“The first thing you learn when you’re blogging is that people are one click away from leaving you” is a quote attributed to Alex Tabarrok. Through more than a decade of blogging weekly and trying to keep people from clicking away until fully digesting what I’ve had to share, these are the lessons I’ve learned.
Consistency matters
I have repeated Scott Ginsburg’s advice that led me to blog every Sunday, whether I felt inspired or not, often because it is so true. “Make a date with the page,” he said. He was right. I may have missed five Sundays out of the ten years, max. Scott’s advice made me discipline myself and overcome the mythical idea that it takes a magical shot of brilliant insight to get words from the brain, through the fingers, and onto the page. It takes dogged determination to keep at it. Period.
People are going to be insulted and hurt
Honestly, I can’t think of a topic so neutral that someone won’t object. Although my blog topic started off as something pretty specific (being a back of the pack runner), it expanded. I write what I think, and I sometimes write to spark dialogue between people. I try to do so respectfully, factually and clearly. But the online world is not a place where everyone agrees, and a blogger can’t fully control her message. One of my personal principles is to ask myself “is this something you would say in person?” This is especially true with questions that have local ties, such as the student who threatened to sue because she wasn’t selected to the cheerleading squad at my daughter’s alma mater.
Likewise, it still bothers me every day that a Facebook “friend” shared my post about gender reveals with one of her groups, that the group then raked me over the coals as I sat there, diplomatically responding to every single barb and attack, then unfriended me. I know I’m the one with the thin skin to still be bothered by it. But I stand behind what I wrote and am the kind of person who takes it to heart when I can’t come to some sort of reconciliation following a conflict. (Of course it was the attack about my writing that irritated me the most, almost more than the multiple ones about how “insensitive” I am and the fact that I must have some deep-rooted psychological issue.)
Some things are better said face to face (or not at all)
This is a bit of an offshoot of “people will be hurt and insulted,” but it involves a different nuance, I think. While I can’t think of a post that would have been better delivered face to face, I do think the things I write may be perceived differently by people who don’t know me personally than by those who have a different sense of how I conduct myself in person.
Errors happen
I am a freak about accuracy, but write more than 1,000 posts and you’re going to make mistakes. Fortunately, there is an “edit” function and mistakes can be rectified, but it’s much more pleasing to get things right from the outset.
I think way too often of the error I made on this 2012 post about the opening of Jason’s Deli. The restaurant was built on a site that had housed a previous restaurant. Having driven by the vacant building almost daily, in my head it had been several things, so I wrote it as “a location that had seen a parade of short-lived establishments.”
One of the comments (from an anonymous commenter) was:
A “Parade of short lived establishments” in that location? Umm… There was ONE short-lived establishment: Helen’s Diner. The previous occupant, Banjo’s BBQ had been there for decades. One short-lived tenant does not a parade make.
I immediately added an author’s note to respond to that comment, acknowledging that I was unable to document the “parade.” What bothers me is that I’m pretty sure I know who the commenter is. If so, it’s one of two people with whom I still interact frequently and I just wish we could talk it out!
I know I need to make like Elsa and “let it go.” It has been six years after all, but it bugs me!
The other error that sticks with me is one from this blog I wrote as a reflection on a New York Times “Modern Love” column. The column responded to a letter from a reader who had started a relationship with a man, and who wrote about how the man’s former wife was supportive of the relationship. There’s nothing wrong, of course, with a former wife choosing to be supportive of a relationship, but this woman didn’t convince me with her account of how she fell in love with the guy while he was still married to his wife.
I did some very amateurish poking around on social media that led me to the inaccurate conclusion about the wrong individual, and made a few unfair and distinctly wrong leaps of “discovery” about the author’s mental health. This is not good because I consider myself a mental health advocate. Once I came to my senses (and my facts), I corrected the post and wrote a clarification. Unfortunately this all came after I had shared a link to my post in the comments of the New York Times article. Lesson learned several times over.
Our positions change
Ten years is a long time to be on this earth. And pretty much anyone, if they are dedicated to personal growth and keeping an open mind, may come to a different conclusion over time compared to what they originally said (or wrote). That said, I can’t think of many posts I look back on and think “how could I have ever felt that way?”
One of the major shifts, though, probably has to do with how I look at disabilities and how I am (hopefully) doing less “othering.” I was heavily involved in Autism Speaks around 2012. There has been quite a bit of movement among many former supporters of that organization. I think specifically of my friends Matt and Jess, who I met in 2012 when I ran a half marathon for Autism Speaks. Although I still feel strongly about supporting people with autism and their families, and especially about making sure there are options for adults with autism to have meaningful work and the opportunity to function as independently as possible, I view autism less from the perspective of “something to be fixed” now and more from the angle of “a different set of features and life skills.” I still can’t adequately address this, but Jess of Diary of a Mom can, and did so here.
Success at blogging requires more than blogging
This depends on your goals, of course. I started blogging to “flex my writing muscle,” but quickly started wanting more: more interaction with readers, more opportunities to do sponsored posts and make some money from blogging, more “community.”
If you want your blog to be more than words on a screen, you have to share it (even though being self-promotional can feel awkward). You also need to share it in other forms (such as video), because people prefer to receive information in other ways. For example, this is a video I did to support my blog about dress codes at internships.
Everyone needs feedback about their writing
Hopefully this goes without saying, but writing is one of those areas where we all need to seek (and act on) feedback. We are our own worst editors. I am thankful to Randi Atwood, who taught a fantastic writing course earlier this year, and who has helped me shape my theater reviews (and opinion pieces) for the Tallahassee Democrat.
