What to Blog About When You Know Twit About Blogging

No, really. I’m not kidding. I don’t know what to write in blogs and I don’t know what to blog about. What about Project: Beautiful Words, you might ask?

Well. #ProjectBeautifulWords is a movement — and a noble one, at that — but when it comes down to the nitty gritty stuff, it’s really just about me writing about stuff: what I feel, what I’ve learned, where I’ve gone, what I’m going through… things like that.

And it just so happens that they read and sound beautiful, because well. Beautiful words, and all that.

But blogging? Okay, I don’t know much about that. I seriously seriously don’t know what to blog about when I think about my blog, so the ending is just me staring at a blank document for four hours, before finally calling it quits.

This is coming from the same person who once wrote, “There is always something beautiful to write about.”

My foot.

Anyway, I’m summoning all my whatnots and whodunits to make sure that this specific blog post means something. I kind of want to put my “digital marketing consultant hat” on, to make me sound as if I knew what I’m talking talking about, but whatever.

What can we blog about when we talk about blogging?

Well. Sit down with me for a session on digital strategic marketing and author platform creation, and I wouldn’t stop talking. You’d seriously pay me to shut up, because them brilliant ideas won’t stop coming out. It’s double the fun with my  partner-in-crime, Tin Mutuc (who’s the manager of the marketing department of the publishing house we’re working for, and also a great marketing consultant), because when it’s us two together, then expect that meeting to be fired-up and super productive. You won’t go home without a sound marketing platform for your book.

Sit down with me for a mentoring session on creative writing or book writing, and you’d come home with pages upon pages of advice, instruction, direction, and motivation.

So with all this experience, why don’t I know what to blog about?

Simple. It’s always easier to teach people how to do stuff than to do them yourself. I’d own up to that, at least.

But that’s actually what got me into thinking about this. Why can’t I take my own advice? I’ve always, always, always wondered what to write about whenever I thought about blogging. I’ve always had a hard time sitting down to write about a particular thing even when I set my mind to it.

So it came to me just now to actually write down the stuff we tell other writers, bloggers, and authors — aspiring or otherwise — to do.

This blog post is actually kind of for me, but I do hope it would help you as well. I mean, you didn’t click this for the heck of it, right? You’re probably reading this because somehow, you also have this dream of writing or starting your own blog, and you just don’t know what to write about.

Karren, my dear, dear self, this is for you:

1. What are you passionate about? 

What the actual heck. We see this question thrown around in almost 100% of the motivational and inspirational seminars and workshops you’re going to attend. And when you sit there amongst the audience, you’d get fired up and you’d jot down notes so furiously, you’d think your paper would catch fire. You’d nod here and there, and something in you is awakened — it might be that desire for something you care strongly for. It might be a dream that used to seem so impossible, but suddenly because of that talk on passion and purpose and doing what it is that makes you happy, then you’re all set to doing it. Listening to people talk about passion kind of ignites our own drive to discover and chase our own.

But in the dark of the night, or in the quiet of the morning, when all is said and done and you tried your best, but somehow you’d always find yourself on square one, you get to ask yourself again, “What am I doing this for again?”

What’s passion?

There’s a lot of books out there that talks about passion. Great books. They’d help you identify your passion and they’d tell you how you can go about using your passion to fulfill your purpose, so I wouldn’t parrot what they say anymore. But I have to run this by me again because though I’m all about pursuing my passion with the fire of a thousand burning stars and a fury of a raging storm, sometimes I lose it. Sometimes I misplace it. Sometimes I get burned out, until I find myself fading quietly into the night, and then what do I have to show for anything? Nothing.

I want to simply passion, so that whenever I forget, I can always come back to its most basic definition. It’s the definition that my heart can always remember:

Passion = fire.

Passion = joy.

Passion = love.

And to make it even more simple, I won’t even generalize. Here’s a check list of the things that I love; things that give me immense joy and peace; things that set my soul on fire.

