Mine, Yours or Ours?

When does your personal blog stop being your own? I've been having this problem recently, which kind of affected the frequency of my postings. I find that I am unable to blog about what I truly feel and instead am actually stopping myself from blogging because I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. It's difficult when your logical side to not offend anyone interrupts your emotional need to write out your frustrations.

Some people who start a personal blog usually want to talk about what they did, how they feel, anything and everything personal about themselves. It's kind of like an online diary where you can vent your frustrations and share your experiences. There's no point calling it a 'personal blog' if you limit yourself to things that you think people won't find offensive or get hurt while reading.

Look, the world is HUGE, filled with so many different people. You can say that Harry Potter is stupid and offend numerous fans, and you can even say Harry Potter is great and tick off the people who view magic as the devil's craft. No matter what you say or write, no matter how tactful you try to be, there will be times when you will unknowingly (or knowingly, whichever you please) piss someone off.

Malays have this saying that goes along the lines of, "Siapa yang makan cili akan rasa kepedasannya", which directly translates to "Whoever eats the chilli will taste its spiciness." No, it's not a chilli-eating contest or whatnot. It means that those who have done something wrong will usually feel the brunt of their wrongfulness. This saying usually applies to people who feel offended when someone makes a general comment and he/she feels that it's regarding them.

For example, I can simply say, "I don't understand why smokers are so inconsiderate" and my friend could get all riled up, thinking that I meant him/her because he/she smokes and he/she likes to puff up in front of me. These are the type of people who can get upset at every little thing you say or write, even though you are talking about someone totally different, because they think it sounds like you're talking about them. And sometimes it's because of people like this that some bloggers start to re-think about what they want to write so as to avoid such problems.

I want to let my frustrations loose. I want to show my anger through my writing. I want to have the freedom to write about my annoyances and about people who take advantage of me and whatever else I feel because heck, this is my blog. I pay for the domain, I take the time to ensure the webpage is maintained and so I should be able to write whatever I want in my blog. And I'm gonna start doing that right now!!!..........maybe. Or maybe tomorrow. Hmmmmm, you know what, let me sleep on it and I'll get back to you. :blush:

Inspiration-less

You know how some writers face the dreaded writer's block, right? Well, thank God for me, I rarely face writer's block these days because there are always something to write about. No, what I face these days is, in my opinion, worse than writer's block; it's laziness and lack of motivation.

Yep, lazy lazy lazy. I went to Singapore for a two-day trip recently and the days before and after the trip were just pure laziness. I was too lazy to write, too lazy to even bother checking my traffic stats, too lazy to even reply anyone's messages on Facebook!! What's happening to meeee?? :hypnotized:

I need to get off my lazy bum and start writing again. Oh, wait, if I get off my bum then I'll be writing while standing. ?:-) Whatever!! I need to get motivated again, get more inspiration.

But....

It's kinda hard to be wanting to write when the one important thing I need to write right now is my Master's thesis. Wahhhhh!!! :cry:

Money-Making Writing

You know, there are tons, and I mean, TONS, of blogs and articles on how to make money online and through blogging. Let me shatter your bubble here, I've written it before (Cleaning Up & Making Money) and I'm going to write it again; making money through online writing is really, really hard. No, it's not impossible, it's definitely do-able, but it's no piece of cake. And pgrundy has written one of the best blog article about this subject at 'How to Make Money Writing Online'.

There are alot of writers online and offline, all of them wanting that one break to penetrate the writing market and making oodles of money, just like their favourite author. I'm shameful, yet proud, to admit that I am one of them. No career is ever easy in this world, well, unless you count flipping burgers and sweeping the streets. But even those have their own ups and downs, such as servicing grumpy customers, working long hours, facing inconsiderate litterers and drivers, stuff like that.

pgrundy mentioned in her blog that one way to get your writing career started is to self-publish your work. She even has a list of big-time authors who started by self-publishing their writings. I have a college friend, who's very talented in writing, and he too had published his science fiction story in the US. He showed it to me but I never got a chance to read it. If you think it's vain to self-publish, well, honey, let me tell you that it's a dog-eat-dog world out there. If you're not going to toot your horn amidst all those other horn-tooters, then you're never going to get noticed. Have some confidence in yourself.

Plugin Confusion

ARGGGGHHHH!!! My head is going to explode!! :cry:

You have no idea how many plugins for Wordpress I have viewed and installed into my blog.....with a 90% failure rate! Uwaaaahhhhh!!!

I don't get why it's so hard. I mean, I search for what I need and then just install what I think suits best, right? WRONG!! I tell you, I didn't know how hard installing plugins could be.

