Bodacious Bloggers is a series featuring some awesome bloggers that I think you should check out.
Blog Title(s): The View from the Balcony In My Head, The Undercover Diva and Project Ritchie (click on the titles to view)
What are your blogs about?
My blogs are about me and the things that I feel and go through on a daily or regular basis. My very first blog, The View From The Balcony In My Head is a lot more about the emotions that I feel in my life- past and present- along with some of the things that make me happy, things that I like and just general daily things.
My second blog, The Undercover Diva, is more about being a girl and the things that I feel from that aspect alone. I am very much into fashion, makeup and all things glossy and fun so it is an arena for me to just be a girly girl. It is also about promoting self-esteem in other women. I also just started a new blog, Project Ritchie…and that is about my project to work on myself and become the woman I want to be.
Why did you start your blog(s)?
I started my blog after seeing a blog from a friend of my cousin (who is now my friend), and I just felt that it was God showing me a new avenue to be creative. The idea of it all just seemed so fun! I was also thinking heavily about exposure at the time, but then once I started it, I just found that I liked doing it for me. I mean, I loved to have some people read, but it became my own little fun addiction and escape.
When I started The Undercover Diva, it was really just because I was doing blog background shopping and was looking at all of these girly backgrounds, but I did not feel like that fit the tone of [my first one]. I was also at a point in my life where I was feeling like I wanted to be more girly and fun and not so dark and bleak…thus, I started a new blog!
With Project Ritchie, my friend was showing me a new blog site (tumblr) and so since I had been on this whole thing about Project Ritchie, I decided to take it to the next level. Honestly, I never thought that P.R. was really going to be that serious, but I feel that I need somethinig to hold me accountable to being committed to continuing to try and do what I should to better myself, and this blog has really got me feeling so inspired!
How do you decide what to write?
Deciding what to write about mostly just comes to me. I usually have so many ideas for things, and it is hard to get them all out. Since I am an emotional person, a lot of it has to do with whatever emotion that I am feeling or if I see something having to do with fashion or beauty, I will also add it to UCD. If I have feelings or emotions towards goal-setting or how I am feeling about helping to build my life, I will add it to PR. It just depends on where my mind is for the moment. It is definitely a gift from God because it really does just come to me. I do have my dry spells as well too though, but other than that, I just try to let it flow for the most, while still trying to keep some order to it.
What is your favorite post that you’ve written?
OMG! I don’t know [lol]. I would have to say Return of The China Doll may be my all time favorite. It was like one of my first posts on my first blog. It described me coming through my depression I was feeling at the time. I still had a little ways to go after I wrote it, but I LOVE that post! There are a lot more that I love as well. I think that ones that are really ripped straight from my heart are my most favorite. They are very near and dear!
What do you want readers to take away after reading your blog?
I just want my readers to be inspired! That is my purpose in all of the writing that I do. I also want them to feel like someone else out there is going through the same thing that they may be going through, too. I have been through a lot in my life, and it has not always been so easy, but God has always seen me through. One thing that I sort of wish I had was a book or a blog where someone could talk about how they were feeling. Sometimes, I feel that people may get sick of all my emotion at times and a couple of posts, I honestly have been tempted to delete, but then I think, ‘no, what if this could help someone else.’ Life is not always a bed of roses, you know. I feel that a lot of the mediums focus on the things that have nothing to do with soothing or healing a soul, so I try to be the voice or medium that I wish that I would have had a lot of times. I also just want people to know that life can also be very beatutiful in spite of it all, and so I try to elaborate on that as well. I feel that God puts his voice out through us, so I just try to share a lot of the things that he has put in my heart, soul and life through the gift of creativity!
Tips for people wanting to start a blog:
Well, in starting a blog, I would just say be true to yourself. I try to stay true to who I am in almost every aspect of my blog (i.e. content, background, etc.).
I would also say to network as much as you can. That is something that I did not do at first. Visit other blogs and join if you like. Add comments; a lot of times [people] follow you in return, and you get what I call a blog family. Lots of times, that makes a huge difference! I know that I feel a huge amount of support from my fellow bloggers! It really makes your day!
Nowadays, there are a lot of blogging clubs that you can join, like I joined Secret In The Sauce, [a place to] meet other bloggers across the country and have your blog featured at some point, which is great exposure.
Adding my blog to Twitter is something that I thought was cool just because more people can read it if they like. But mainly, just staying true is what is really important. I know that at times, I feel pressure to blog a certain way, but at the end of the day, I always remember that if God have me the gift to write the way I do, someone will be touched by it!
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Jamie
mochawriter.com
