting over ideas in a different and informal way.
LikeLiked by 1 person
How’s the PhD going? I have a PhD in Maths, went on to work in clinical research and now write detective novels. Lives and careers rarely run along pre-planned routes!
LikeLike
Hi, I think it is going okay, I am sure I will pass anyway, other than that I can’t really tell how it is going. I imagine a PhD in maths is extremely valuable in todays market! I know a few other PhDs that like to write novels it seems that the enjoyment of writing is a massive plus when trying to be a reasearcher.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Loved this one! I agree about marketing being such a pain in the neck. I am an anonymous blogger too trying to wrap my head around how to get readers on this platform. Any tips from your personal experience would be highly appreciated.
LikeLike
Hi read my ‘One year of blogging’ post, it explains how I got most of my views/follows. All the best!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congrats 😀🎉 Funny post 👍
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thankyou 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Time marches on. A year gone by. It seems like just yesterday or maybe 365 yesterdays.
Really… nice job by you.
LikeLike
Hello LOUIS, can we talk?
LikeLike
What wold you like to talk about?
LikeLike
Privately
LikeLike
The best way is to follow me on Twitter, I will follow you and then we can message : https://twitter.com/JLJ_1
LikeLike
A post a week is proper commitment, good luck to you, I hope your hard work pays off.
LikeLike
Hey Louis nice interview. I hope the journalist’s questions weren’t too disturbing (LOL). Success is defined as an ability to predict the future. Then you can adapt easily. I’ll give you a hint in a private message if you’re interested! 🙂
LikeLike
Wow certianly interested!
LikeLike
Hi! Thank you for inspiring me to blog seriously. and this piece is very remarkable. unique. Will emulate it someday in my blog. More power to you and let us know when you finally get that PhD.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Have you seen anyone about your proclivity toward multiple personality disorder? [chuckle] Keep up the good work!
LikeLike
I love the word proclivity, it is underused in my opinion. Thanks for the comment.
LikeLike