We finally turn 1!
Finally my blog, this little portal that I created a year ago to shout about all the stories that I love- turns one.
I've read and followed so many bloggers and their Bloggerversary posts when they celebrate their platform completing a year, and more often than not, it's the same thing. Pleasantly surprised that they made it this far, incredulity at how vast and welcoming the internet can be, and giddiness of that moment when you've finally, finally...found your people.
Technically I created this blog in 2019, so it's should be 3 years. But last year was the when I actually started something and stuck to it.
Now that I've gotten a slight (almost) an idea of how the Internet works and a steadier hand on my writing, I have been consistent with my blogging and having a bookstagram.
When you think about blogging as a whole, 1 year is a miniscule time. Any form of social media, but especially a blog, takes a long time to take off, and requires a very persistent drive. And I am not even halfway there yet. But what little I have done has been very rewarding.
Things I'm Grateful For-
1) All the skills I've learnt- When you run a personal blog, you have to be the writer, web designer, graphic designer, marketing manager and everything else all in one. I had no idea to how to do any of these things before, but starting a blog forced me to learn these things and explore different platforms. These skills became pretty useful to me in other activities of my life as well and I've always been better because of it. 2) A sense of belonging and community- Before I started blogging, I didn't know a lot of people who loved reading as excessively as I did, and it seemed such a rare thing to have as a hobby. But as I slowly discovered blogs and booksta accounts, and then more and more people through them, it just put a restless, insecure part inside of me at ease. I found an immense sense of community and friendship, getting to know so many people that doubled my enjoyment of experiencing a story. 3) The support and safety I've gotten- Admittedly, my blog hasn't reached that a big number of people so as to trigger a lot of hate or negativity, but I know it's not that way for everyone. From the very beginning, my blog and all my social media has been a safe and supportive space for me to express myself. So I'm just grateful for everyone who interacts with my content and no matter if they love it or not, they have always been respectful. 4) How diversified my bookshelf has become- I think this is the part that has gone through the biggest transformation, since I got from being a girl who thought that Chetan Bhagat was the only Indian writer to discovering so many, many incredible stories from all over the world. Reading stories became a learning and growing experience that taught me invaluable things. It helped me discover stories that I treasured not only because I learnt about other cultures and communities, but I could also finally find stories that I could be a part of as well, exactly as I am and right where I'm from.
SHORT Q/A
1) Which author's writing style do you like the most? Okay, this is such a different question to answer because I love so many author's writing styles. But I think if I had to choose, it would be a combination of Victoria Schwab and Maggie Stiefvater. Even though I'm for all beautiful and dense writing, there's just something about the more direct and precise way of writing that I love. Basically it's all about playing with sentence structure and packing a bigger meaning in less amount of words, which makes it have a greater impact when you leave the obvious but the more painful part unsaid.
2) Best and Worst Parts of Blogging- For me personally, the best parts of blogging are just the community, but also I love that it's a way to practise my writing and English skills, since it's not my first language. ALSO most definitely getting to read free books that aren't even out yet and actually getting to interact with authors that I admire so much. If I talk about the worst parts, for me personally it would be that I don't have a laptop and the app that I use has glitched keyboard, so sometimes the process is very frustrating. 3) What was the last book I DNF'ed and why? I don't DNF books pretty often but my last once was a recent one called How To Steal a Thief by A.J. Sherwood. I was in the mood for a thriller+romance read, but unfortunately I didn't end up liking the characters so I didn't continue on. 4) What inspired you to start blogging? Wow ok this took a surprisingly long time for me write because tbh I forgot!? But when I think about it, it was mainly that I didn't have anything to do and creating one of my own sounded pretty cool. My main purpose was always that I wanted to write. No matter what it was about. My first blog wasn't even about books (thank God no one can see it now). So it was 13-year old me looking for a way to express myself in the best way I knew. By writing.
Also, some platforms that I took inspiration from are-
5) What are your favorite posts that you have written?
6)What's your preferred format to read? Physical books, obviously. But because I'm broke and have weak eyesight, I use my Kindle a lot.
That's it! Thanks a ton to everyone who submitted the questions. I had a lot of fun answering them! 😃
That's it! Thanks a ton to everyone who submitted the questions. I had a lot of fun answering them 😃!
I'm looking forward to a long time blogging and being a part of the bookish community, so here's to that!
Time to Chat!
Thank you everyone for reading this post. I know this was immensely long and self-indulgent, but it was really fun to write. I hope you all had just as much fun reading it!
I'd love to know about your thoughts or experiences in the comments.
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