First, there's the sheer number of plugins available. Then when you finally find one that you think you can work with, something goes wrong. Sometimes the plugins is not compatible with your Wordpress version, alrite, that's fine, let's just go on with the next one. Then some plugins won't install, saying that there's a failure or it needs an API. Fine, next one. Then there are some that just doesn't work, so delete it and go on with yet another one. Then there are those plugins that you think will work fine but turns out to be totally not what you were looking for.

Sigh. :-?

I think after hours and days of searching for the right plugins, I finally found one that seems good enough, buuuuuuut.....we'll see. Oh, by the way, because of the numerous plugins that I'm been installing and deleting, you can see that my other pages are still under construction. Sorry. ;-)

Cleaning Up & Making Money

Ugh, I'm still in the midst of cleaning up my new blog and posting some new pages. But I still have SO many things to get ready!!! Wahhhhh!!! Forgive me for the messsss!!!

Since this new blog has loads of space, I wanted to be able to post photos that I love, places that I highly recommend, music that I find interesting and stories that I've written in the past. I just didn't think how much time it all requires. I wonder how those serious bloggers do it. Is it like their full-time job or something? Well, actually, some of those blogs you see online are their full-time jobs. They get paid for every post that they write, lucky blokes.

It's not as easy as you think it is though, writing and maintaining a blog. Especially if your goal is to write a post everyday. When I was working as a writer, I had stuff handed to me, like perfume reviews, fashion articles, etc. I didn't have to think what topic to write about because the topic was already chosen for me. With this blog, I have to come up with something new and interesting to ensure that my blog doesn't become like some boring, monotonous drone. I mean, if me, myself and I find this blog boring, won't my readers or those who stumbled upon my blog be bored to tears too?

But then again, I love writing so it doesn't seem like a chore to me. I truly enjoy it. :-D

One of my friends had commented in the past that I should try and make money from my blog, but seriously, it's not as easy.as it sounds The pioneers of blogging had an advantage as they were some of the first to start writing about products and services, and companies saw that as a way to better market their goods because it's somewhat like a customer's personal experience, which many find much more trustworthy than commercials. I remember this Singaporean girl who would write about anything as long as the companies would send her free items, free tickets and free meals. She gets paid ALOT of money too (I don't know whether she's still around though). However, to get into this blogging-for-money community, there are tons of obstacles.

Is your writing good enough? Does your blog have high traffic and many readers? Is your blog consistently updated? What is the main topic of your blog? What makes your blog different from other blogs? Even if you do get accepted into the blog-for-money plan, there's always the approval of your post. Imagine working hard and slaving over the keyboard to write what you think is the perfect post for, say, condoms, only to get your post rejected by the company. Poof, there goes all those hours (or minutes, depending how well and fast you write) of researching, writing, re-reading and editing. Most companies want you to write a 'review' of their products without it seeming like a paid review, so you have to tweak your writing style to make it sound as though you really use the product and know what you're talking about in a casual, frank, excited, etc, tone. In my personal opinion, it takes the fun out of blogging because you constantly worry and you'll end up losing your personal identity that makes you unique.

That's why you see most blogs going through other means to generate income from their blog such as the ads and links. That way they can maintain their blog the way they want it and still get some money out of it. One website that enables you to do it is www.today.com. I tried it before and it seems legitimate but I couldn't take the limited customization of my blog so I left. By the way, if you decide to enter today.com as a writer, I advise you to have a completely new blog because they won't pay you if your post is a copy from another blog, even if it is your own in another web address.

Alrite, enough chatter. I need to get back to sorting my pages and materials, not to mention I have to go out into the real world and buy new shoes. So many things to do, so little time. :cry:

Welcome!!

Hello!! Welcome to the new 'A Malaysian Life'!!

While Wordpress.com has been excellent in hosting my blog, there were a few limitations that prevented me from furthering my blog. And so, I figured that it was time for me to move on to my own personal domain. And here I am!!!

I hope to be able to do much more with my blog and write on more topics as well as being able to participate in writing reviews for products and services. No matter what happens though, I hope that I will still maintain my honesty and personal style in my blog.

So here's to a new beginning in 2009 and to my new webspace!!! Yeehaw!!!

Blogging?

I don't particularly like having my private thoughts and opinions read by people I know or who know me. I like the anonymity to be able to write freely and without worrying whether I'll offend anyone or say something wrong. Humans are sensitive and cunning beings; whatever I write or say might offend the people I know, or be misunderstood, or be used against me, and I find it, to put it mildly, annoying. But that's what makes us humans. Nothing can change that.

Thus, I hope you understand where I'm coming from. It's nothing personal. It's more of a safety-catch. :) I blog elsewhere so if you find me, you're welcome to read it. Mayhaps I will use this blog sometimes, if I feel like it. In the meantime, please have a wonderful life and do take care.