It’s all about blogging…

We’re on week 2 of the SMDL, our main objective for now is getting the grips of blogging. And our task for this week is to blog about our blogging experience and how we feel about it.

I wish I could say that I’m a blogging novice so that I can justify my lack of writing talent and expertise on the subject. True is, I’ve blogged before. I was introduced to blogging a few years ago when I took part of a social media course for librarians in Cambridge, Cam23. Setting up a blog and posting once or twice a week were the main tasks for the course. We covered 23 tools in total, and by far blogging was the most difficult one for me. By the time I finished the course I had written about 20 posts in less than 3 months.  Yes, blogging became easier with time and it also helped when I liked the tool I was reviewing, it was like I became more fluent. But I never felt 100% confident.

You see, writing is not something that comes naturally to me, not to mention the anxiety I have for trying to produce something that I think should be relevant, funny and/or interesting so that it’s worth to make it public. I never blogged again on a personal level, until now.

On the professional (or institutional) side, I’ve written on several occasions on the Library’s blog (by the way, I’m the author of the latest post). The blog is regularly updated and all members of the team contribute to it. Doing this hasn’t been in any way easier than on the personal side. When blogging on behalf of my team I have a double challenge, not only I need to write a good piece – one that “the boss” would approve – but it has to be done using a different tone and voice, not necessarily my own.  However, once my post has been approved and published,  it’s a very rewarding experience and I immediately feel ready to take on the next challenge… that is, until I have to sit on front of the computer and battle with myself to find the words for the next post.

How do I feel about blogging right now? I’m terrified, just like Danbo is scared of Domo on the image above. I believe that some people are naturally talented to write and create amazing blog posts — I’m not one of them. But, I’ve joined the SMDL with the intention of leaving worries and fears behind, I want to share with my colleagues and learn the tips and tricks to write a blog, that maybe one day someone will read and like.

Image credit: GViciano via Flickr Creative Commons