I thought it would be interesting to talk about the experience of writing a new blog in the Author’s Thoughts’ section of the blog. When I started to think about creating one, I thought I had a clear idea about blogging and the research I did was – honestly – a lot less than what I should have done. As someone who has started to write blogs, it is pretty shameful on my part that I do not have much experience reading blogs and the ones I have read are mostly around travel planning, itinerary and destinations. Now, I find myself writing in an entirely different genre – where I try to stay away from itinerary and travel planning, but talk about my thoughts, stories and share the experience with pictures.
As I settled down to write my first travel experience, I realized that the first words are the most difficult. While I did have an idea on what it is that I wanted to write about, there were so many questions and doubts in mind when actually starting to write. Is anyone else going to find this interesting? How much should I write? Should I include more pictures? What should be my writing style? What do others do? Maybe I should check out other blogs to see how they do it? The hesitation to start writing is real and the temptation to see what others do and follow can be very seducing. Maybe I should spend more time thinking about what and how I should write? And with these thoughts I struggled to find the words to start and it is not even my first blog post yet. It is quite scary to be in that place and I found myself not able to write even my first experience.
When reading about writing blogs, I came across an article (which unfortunately, I did not save the link for) where it was mentioned that when starting a blog, make sure that what you have a purpose in mind. This made a whole lot of sense. When I started thinking about what I should do with The Lone Traveler, there was a clear purpose in mind, a certain audience who I had intended it for. This was not a blog I started to become an influencer, there was no need for success. This was a blog that my friends and close ones motivated me to write, to talk about my experiences and share pictures and help me connect with like minded people. It took some courage to accept that it is ok to not have the perfect blog, that there is no one judging me for that and it is ok as there will always be people who will help me to get better over time.
‘Authors Thoughts’ is an interesting section, and it was something that I did not plan for when considering starting a blog page. When I conceived the Lone Traveler, it was to be a platform meant to share experiences and pictures and stop at that. But now when I look back and reflect on my doubts, I realize that The Lone Traveler has the potential to be a little more than just another travel blog. In my first post, I talked about motivating others to step out more, but now I feel I can do a little better. I think I would like it better if The Lone Traveler is truly a diary which talks about not just my travels, but also my thoughts and feelings as I learn this new platform, share what drives me to do the things I do and help you understand what makes the person behind these stories a human.
Now back to the topic of my first road trip post. Now with clarity in mind, I’m happy to say that I’m making good progress. It is a long one, so I may need to break it into parts so that it is easier to follow and not overwhelming for the readers (and to create some suspense ;)) . I will be writing the post the way I first intended it to be like, a diary of travels, thoughts and experiences.
I will continue to share these experiences and my learnings as I learn this new medium, and hopefully someday when someone who is starting off from where I’m now chance on these posts, they understand that it is alright to have these mixed feelings, that it is OK to feel doubt, and that you just need to look back to find your purpose.
The Lone Traveler 