thinking about what's next

Hi!

So, for the last few weeks I have been doing the 'Blog With Pip' course about blogging, by Pip Lincolne from Meet Me At Mikes. You know Pip. I am sure you do. You won't see any changes here yet, but I've been doing a lot of thinking about where to go with blogging. It's been a thought provoking start to the course - things that I'd already been tossing over in my mind are now right in front of me, and being discussed with classmates. In a nutshell, it's been five and a half years that I've had this blog so now I am wondering things like...

• do I want to keep blogging? (um, I think so)
• how much work would it take to make this a blog I really like? (a lot)
• do I know how to make all those changes? (no, but I could learn)
• would I rather start a new blog that better reflects what I do? (yes... I think I might want to do that)
• would that also be a lot of work and involve things I don't know? (yes!)
• do I know what I am doing with any of this? (no!)

I've always stumbled with blogging because while I like taking photos and I like posting them, I don't know what to write about, so I don't know how to keep a focus (which I now understand to mean I have not created a niche, a thing that people can search for, when they are searching for... things). I didn't mind this for a long time. It was a rambling, un-noticed blog and actually that was what I really liked about it! But if you recall, last year I left my job and that has changed everything. It has changed the way I spend my time, the way I take photos, my other creative pursuits, the way I deal with ideas. I feel like this blog needs so many changes to make it what I have in my mind, and that makes me sad, like I am abandoning it! So.... I am not sure what to do!

The other thing I struggle with, and I have mentioned this before, is dealing with the stupid number of photos I take, and how to edit them. I end up with so many photos that I don't post any at all. Part of what I am wondering about is whether to start a new blog that is much more carefully curated, where I choose what I post much more deliberately. Maybe I would keep this one going as a sort of scrap book? Leave it as the un-noticed, rambling, happy, messy, random place it has been for this long but have something new going that is a bit sharper, a bit smarter. Again, I am unsure.

If you have any thoughts on any of this, I'd love to hear them. Leave a comment, or email me, or send a message on facebook.... even if you don't see this post for a while. I've got a few ideas but I am spending too much time trying to puzzle it all out. Any clues would be appreciated like tiny breadcrumbs I can follow. The course is worth doing too, if you have a blog (or want one) and are looking for either technical information, ideas, tweaks, direction... or just a chat with other bloggers. I'm glad I signed up and have a good feeling about blogging again... whatever form it ends up taking!

H.