• Books. Good heavens, I read quite a lot of them. And I buy even more.
• Anime and manga. Spent practically more than half of my life being obsessed with these babies that came from Japan, and my heart shows no signs of stopping.
• Stories. Anything and everything that tells stories — movies, games, TV commercials, Thai insurance ads, Facebook videos, and even answers to the age-old question, “How are you?”
• I love love love LOVE the water. The ocean. The sea. Lakes. Rivers. Waterfalls. Rain. Puddles. Dude, water is life.
• Buying books. Did I mention that already? I did? Oh.
• Spending time with people. I like it so much that I don’t write about it because writing about it takes away the memory of it, I suppose?
• Teaching! I like to teach stuff. Like how to write, how to write books, how to tell stories, why stories are wonderful, WHAT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL STORY I’VE READ LATELY, why Naruto is like the best ninja ever… yeah, I teach that stuff.
• Mornings. Mornings are beautiful.
• Traveling alone. It’s something I’ve begun to do lately and I love it.
• Meeting people. Seeing places.
• Remembering. I love remembering.
• Food. I love eating. But I’d rather eat the food than write about them so I’m scratching this one off the list.
• Preaching. Leading worship. Celebrating the love of Jesus either alone or with the entire assembly. Fantastic.
• I’m really passionate about working in the ministry. Like, I’m literally in a position where I get to read life-changing stories and books, and I’m being paid to just bring those books out there and oh my goodness I am ever so thankful that my family, especially my Mama, supports my decision to work in God’s vineyard. I think I want to cry now.
• Words. I’m really, really really passionate about words. This blog is supposed to be really short because that’s what’s popular… but hey. My blog, my word count. What? Fight me.
• And a whole lot of other things.

What about you? Can you write your own list of things that you love? Can you list down the things that make you happy? Things that bring you joy?

2. What’s that one thing people keep telling you you’re good at? 

In marketing, we simply call this your “expertise.” It’s something that you can help people with. Something that adds value to other people’s lives.

Because let’s be honest. Whenever we pick up a book, or choose a movie to watch, or even when we spend precious time waiting for a Facebook video to load, what’s that one question that would always pop in our minds?

It’s this: “What’s in it for me?”

Would this video make me laugh? Would this book inspire me? Would this story entertain me? Would this novel transport me into another world and spark my imagination? Would this blog post at least give me a new insight about something?

It’s all about adding value.

So here’s the question: what are you good at? I mean, if you’re good at it, then it must mean that you know quite a bit about it, right? So write about it. Share information about it. Share new insights about it.

Like… in my case. Again. (My blog, my case. Fight me.) It’s this:

Words. I weave words. I spin stories. I create worlds. I move hearts. I spark imagination. And my only weapon? Words. So maybe based on this, I can write a ton of articles and whatnot just revolving about words. Maybe.

How I tell stories, maybe. How I can stand in front of a thousand people and speak as if I’m only speaking to one. How I can defeat the writers block (dude, what?). Anything about words.

Maybe you’re good at cooking. Maybe you’ve got a handful of insights about parenting. Or maybe you’re good at being single. You’re good at being happy.

Tell us how we can be good at those things too.

3. Reflections. Revelations. Epiphanies. 

Uhm… I kind of do this all the time?

Yeah, I do.

#ProjectBeautifulWords is a collection of my musings and reflections. These are basically snippets of thoughts and wisdom that I get from whatever I’m going through at the time.

I’m an introvert (I REALLY AM AND IF YOU DISAGREE I WILL FIGHT YOU ON THIS). I’m also observant, analytic, and strategic. I like mulling over things — patterns, strategies, meanings, possibilities, probabilities. I like reflecting about things, too. So whenever I’m feeling particularly introspective, I’d write.

Based on experience, it’s always a good thing to be generous with our own revelations. You’d never know how many people you could bless, or how many lives you could change, based on one post, one article, one story. I’ve had people sending me messages, telling me how blessed they were because of this post or that. It makes me think that what we have — our hearts, our wisdom, our thoughts, our reflections — they’re not meant to be kept to ourselves. Sometimes they’re meant to be shared.

It makes me think about being a part of a bigger whole, a part of a bigger purpose. I mean, I never knew how important my posts and my musings are to some people until I practically stopped posting and people were messaging me about them. Imagine how many days you can make better, how many hearts you can mend, how many new ideas you can share, if you would just share what little you have.

And crappity crap I’m actually talking to myself. Because srsly, I haven’t been posting for a long time now, because I don’t know what to do with the words.

But look at me now. Blogging again for the first time in a long while.

The words have always been there. I just had to let them out.

Maybe that would be the same case for you. What can you blog about?  Here’s a recap ‘fore I go:

1. What are you passionate about?
2. What are you good at (that can add value to other people)?
3. What are your thoughts / reflections / insights / revelations?

Hope this helps!

This would certainly help ME.

Write beautiful words,

Karren