How To Have A Successful Blog

The subtitle of this post should really read Self Assessment: Why This Blog Will Never Be Popular.

Allow me to take a moment to step back and analyze what it is I'm doing here. First, I understand that most blogging sites suggest that in order to be successful you should pick one specific area to discuss. For most people, video games, movies, music, and food all seem to be very popular choices. Let me be perfectly frank with this statement: this is not for me.

Perfectly Frank

While I understand most people will not hold any specific interest in reading something completely different each day of the week (and some weekends) I must make myself okay with that. Part of me realizes that these postings are wasted on most people, who will see a lengthy amount of text, haphazardly read the title and say "Oh, I see. I can probably just guess at what most of this says."

I am guilty of doing this myself for numerous things.

Since my pledge to post something new (almost) every day, I have completed 8 posts. This will increase that to 9. Normal people will wait until they hit a number that is in base 10 before they make some big fuss about what is going on.

I'm not "normal people."

There are a few questions that arise at this point that I should face immediately before they become a major concern:
1. Am I happy with the progress of this blog?
A: Yes. I realize there are various reasons why the blogging community exists. Most of them do not pertain to reading other people's material, and that is fine. I am confident that if I keep doing what I enjoy doing, there will be people out there who enjoy it as well, and they will be kind enough to share this blog with their friends. *Ahem. Share buttons on the right*

2. Am I happy with the material of this blog?
A: Yes. Each post so far has been something different and therefore maintains its own identity. I don't like the idea of someone thinking back to a post I have written and them not being able to remember part of it, or something interesting from it.

3. Am I happy with the layout of this blog?
A: No. Immediately after writing this post (and before actually posting it) I have changed the background and header of the blog. I am still not 100% satisfied, but it is an improvement over what it was before.

4. Am I tired of posting yet?
A: No. Not tired. However, I do have mixed emotions about posting as often as I am making myself. For explanation, please see Question 5. 

5. Have I run out of ideas yet?
A: Yes. God yes. I run out of ideas every single day. After each post I have no idea what I'm going to write about for the next one. This is my downfall. This is the negative aspect of not having one specific topic to focus my attention on. However, I feel that it grants me more creative freedom, so whenever something does pop into my head, I can create it. No one will ever get the feeling of "What? I thought this was a techie blog. Why is he writing about Stop Drop and Roll??"

Personally I feel the only way to increase creativity is to practice creativity. I have seen numerous exercises online to "make the creative juices flow" including sitting down and forcing yourself to write a list of 100 ideas. There was some explanation like once you start getting into a "zone" the subconscious mind kicks in with more thoughts that were normally suppressed.

Bullshit.

If you can write a list of 100 ideas and be happy with the process, fine. First, I don't have that kind of time on my hands. Second, I have a hard enough time writing a list of 5 things, let alone being able to make it into that "subconscious zone."

What do you do to enhance your own creativity? Or are you also perpetually out of ideas?

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HEY! Keep in mind that I'm always taking ideas for FREE TOPIC FRIDAY! Just post them below!