A path covered in fallen golden leaves leading towards greenish trees

National Blog Posting Month

Posted on by Josephine Corcoran

Inspired by writer Liz Ward, I’m going to gently join in with National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) and post a blog a little more regularly during November. I love reading Liz at her blog and I also enjoyed her collection of essays which she published in 2018.

One of the reasons I haven’t been posting here very much is that I’ve been writing more in the offline world as I hinted at in my previous post. Last week I took advantage of a lovely offer by Trowbridge Town Hall and rented a desk for day in their beautiful Victorian building so that I could spend a day writing in a different setting.

My desk for the day at Trowbridge Town Hall

Although I’m lucky enough to be able to write from home without distractions, it made a difference to be somewhere else entirely, in my own space behind a closed door. As a friend commented on my Instagram post “A room of one’s own… at least for a day!” – and she’s exactly right. I’ve rented the room for one day a week for a few weeks – but this was before we had the announcement in the UK that we’re entering a second national lockdown. So, like thousands of others, my plans for the next month will be scuppered, although my inconvenience is nothing compared to most. Don’t get me started on the lockdown or the UK government’s incompetent handling of the pandemic, I’ve come to this blog for some moments of distraction. I hope that wherever you are and whatever your situation, you manage to deal with what is happening as best as you can.

Another reason I haven’t posted here as much recently is WordPress’ move to a new system of editing, the Block Editor. It means that I’m having to learn about using a blog again and it’s wearying. Perhaps it’s good for me to try to keep up with technology (at a basic level) but it doesn’t always feel like it. I have thought about switching to another blog publishing service such as Blogger or Medium. I wonder what your thoughts are about that, if any? I wonder what stops people who want to write a blog from writing one.

It’s time for me to drift away from here and focus on some of my other writing projects. If you’re taking part in #NaBloPoMo yourself, please let me know, and if you’re looking for inspiration, this post from 2016 when I managed to blog every day for a month might give you some ideas. Thanks for being here.

20 thoughts on “National Blog Posting Month”

  1. I use both WordPress and Blogger. I struggled with WordPress first time around, and when I came back to it I was totally thrown. But I have persevered. I’m certainly no expert. I’d suggest Googling anything you can’t figure out (I did that about wrapping text around photos, which was easy before). I’m now scared to touch anything in case I mess things up! Blogger has upgraded some of its features to look more like WordPress, but you now can’t wrap text around photos! I’d say its worth sticking with WordPress if you can because it looks more professional. I fear Blogger has had its day, though I still use it. I hope this helps.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Ha! Thanks for your thoughts, Heather. Yes, I always search the internet to learn how to do something, that is a good tip. I have accounts with Blogger and Medium and I can see they both have their merits. I tend to plough in and try things rather than being scared of messing things up, probably to my detriment! Well done for persevering. I think all of us born pre-internet deserve praise for sticking with it!! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Hi Josephine
    Great to read your blog. I always enjoy your thoughts and musings. I’d not heard of #NaBloPoMo but did one year join #NaNoWriMo to work on my novel. I think I’ll give it a go too as writing a weekly blog has been too ambitious recently… But if it’s a challenge I’m more likely to rise to it, and particularly if you and others are too! And if I don’t then I’ll look forward to reading yours!
    All the very best,
    Ali
    PS I’m struggling with the new WordPress blocks !

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi Ali, It’s reassuring to know it’s not just me struggling with the blocks. They’re not *that* tricky once you dive in but it’s just irritating to learn a whole new system when you’re congratulating yourself on mastering one method *lol*. Well done for doing nanowrimo. I have vaguely thought of doing that. I’m sort of writing novel at the moment. To be honest, I daren’t say “I’m writing a novel” because I used to start so many times before finally accepting I didn’t have the stamina for such a sustained project. I’ve written full length plays and short stories but poetry appealed to me because of its brevity. Recently, I seem to have found more focus and stamina for longer form writing but perhaps I’m really writing a collection of short stories (that are possibly linked) rather than a novel. I look forward to reading your blogs in November, even if you only manage a few! Thanks, as ever for reading and best wishes 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  4. Thanks for your thoughts Josephine. I use Blogger but have yet to find a place where, like WordPress, you can prompt others to read it. I started it what seems like many years ago (wordswords-moirag.blogspot.com) but despite the usual good intentions have slacked off … maybe I’ll try to get back into this month… but don’t hold your breath 😉

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Hi Josephine,

    Well, NaBloPoMo is a new one on me!

    After much swearing about the blocking, I’ve found that if I write in Word and then copy and paste it into WordPress, then it isn’t an issue, but it’s still a pity that they changed it to make it daunting.

    All the best,

    Matthew

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi Matthew, Judging from people’s comments, there has been a lot of swearing going on recently! I hadn’t thought to write in Word and then paste in, that’s a nifty idea. I am mainly just typing in and hitting return, without looking into the (apparent) many possibilities of blocks. I did sort of succeed in updating my ‘About’ page using blocks and lived to tell the tale. Thanks for commenting and all good wishes, J 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  8. WordPress block editor! I have watched the explanatory video more than once. It goes too fast, I can’t keep up, and I still don’t know why bits of the menu keep disappearing. It’s deeply frustrating and discouraging. Swearing helps, but not much!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I find just typing away in a post and hitting return works. If you want to do something specific (ie I wanted to resize an image) I googled “how do I resize an image in WordPress block editor” and I found a post (from WordPress.com) telling me how to do it. But that is the sum of my expertise! It is trial, error and swearing. I hope you succeed. If I lived nearby and there wasn’t a pandemic, I could pop over with my laptop and we could take turns to swear and share our block editor knowledge 😹!

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  9. I just switched to WordPress. I had an account, but hadn’t done anything with it. Like anything new, there is always a learning curve-I constantly think, “I should just be able to do this, then that. Why isn’t is working! Arrrg.” The forums are quite helpful.

    I’ve enjoyed posting here.

    Liked by 2 people

  10. Still haven’t got back to my blog. Life etc getting in the way … well washing up, cleaning a stuck window, organising food deliveries (still), Zooming, thinking.

    Liked by 1 person

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