My first blogger recognition award

Ecstatic!

That is the only word that accurately sums up how I have felt since I read Ihuoma of OMA’S SERENDIPITY‘s blog post, where she nominated me for this very prestigious award. When I say nothing has been able to rid me of this feeling, I mean nothing! – not even the sleeping baby whose urine left a stain the size of  Africa on my ankara skirt.

As much as I will like to pour out my heart in an Oscar-worthy acceptance speech, this chain post award has some ground rules nominees have to follow. They are:

 

So, first of all……

I will like to say a big thank you to someone who has made me dance shoki, galala, sekem, azonto, etigi, makossa, skelewu, shakiti bobo, yahooze,and alanta all at the same time in my head. This is no one other than the wonderful and creative Ihuoma of OMA’S SERENDIPITY who nominated me – y’all need to check out her blog.

2. I guess that refers to this post…..keep reading for more juice

3. How I started my blog:

I created my blog in October 2016, although I did not start posting until January 2017. I was going through a very rough period where everything just seemed to be going down south, and a good friend suggested that it might be a good time to start that blog I had always talked about. After a long conversation lamenting to my friend, I summoned courage to create the blog, but not the courage to write. I thought that I would suck at writing a blog because honestly essay writing was what I found most challenging about English Language at Secondary school. Also when I got to senior secondary school, I had to drop Lit-in-English course, because my teacher told my writing was as bad as that of primary school student……. LOL…. story story 

Fast forward to 2017, I promised myself the new year was going to bring about a new me. I was going to summon the courage to face some of my fears After 3 weeks, I finally decided on what to write in my first post – The six commandment of suit

So ……..here we are 3 months later, the 365 blog born out of deep sadness has become my refuge and a source of ecstasy.

4. Advice to new bloggers

As I write this, I hear a voice quietly whispering at the back of my mind “you just started blogging, what……3 months ago, do you think you are in the best position to give advice to new bloggers?”

Hmm….I will reply to this voice “experience is the best teacher, and although my experience is limited, it is still an experience and so I will share only what I have learnt”

So what have I learnt?

• Don’t be forceful with your content: When I was doing my ground research for the blog before my first ever post, I read so many things about content planning and its importance, so I decided to give it a go……AND IT FAILED FOR ME. Trust me when I say that is probably what held back my first post. The title I had in mind for my first post was totally different from ended up as my first post. I spent a lot of time doing my content plan and I really wanted to make good use of it. But I found myself stuck……..a writers block before the real deal even begins, can you imagine? After so much time dragging it out, I finally finished writing the planned post and when I read it, it did not sound anything like I wanted it to. It did not flow well, it was what I’ll call……….forced. I guess what works for you works for you, a lot of people say planing content works for them, so it may work for you. But what I am trying to say is, if planning content does not work, don’t feel like you are doing something wrong just ‘let your inspiration drive you content’
• When I first started, I was a bit lost…I thought I was doing something wrong because the number of views was not very impressive – another thing I learnt “let the numbers motivate you, not discourage you”. I contacted Berry Dakara of THE BERRY SWEET LIFESTYLE via email, and she told me something very important I will like to share with you. she said “At the same time, you might have a creative streak and think up 20 posts at the same time – in those times, pace yourself and schedule your posts in advance. There’s nothing like having already scheduled posts in the middle of writers block”.

I know you are confused…..isn’t that the same as content planning? Not really. This one involves writing as it comes to you and scheduling it for future posting, as opposed to the other which involves planning what you want to write before writing. The latter, for me, lets me write what inspires me when it does and gives me content for those times when I have a writer’s block.

• one more thing…. I know it says 2, but I feel like I should add this one. I did not have any blogger around me  to put me through when I first started and so I contacted some established bloggers to help. As expected, most did not reply and finally Berry Dakara of THE BERRY SWEET LIFESTYLE responded. So in case you find yourself in a similar situation, try to contact other bloggers for help and don’t be discouraged from trying others if some don’t reply.

So the moral of the story is:

• let inspiration drive your content
• don’t be forceful with your content
• when ideas come to mind, try to execute them as soon as possible. You don’t have to post them immediately, you can keep them for the time when you have a writer’s block
• Let the numbers motivate you, not discourage you
• Try to contact other bloggers, if you need someone to put you through. Feel free to contact me here. If it something I can give you advice on based on my limited experience, I will surely help.

5. Winners!!!!!!

I am glad I have the opportunity to pass this award on to other bloggers. And so….the 365 blog’s winners for the ‘Blogger recognition award’ are:

1. Ngito Makenas of NGITOMAKENAS
2. Kelly Sundberg of On Being Alive
3. Oluchee of idle head
4. missmondaymonday of This square peg
5. Berry Dakara of THE BERRY SWEET LIFESTYLE
6. When in the city
7. Akintunde Aiki of Koroba
8. Xceptional43 of 4unansweredprayers
9. 21st century disciple