A Book Review: Blogging for Bliss

While poking around our little library by the lake I found Tara Frey's book, Blogging for Bliss: Crafting Your Own Online Journal: A Guide for Crafters, Artists & Creatives of all Kinds. I turned the book around in my hand, flipped through it and hesitated which should have told me that this book wasn't for me. But it said "Creatives of all Kinds" in the title so I said, "What the hell. Why not?" and shoved it under all the chick-lit in my book bag.

A red flag popped up in the first chapter in a section about finding an audience: "Keep in mind that creative blog readers come to your journal to escape, so it can be disappointing or uncomfortable for them when they see political rants, religious overtones, or foul language, If you want that type of blog, you may be in the wrong neighborhood." Uh-oh. Political rants? Check. Religious overtones? Check. Foul language? Definitely. Not only am I not in the same neighborhood as these "creative blogs", I'm not even on the same planet. However, I forged ahead determined to finish a book I started.

Tara Frey writes,"Photos can make or break a creative, blissful blog. When I polled readers on my own site, 91 percent of them said they would rather see a photo that doesn't match the post than no photo at all. What does this mean for your own site? Simply that when you post, the curtains don't have to match the couch." Let's apply this, shall we?



Why did I post a picture of a sink of dirty dishes? Well, Tara said ya'll would want to see a picture even if it had nothing to do with my post. Somehow, I don't think that is what she meant and if she was next to me right now she would smack me upside the head with a wooden spoon tied with grosgrain ribbon and say, "Post a picture of something pretty or artsy, you silly, billy goosey-goose!" Then, like Glinda the Good Witch, she would get in a bubble and float back to her blog, where kittens play with yarn and pies cool on window sills. Let's try again, this time with more art and less snark.


Ahhh. Is that better? I thought so.

In between chapters there are profiles of bloggers. I stopped and checked some of these out and was given further proof I was in the wrong zip code. These women all had hobbies and interests listed under their blog name. Hobbies like: quilting, sewing, gardening and the all-encompassing crafting. None of which I do because I have just enough skill and patience to complete a paint-by-number. Then the author asked them to list other blogs they read and wouldn't you know they all read each others blogs! None of them listed, What Would Tyler Durden Do?, Perez Hilton, Go Fug Yourself, Deadspin or Evil Beet Gossip. Which are the blogs I read and more evidence of my not belonging.

The author included a "Blog Speak" section where she lists commonly used Internet abbreviations. I am merrily going down the list when I see OMG which she explains is short for "Oh my gosh". WTF, OMG is short for "Oh my God" not "Oh my gosh". Whatever, moving on to ROTFLOL, "rolling on the floor laughing out loud"? Well, it would be really odd if you rolled on the floor quietly because then someone might think you are having a seizure. SOL is "smiling out loud" not "shit out of luck" like I have been led to believe all my life. My personal fave WTF, "what the fuck", didn't even make the list. What you just read is one of the author's pet peeves, "Don't make mom wash your mouth out with soap. Foul language on a creative blog is a bad, bad thing. I was really surprised at how frequently this occurs. Because creative blogs are so visual, this is really like seeing profane graffiti spray-painted on your driveway. Not cool." Now, I have established that I am not living on Creative Blogger Court, a cul-de-sac in the suburbs or a country cottage in Connecticut, I also do not radiate goodness and light. How could this book possibly be for me?

Well, it does explain simple HTML, (I could have used that info last week when the Rhett & Link Video didn't want to embed instead of bugging my informal editor Tom.) tips on taking photographs and properly posting them, how to run a business from your blog and has a section on blogging platforms. Also, included are several helpful glossaries. The book is full of beautiful, glossy pictures that would make Martha Stewart and Mary Engelbreit cry. As a very pretty beginner's guide it serves it's purpose well. So well, in fact, that I passed the title along to a friend who wanted to start her own blog but wasn't sure where to start. It's just like Tara says, "For those who blog for bliss, it's a need for personal expression and a passion for sharing their lives or crafts that drives their blogs. Although they receive no monetary gain, these bloggers will tell you that the satisfaction of giving, sharing and inspiring others is priceless." My friend was inspired by my cynical blog to start her own. While I may not be "blogging for bliss", just being a plain ol' blogging bitch, I did inspire one person and isn't that more important when all is said and done?