Have you ever thought about writing a blog or the process of blogging?It’s harder that it looks, but it is still rewarding to get your thoughts out there.

How have you enjoyed my blog this year? Yes, I started over a year ago on a WordPress.com free site. Then I purchased a paid site on HostGator Cloud and have been working from there ever since.

Here are the top three things I have learned in my blogging journey:

Focus

 “Your focus determines your reality.” Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn said this to young Anakin Skywalker in the movie The Phantom Menace after the Jedi Council declined his request to officially train Anakin.

This is a true statement.

I’ve read several books about this, including The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks and The One Thing by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan.

What I have found is that my focus on this blog started with expressing my story to the outside world, and I am learning that it isn’t about me, and never was.

It’s about you.

This blog is about you and what I can do for you to help you in your life. It may be giving you a song, helping you learn a simple way to play guitar, or giving you a story that resonates with you and leads you further along in your faith journey.

From digital to analog

 

My focus recently has shifted from digital writing to pen and notebook. I’ve been doing Morning Pages inspired by The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. This helps me dig deeper into my mind and heart in order to bring out everything, sort it out, and hopefully to bring out and shine the best ideas, stories and song ideas.

So, because of that, my blog posts have been fewer and further between. I think, in the long run, it will be much better and an important part of the direction of my creativity and on-line activities going forward.

Consistency:

The early bird catches the worm. And does it every day. Another thing I’ve learned from blogging is that when I write every day, it gets easier.

Several months ago, I attempted to write at least fourteen songs as a part of a challenge called FAWM, February Album Writing Month. I have been writing blogs and stories for a year, putting songwriting on hold.

This was so I could get some of my personal story written out and improve my writing skills. I wanted to improve my lyrics and overall creative process for songwriting, because that is my first creative love. So from now on, I am going to be more consistently writing songs first and their stories second.

songs first

It seems from what I’ve read about songwriting that the best way to write great songs is to write everyday, even if you write a lot of bad songs and melodies and lyrics. Then you can find the little gems that can spark bigger gems and become a brilliant necklace of lyrics and melodies shaped into beautiful songs to shine for all to see and hear.

stories second

Along with that is my desire to write the stories behind the songs. Then you can better understand where they come from and that I’m not so different from you. And maybe you can share your story and have me write a song about it.

Readers

If you don’t have readers, you don’t have an audience. I am finding out that not engaging with your readers is not good for your blog. So if you are reading this, I apologize for not engaging. I get so busy just writing and living my own life, but I need to remember the reason I am writing is to connect with you.

I’m looking into doing better, more interesting content creation this coming year by trying out various video platforms like Facebook Live, YouTube Live to do vlogs, perform my songs, and just include bits and pieces of my real life. Maybe I’ll even write in the comments section. So please look for something about that on my Facebook Page “Guitar Shane Stories.”

So…thank you so much!

Thanks, my dear reader, for reading this. May you have a great day, week, and year. See you on Facebook. Also please subscribe to this blog to get a free song I wrote. I plan to include more free stuff so watch for that as well.

Thanks again! Guitar Shane.