Looking back on one month of blogging

I can't believe it's only been a month since I started this blog. My mum thinks that me writing this every day is hilarious, having fought a daily battle for many years when I was at primary school to get me to write a diary. Good writing practice, apparently. I'm sure she's right but it was a right royal pain in the arse at the time - and when I used to go to stay with my grandparents, my dad and I used to sweat for a good couple of hours at the end of the holiday trying to work out what I did each day so I could fill in the fortnight-sized blank in the book. I'm not sure she knows that, but since she doesn't have a PC or indeed internet access I think my secret's safe for now.

Those diaries are funny to look back at, but I really didn't enjoy writing them. This blog, however, I do enjoy. I didn't think I'd have the time to add another "thing to do" to my daily list, but I've discovered a rhythm, and thoroughly enjoy the 10 or 15 minutes it takes each night to put down a few thoughts. It's like therapy. But cheaper.

What I'm trying to work out now is how widely I publicise this blog. At the moment I know that a few people know about it (hello all, you know who you are...!), but I'm considering whether to add the link to my Facebook page, for example. I've got quite a few colleagues as friends on FB, so will I have to be really careful about saying anything about work? Since I'm enjoying work at the moment that shouldn't be too tricky, but I feel that the whole point is to write what I want, so I don't want to feel restricted. Having said that, surely the whole point of writing is to be read - blogging is the most immediate form of vanity publishing after all. I guess J.D. Salinger would disagree with me - he's rumoured to have written loads while living like a recluse and hasn't published anything since 1965. Maybe he's been blogging under a pseudonym for years, that'd be funny. Anyway, the issue remains - to publicise, or to keep quiet? On the plus side, publicing it would boost my usage stats, which might boost my standing in the running game of Google Analytics Top Trumps that Husbandio and I appear to have started. A victory of that sort might just make it all worth while......!

This month in stats:

• 84 visits from 35 unique visitors
  
• 132 page views
• 1 min 59 seconds average time spent on site
• Best day: 28 Jan, with 10 visits