People love food posts
Out of all my posts, the 2nd-highest performing post was one I wrote about “hippie juice,” an adult beverage made with powdered lemonade mix and flavored vodka five years ago. It was outperformed by a post I did about brain health, which reassures me a little bit! But still … hippie juice instead of white privilege, getting tested for HIV or a great book? Go figure!
People are reading, even if they don’t comment or tell you
While I know the proportion of people who comment on blogs is small relative to the number of people who read, it still surprises me when someone tells me they read my blog. I’m glad (very), and I know commenting is a pain, but I suppose I wish I could hear more about what people think after reading what I have written. My favorite was a conversation with a friend/reader and the turn the conversation took when we began talking about grocery dividers. It makes me laugh a little bit that people think about me when they are at the conveyor belt (thanks, guys). More importantly, I hope the post makes people recognize microaggressions and resolve to be more aware of them.
I still love writing
A love of writing is the main thing that propelled me down the road of being a blogger. It’s nice to interact with others. It’s really nice to make money occasionally from blogging. Most importantly, it’s rewarding to try to help people be aware of causes for which they can advocate and social problems they can help resolve — to try to help people have a broader perspective that hopefully helps them contribute more fully to the world around them.
If none of that happens, though, I usually walk away from the keyboard happy because words are so enjoyable.
NOTE: Thanks to Mona Andrei, whose How writing 500 posts for my personal blog helped position me as a writer post inspired me to write my own reflection.

Wife of one, Mom of two, Friend of many. My pronouns are she/her/hers.
Hi Paula, oh yes you can learn so much after 100 posts. I’m on my way to 600 today and it’s so interesting what you learn.
I don’t sweat the errors anymore, the edit button and purge your cache can do wonders 🙂 Otherwise you may not ever hit that publish button out of fear!
I try to comment on others from time to time. It’s a great way to network. I found you from Triberr today and wanted to check it out.
I love your writing but my only advice is to have more images in your posts. They help with the promoting of it which should be 80% of your time! That took me a long time to learn but it’s that old 80/20 rule. 20% writing and 80% promoting. I’m almost there, probably at 70/30 but it took me years!
Good luck with your next 100 posts Paula 🙂
Hi Lisa. Thanks for stopping by (I can’t think of the last time someone visited from Triberr, so thanks for the reminder that it’s a great resource!). I agree with you on the images and appreciate the reminder.
What a success you are! Of course we all talk about the trolls and as you say the barbs and unfriending but you are out there writing, expressing, researching and doing it while some of the trolls just anonymously cowardly comment. Congratulations Paula!
You’ve got a point there! If nothing else, blogging makes me process the world and there’s something to be said for that.
Somethings are better said face to face hit me. Many times I’ve wanted to give advice to my family subtly via a blog post. I tried once years ago. I realized that I wasn’t so subtle…Never again
Well, yes. It’s very true. Full disclosure, I have done a bit of “family venting,” but it’s on Medium. It’s just as public there but harder to find!
I’m an almost recovered lawyer. I started non legal (as opposed to illegal) writing when I left my more than full time lawyer job in 2005. I did our firm’s appeal briefs from home and had several pieces published in the Philadelphia Inquirer back when they actually paid freelancers. Then, they laid off many of their staff writers and, understandably, started funneling most of their writing to them.
When our son was a recent college graduate, he said to me,
“Mom, you should start a travel blog. You like to travel and you like to write.”
(Now he thinks he has created a monster and he doesn’t want to discuss blogging with me.) So, I started a travel blog which pretty quickly morphed into more than a travel blog. Now, I’m not sure what I should be doing with it, so I’ve offered to moderate a session at the Women in Travel Summit in May titled, “Reimagining Reinvention”. I’m an expert. I’ve been doing it every day for going on 14 years.
Write on!
Reinvention is what it’s all about, right? So glad you’re enjoying yours.
I’m impressed that you’ve been blogging for 10 years and I’m glad you’re still enjoying it! Thanks for sharing these lessons!
Definitely still enjoying it! Thanks for reading/commenting!
The actual procedure for sorting all of it out could be covered on your behalf, but understanding what option will likely be pursued is important.
In most cases the retirees receive income from various sources like retirement plans, IRAs, annuities,
pensions and social security benefits. The following factors are utilized to
see whether traveling expenses fot it temporary assignment or job are deductible or otherwise not:.
Older analog machines had no method to display whatever was coming through on your own machine besides printing it on paper.
You might even check Microsoft Marketplace’s Internet Fax section to see the way the company you are
considering ranks. Online fax is totally portable and available anywhere and without notice.
Ideally, you wish to work with clients who you might be comfortable working together with on the regular
basis. In the very last decade, the best way to happen to be seeing the
qualities along with the benefits in taking their work for the
home-based office. By finding the program, you could be assisted on the way to achieve most of your objective in life.
Using a regular spreadsheet program we can ask for
a range that we can easily be 95% positive that his true average lies with, which range is 11.
At least, if biologists know about those issues, judging from what exactly is
published in scientific journals, they are often ignored. In conclusion, both of these types are quite important in data collection.
A person will not test a pack which is clearly leaking,
because they realize it will fail, thereby distorting the actual profile of a
production run, while a piece of equipment will collect the sample and
report the result objectively. Expert plumbing technicians should be capable of manage and
handle any residential or commercial job, big or small through advanced leak detection techniques.
These are not conditions that feel safe to handle yourself,
even though you have extensive home repair experience.