Best Blog Or Not, Just Keep At It

Well, I was not a little surprised to see a trackback to my latest post from Best Blog on WordPress earlier today. Best Blog on WordPress is maintained by a small staff of editors from across the globe and “searches for and categorizes blogs on WordPress.com that are worthy of notice.” W00t! I’m worthy of notice! And of course, I’m very flattered by the kind words of Bloglily who calls NDNL “one of the finest blogs on WordPress.” Not only flattered, then, but honestly humbled.

What I found interesting, though, was her mention of 9rules and her statement that NDNL “exemplifies the high standards” of that network. To this day, I remain unsure why I was ever admitted to said network, but I’ve always been very honoured by it. To me, it’s not about belonging to any kind of ‘elitist little group’ (as some still call it, once in a while) but about having a reason for raising the bar and pushing the limits every day. And when I look at the new admissions from round 5, I have to say: that bar has once again been raised and those limits once again pushed. If you’re looking for a couple of new refreshing blogs to quench the endless appetite of your feed reader, visit the 9rules blog and browse the new additions. They’re super.

Another thing that came to mind, when reading those words about myself, was how important it is for a blogger to just keep at it – even when you sometimes doubt you’ll ever succeed in creating a bit of a readership or a network of friends and commenters. Over the past year of active blogging with NDNL I’ve often had that feeling. What Best Blog on WordPress does, however, is show that with some hard work, persistence and focus on what you love, you can get your voice heard in the end. Bloglily and her colleagues do a wonderful job at giving bloggers that little added feeling of being appreciated. Sure, we all write ‘just for ourselves’, but in the end, if we’re honest, we like the attention as much as the next guy or gal.

Still, many people who start blogging, do just give up. Browsing the ‘next blog’ on WordPress (or whatever service you’re with) shows that in abundance. Many of the blogs you come across there are ‘three month wonders’. Often, the most recent entry is ancient already and goes along the lines of ‘I know I haven’t blogged in a while but…’ In some cases there isn’t even that. So, it does take some stamina, some real love, some true desire to improve and learn.

In a few weeks I’ll begin Year II of this blog and I’m not planning on giving up. My life may evolve, NDNL may evolve – all in directions I have no knowledge of at this point – but I’m determined. I guess I’ve become determined. And if you’re a blogger and you think of giving up, or maybe you didn’t make it into 9rules this time, but you absolutely love doing it (prerequisite number one, of course) I’d say don’t give up either. I read and I am read by people all across the globe now, I’ve improved many skills and I’ve learnt so much about so many things, my that I couldn’t imagine giving that up. It’s an experience, but it’s one you have to be patient for. And then, one day, you say: I’m a blogger, and you finally become ‘worthy of notice’. Sweet.

Image under CC by Evhead