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This Week's Question
Do you ever go back to older
posts and change things?
(Submitted by Elizabeth @
My Answer
Great question, Elizabeth! This is definitely something I've done from time to time, especially when I happen to notice that certain links in older posts are no longer working, or are an UGLY gray color, instead of the lively green I prefer to use now.
As with most bloggers, I have seen my blogging style develop over time. It was just a matter of deciding, on a particular day, that a certain font, as well as a certain font size, would be more satisfying to me, and probably much easier to read. Or that a bigger picture of a truly LUSCIOUS cover would somehow tickle my "visual bone" much more than a smaller one would. Or that setting up a post in a certain way would make me incredibly happy!!
All this points to one fact: the changes I've made throughout the years have been made to please one person: ME. That might sound self-centered, but heck, all of us bloggers, whatever we might blog about, are doing it for the purpose of self-expression. We're not only putting our views on books and bookish topics out there, but we're also making public our own personal aesthetic.
I feel very passionately about having a blog design that makes me feel aesthetic bliss! So maybe not everyone likes my style. I have come to accept this, and will not change it in order to please anyone, or to attract more readers and followers.
Here's the thing: I happen to LOVE the color blue! So that color MUST be a very prominent part of my blog design. I LOVE big pictures. So they, too, must be a prominent part of my design. And, I want my text to be readable. So it has to be a certain size.
As for my writing style, this blog is supposed to feature YA Fiction, for the most part. I'm not a young adult myself (except in my head, lol), but I do LOVE the genre. So, I do try to sound like a Young Adult at times. However, my style will frequently reflect the fact that I am (ALAS!!) not in this age group anymore..... Well, so all I can do is write the way it flows. If I don't sound very "youngadultish" at times, well, what can I do? It flows the way it wants to flow! LOL.
Anyway.....all this is to reiterate the fact that, at times, I go back and look at older posts, only to exclaim, "Horrors! THAT doesn't look aesthetically pleasing AT ALL!", or "That just doesn't read well!" And then comes the inevitable: "I've GOT to change that!!" And I have indeed done so, on a few occasions.
Then I stopped doing this. I actually made myself stop. Why? Well, the most obvious reason that first comes to mind is simply this: TIME. I just don't have the time to go through each and every one of my older posts and tweak them. Except in my very first year, which was 2010, I've averaged about 200 posts a year. (Check my blog archive.) It would be a VERY time-consuming thing for me to do, if I were to go back and make changes to ALL of these posts!
The second reason is that, going back to make changes will not allow me to see how my blogging style (which encompasses design as well as writing, as I have already explained) has developed over the years. It's so rewarding to go back and see how one has grown as a blogger! So, changing a post published, say, five or six years ago will not allow me to see how far I've come.
For comparison, below are links to some posts from one of my earlier years. There are quite a few differences! Please bear in mind that the sidebar constantly changes, so obviously, the sidebar you see when you click on these links is the one present on my blog now. The post titles are also newer. The last time I updated my blog design, I chose a new font for the titles. So I no longer have the old ones. The header is one that I created fairly early on, using Google's Picasa software. Unfortunately, Google has retired this software, so, if I want to change this header, I'll have to look around for another software program..... I do change the header three times a year, though -- for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
As Elizabeth herself has stated in her own answer to this question, I will occasionally go back and fix a glaring typo or grammatical error. But that will only be if I happen to come across one. Otherwise, I won't go back and change anything anymore.
As with most bloggers, I have seen my blogging style develop over time. It was just a matter of deciding, on a particular day, that a certain font, as well as a certain font size, would be more satisfying to me, and probably much easier to read. Or that a bigger picture of a truly LUSCIOUS cover would somehow tickle my "visual bone" much more than a smaller one would. Or that setting up a post in a certain way would make me incredibly happy!!
All this points to one fact: the changes I've made throughout the years have been made to please one person: ME. That might sound self-centered, but heck, all of us bloggers, whatever we might blog about, are doing it for the purpose of self-expression. We're not only putting our views on books and bookish topics out there, but we're also making public our own personal aesthetic.
I feel very passionately about having a blog design that makes me feel aesthetic bliss! So maybe not everyone likes my style. I have come to accept this, and will not change it in order to please anyone, or to attract more readers and followers.
Here's the thing: I happen to LOVE the color blue! So that color MUST be a very prominent part of my blog design. I LOVE big pictures. So they, too, must be a prominent part of my design. And, I want my text to be readable. So it has to be a certain size.
As for my writing style, this blog is supposed to feature YA Fiction, for the most part. I'm not a young adult myself (except in my head, lol), but I do LOVE the genre. So, I do try to sound like a Young Adult at times. However, my style will frequently reflect the fact that I am (ALAS!!) not in this age group anymore..... Well, so all I can do is write the way it flows. If I don't sound very "youngadultish" at times, well, what can I do? It flows the way it wants to flow! LOL.
Anyway.....all this is to reiterate the fact that, at times, I go back and look at older posts, only to exclaim, "Horrors! THAT doesn't look aesthetically pleasing AT ALL!", or "That just doesn't read well!" And then comes the inevitable: "I've GOT to change that!!" And I have indeed done so, on a few occasions.
Then I stopped doing this. I actually made myself stop. Why? Well, the most obvious reason that first comes to mind is simply this: TIME. I just don't have the time to go through each and every one of my older posts and tweak them. Except in my very first year, which was 2010, I've averaged about 200 posts a year. (Check my blog archive.) It would be a VERY time-consuming thing for me to do, if I were to go back and make changes to ALL of these posts!
The second reason is that, going back to make changes will not allow me to see how my blogging style (which encompasses design as well as writing, as I have already explained) has developed over the years. It's so rewarding to go back and see how one has grown as a blogger! So, changing a post published, say, five or six years ago will not allow me to see how far I've come.
For comparison, below are links to some posts from one of my earlier years. There are quite a few differences! Please bear in mind that the sidebar constantly changes, so obviously, the sidebar you see when you click on these links is the one present on my blog now. The post titles are also newer. The last time I updated my blog design, I chose a new font for the titles. So I no longer have the old ones. The header is one that I created fairly early on, using Google's Picasa software. Unfortunately, Google has retired this software, so, if I want to change this header, I'll have to look around for another software program..... I do change the header three times a year, though -- for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
As Elizabeth herself has stated in her own answer to this question, I will occasionally go back and fix a glaring typo or grammatical error. But that will only be if I happen to come across one. Otherwise, I won't go back and change anything anymore.
September 24, 2011
Follow My Book Blog Friday Hop No. 8
Sept. 1, 2011
Beautiful Book Covers: The Fallen Series
January 30, 2011
Follow My Book Blog Friday Hop No. 8
Sept. 1, 2011
Beautiful Book Covers: The Fallen Series
January 30, 2011
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