What challenges have you faced in your blogging career?

If you choose blogging as a medium, there is an expectation that you follow a regular publishing schedule, and I think it is important to establish that consistency if you want people to follow you. After about five years of blogging weekly, I found I had bored of the subject of young children, and yet that was the audience I had created for myself. I had never meant to set myself up as an expert in only one area, but rather preferred to write about whatever I was passionate about and learning about at that time. So two years ago I gave my blog an entire relaunch under my own name, where previously it had been under a name that pertained to the subject matter of parenting. I began writing about whatever interested me, (such as parenting) and it was quite difficult to make the shift. Sometimes, if we want to be a writer, we need to just write, even if it’s bad!

 

How do you juggle work, blogging, family life, and your other commitments?

I find that what I want to write about starts brewing in my head a few hours before I sit down, so that when I actually sit down to do it, it pours out pretty quickly. It helps when you’re writing about experiences that you are busy living, or something that your heart is full of. That way, it takes far less time for the words to land on the page. Life is busy, but with a bit of planning, a careful timetable reflecting my various priorities, and some discipline to stick to it, anything is possible.

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Your faith is obviously integral to your life, was this an inspiration to start your blog and why did you choose blogging over other mediums (such as YouTube, Facebook, music)

I believe any parenting wisdom I may have exhibited was as a result of what I learned from studying the Bible and in prayer, so yes, indirectly the blog was as a result of my faith. I chose blogging as opposed to YouTube, partly because it was a long time ago now and YouTube was not as popular then, and partly because my preference at that point was for the written word over the spoken. Facebook was not a consideration as a primary medium because I used Facebook primarily as a social networking tool in my personal capacity. I didn’t want to bore my friends who may not be interested in my parenting methods by overusing my Facebook “wall” for messages on parenting. I prefer to have my blog separate so that only those interested need access it.

 

Who is your audience for blogging?

I would say my audience now has grown from mostly young moms to include people from a diverse walk of life. There are still more women readers than men, although men do follow as well. The age group is nicely varied, and the location also seems to be spread all over the world, although I think most of the followers are linked through personal relationship either with me or with someone who knows me.

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I notice that you talk a lot about your children on your blog, have you ever faced any ethical challenges in this?

Yes, I do need to be careful when writing about my children. I always consider the fact that one day they will possibly read it, and also that often times people who have read something about one of them will mention it to them. I try to always respect them as people, and to consider each child’s personal preference for privacy as well.