Tale Sixty: Blogging Me-Me

I realize that I never made a resolution’s list or anything of the type. In fact, I think I barely acknowledged the fact that we rang in 2010 at The Tree Unleashed.

I’m not a fan of resolutions, just because when I break them, I mope for about 2 weeks. But I do like this blogger me-me that I think will help me put my thoughts into perspective. I found it over at The Tree of Life.

1. How long have you been blogging? What made you start? Who inspired you?
I started my first tale in June of ’09. I’m still a sprouting in the forest, or so it seems. Unlike many bloggers out there, I wasn’t inspired by Phaelia (Resto4Life). In fact, I had never heard of her until I stumbled on her blog after she’d stopped blogging. What got me started on blogging was a blog by the name of A Tale of Two Druids (who has stopped blogging as well). She had wonderful posts of gear and such, and it inspired me to attempt blogging.

2. About how many hours a week would you estimate you spend on your blog?
Honestly, it feels like 24/7. I don’t post much, but in my USB stick, I have a ton of posts that may or may not get posted. I spend a lot of my time researching, reading and learning about my class, and the only reason that more educational posts don’t end up here is because I am rubbish at math and feel like I’m not qualified to write posts like that.

3. What kind of experience or background do you have with writing?
Throughout my Jr. High (Middle School) years, I was part of a Spanish/French/English (now you know my culture!) Youth Newspaper; the highlight of this getting to interview Cirque du Soleil when they were in my hometown. Once I graduated from Jr. High, I was a part of a city wide Youth Newspaper and got to interview several bands and such. Now, I’m a closet writer. I write stories that I’m sure will never get published.

4. Talk about how you come up with blog topics. Where do you get your ideas? What or who inspires you? Where and/or how do your brainstorming?
My ideas and posts come mostly from experiences in the game, or other blogs. I don’t really get inspired by a single thing, just a bunch of little ideas that get written down. I do most of my pre-writing, editing and brainstorming at work, and when I get home, I do my second edit, adding in hyperlinks and publish.

5. Do you have any blogging rules or guidelines you follow? Is there anything you will not blog about?
No rules or guidelines. I think there was only one post that I was nervous posting, which was the one where I respectfully disagreed over everyone’s negativity over the Blizzard Store selling the virtual pets. I’ve written about the girl gamer issues in WoW. I’ve written about Healbot vs Grid vs Vuhdo. I think the only other thing I can blog about that can stir up controversy is ……?

6. Do you have any sort of a publishing schedule in terms of day of week or topic? Where do you do your writing?
No. I found out that if I put a schedule for myself, I tend not to keep it. I write and publish as my mood sees fit. Sometimes I feel like researching and such, other times, it doesn’t feel write. I try –not sure if I succeed- to at least publish one post a week. Again, I do most of my blogging from work.

7. How many drafts of potential blog posts do you have right now? In what medium do you draft your posts? How often do you completely scratch or delete drafts or blog post ideas?
I have 4-6 posts right now that may or may not get published, for whatever reason. I draft my posts in Word before I transfer them to the Blogger platform. I have never deleted a blog –no matter how much I hate how I’ve written it. I find that I might hate it now, but I might be able to say it better later on.

8. If you had to leave your blog in your will to another blogger, who would you choose? To ask this in a slightly less morbid way, are there other blogs that you feel are similar to yours in content, style, or voice?
I’m still new to the blogging world… but I’d have to say that Averna or Caliban would have to take over in the fun/wow adventures posts and Keeva or Lissanna for the druid serious posts (though those two are SO much serious than I could ever be).

9. Has anything surprised you since you started blogging?
Yes. That I’ve actually stuck with it and love it! That I’m part of a big blogging community that at least 80% of the WoW players (that don’t blog) don’t know about.

10. What are your goals or plans for your blog going forward? Any specific goals or plans for your blog in 2010?
I am hoping that for my birthday, Mr. Littlebark will get my hints and buy me my own hosted site. Other than that, I’m hoping to write more Druid related posts.