The Editors Top Five New Blogs
(Completely arbitrary and probably missed out some other great blogs!)
1) C-Side
Obviously a great blogger, because C-side the coolest place on planet earth – Brighton –which also happens to be my hometown. C-Side makes some great comments, particularly the one where she calls herself a ‘blog voyeur’ because, like many other new bloggers, she can find little to add to the existing blog geniusness. Also has a cat with the one of the best names ever – Little Poppet.
2) Fabulous - Beautiful - Intelligent
Writing from the view that ‘Honesty is the best policy’, Fabulous’s blog is a no-holds-barred attack on everyone (Madonna gets a particularly vicious tongue-lashing) and everything, Christmas Shopping to Documentaries on Sharks. I just hope my blog is never on the receiving end!
3) Kate's Blog
An international news blog from an aspiring international news journalist. Created as part of the Online Journalism Training course, which brings together young journalists from the Balkans. A blog that will provide a fresh perspective and a break from traditional comment towards news, making it one to watch for the future.
4) Some Velvet Morning
A simply but effectively designed blog, featuring some refreshingly open-minded entries and some amazing photos of what I assume to be the bloggers eyes. I hope this blog continues to develop into something that will no doubt be very unique.
5) Amylou: The Consumerist Blog
Definitely my kind of blogger – witty, honest and not afraid to laugh at herself. An excellent insight into the life and times of a modern woman trying to find her way in this work-a-day world.
The hopes and fears of a first-time blogger.
(by The Editor )
As with any writing, the most difficult part is starting with that blank page, an entirely inviting but peculiarly disturbing space that you can do whatever you want with. For a first-time blogger, this blank page is the immortal words that stare back at you: “Write your first entry!” What a sentence – so seemingly simple, but to anyone who’s written a first entry (which is every single blogger out there) they know that it is an entirely daunting and overwhelming prospect.
Luckily, most people who start a blog will have some idea in mind of what they want to write about, whether this be about their job, hobby, personal life, favourite subject, or their newly acquired cat called Tiddles. For me, I had just been appointed editor of my student newspaper, and wanted a way of recording my time as editor – the dizzying highs, the terrible lows, the creamy middles. And starting a blog seemed the perfect way of doing this.
The thing about my blog is that its tagline is ‘the life and times of the editor of one of the UKs leading student newspapers’, but next July I will be leaving university and will step down as editor. Unless I become the editor of another newspaper or magazine after uni, it will effectively mark the end of my blog. I’ve realised that doesn’t matter though – as long as I’m writing about something that interests me, and I continue to enjoy writing it, then my blog will continue.
At the beginning of many a blogger’s career, a nagging doubt will creep into the back of their minds – “There are thousands of blogs like this out there. Why would anyone want to read mine?” To tell you the truth, I had these doubts too. But then I read the featured blog on 20Six’s community page, written by Cigarette Sigh, and took an important point from his article:
“If your blog isn't honest in some way, if it doesn't reveal something about yourself, you're not a real blogger. From the personal to the political, blogs are ultimately about personality, you sell them on your feelings and your views. If you don't give or reveal them, no one's going to read it.”
Your personality is what will make your blog relevant, interesting and worth reading. The only thing that worries me about Cigarette Sigh’s point is that people may put too much of their personality into their blogs – I’m sure many people don’t want to read about someone’s fetish for bananas or their fondness of dressing their pet up in various costumes. But then again, I’m only one person and another person may find these blogs very engaging.
Once you’ve written you’re first entry, it becomes all so easy to continue as you fly past various blogging landmarks – the end of your first page of entries, the end of your first week/month/year of writing. After these initial fears have disappeared, you can spend as much of your precious time as you want deliberating over which shade of magenta the background of your blog should be. And from then on it gets even more exciting – increasing the numbers of readers of your blog, publishing the collected works of your blog, world domination, etc.
But for me, I’d just like to be able to keep writing my blog for as long and as much as possible, ideally every day. And if someone wants to offer me the job as editor of a newspaper/magazine so I can continue writing my blog, then so be it.
