Blogging, Friends, Life, Writing

blog q & a

Kari

my friend chris challenged me to this blog challenge. if you know me—and i like to think you do—you know i can’t resist a challenge where i get to answer questions. in fact, i have several in drafts that i’m at various stages of working on.

(i’ll address this in one of the questions)

here we go!

why did you start blogging in the first place?

i’ve been asked this question countless times over the past 15 years, and i’ve never quite known how to answer. i do remember it was a weekday—ella was napping, and anna was playing with her friends in the basement while i sat nearby in the office. i opened up the desktop computer and decided to create a blog.

i can’t quite explain what motivated me to start it. for years, i said it was because i felt overwhelmed—parenting, minor health struggles, and mike’s work schedule all played a part. those reasons still feel true, but when i think about it now, it’s hard to understand why i would add a blog to the mix.

the me of today wouldn’t take on something like that, not with so much going on. but i look back at that version of myself and feel nothing but love for her. she was juggling a lot, yet she still found the courage to try something new. she didn’t know how much it would come to mean, but she trusted her instincts in that moment.

i’m so grateful she did.

have you blogged on other platforms before?

i started blogging on blogger in 2010 and stayed there until around 2016. after that, i moved to wordpress, where i’ve been ever since.

what platform are you using now and why did you choose it?

i switched to wordpress initially to monetize my blog, though i don’t write as many sponsored posts these days. i can’t run ads on the version of wordpress i use, so technically, i could go back to blogger. but i won’t—migrating a blog is a lot of work, and there’s always the risk of losing content in the process.

how do you write your posts?

it always starts with an idea and a title. the title might change as i go, but i begin by typing out my unorganized thoughts and building from there. i have three regular posts i share every month, and those are usually easy to write. the other posts i sprinkle in here and there can go one of two ways: either i write them in a matter of hours and hit publish, or they take me months to carefully curate.

when do you feel most inspired to write?

i write either in the morning, after i’ve gone through my morning rituals and gotten ready for the day, or late at night when the house is quiet.

do you publish immediately after writing, or let it simmer as a draft?

as i mentioned in my intro, i have many drafts in various stages of being worked on. i’m my biggest critic, so whenever i hit publish, there’s always that lingering worry that what i’ve shared will be met with scrutiny. because of this, many posts have sat in my drafts for months—sometimes years.

in 2025, i’m determined to push past this fear and finally share the posts that have been patiently waiting for their turn.

what’s your favorite post?

i started writing my 365 grateful days posts last year, and i’ve really enjoyed putting them together. it’s nice to look back on the small moments that shaped my year and find something good in the everyday, especially during tough times. i also love my what i kept post each month—it’s the one i look forward to writing the most.

any future plans? maybe a redesign, move to another platform, or adding a new feature?

in 2025, i’d like to move away from a strict schedule and publish more intuitively. i want to write and post based on what feels right in the moment, rather than following a set routine.

next…

i’d love for my blogging community to take on this challenge! it was fun, and i’m really grateful to chris for challenging me to do it. i definitely needed a little boost—january felt like it was never going to end.



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46 thoughts on “blog q & a”

  1. I love these types of posts. It’s always fascinating to see what makes fellow bloggers tick!

    I started out on Blogger, too…but that only lasted a month or two. I feel that WordPress is much more robust and easier to navigate (complaints about the block editor aside!).

    I challenge you to pull post #8 from your drafts and publish it next.

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    1. I love these types of posts too! I totally agree! I hope you decide to take on this challenge—no pressure.

      It’s much easier to navigate. I agree about the block editor. I just don’t like when WP just rolls out changes without any guidance on how to revert to the old way.

      Challenge accepted! Just give me a couple of weeks. I just published a post on a Friday—baby steps!

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  3. Yay! I’m go glad you threw your hat in. I was hesitant to tag anyone but really wondered how you approached sharing thoughts. I love the humanity you instill in the web.

    I’m with you on stacks of drafts. Some of them make no sense to me when I revisit (then again, that goes for published journal entries.)

    Extra hearts for this line: “i look back at that version of myself and feel nothing but love for her.”

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    1. I’m so grateful, Chris! Thank you so much for tagging me, and for this sweet compliment. 💕

      I’ve deleted so many posts with sentences in the body that make absolutely no sense to me. Note to 2025 self: be clearer when writing down ideas for future me.

      I’m learning to love all versions of myself. It’s taken me a long time to get here.

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  5. I have a tiny bit humiliating turnaround from “blogging is stupid! blogging is so self-indulgent, how self-absorbed do you have to be to think anyone would care what you blather about” to my sister in law saying “you should start a blog” and going “okay.” I am on blogger and I wish I had the coding expertise to migrate because I worry about losing the blog and I think my blog would be prettier.

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    1. I used to feel that way about blogging too! Then my oldest daughter told me how glad she was that I had a blog, so that when I’m gone someday, it will be like a time capsule. Gulp. I also used to focus on how productive my blogging was, rather than on the joy it brought me. Changing that mindset in 2020 really transformed how I feel about my blog.

      As for migrating my blog, I didn’t do it myself. My dear friend Rosemary helped me move my blog over to WordPress. Then, when I wasn’t making as much money from writing, I hired someone to help me switch to a more affordable version of WordPress. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do that on my own. 🤣

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  6. I used to published what I wrote the very same day; when I first started blogging each blog post was like a diary/wrap-up of our day and I published it right around dinner then when I found out how to schedule blog posts I began having my posts “go live” the next morning and now I easily write up most blog posts 2 weeks in advance. I STILL find typos nearly every single time though. I don’t get why I can’t “see” the errors in my rough drafts but the minute it goes live on the blog I spot at least one. It drives me bonkers.

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  7. It was a surprise to see you post today! A nice surprise! I have lots of post ideas, but little follow through. Probably because they’d take some research and more time than the run-of-the-mill posts I do. Also, I tend to post on what’s currently going on, and if I don’t, I’ll forget. It usually takes me a few days of writing/editing and then I set the date and time of midnight to go with my daily themes (Monday Memories/Music Monday, Let’s Talk Tuesday, Wacky Wednesday, Photo Friday, or Weekend Update).

    I’ve always been on Blogger and don’t have the patience to learn a new method. Man, am I lazy – LOL! It was nice to hear how you started blogging! I’m so glad that I found you! Hope you have a fun weekend! XO

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    1. Aww, I love that! I’m already pushing myself by posting this on a different day.

      “Little follow-through”—yep, that’s me! I have so many posts started with ideas in the body, but then I don’t follow through. This year, I really want to change that.

      I love all of your themes!

      And you are not lazy at all! I had so much more energy when I was a younger blogger. I started when I was 40, and I thought I was old then. I had no idea how much life would drain me—especially menopause, COVID, and grief.

      I’m so grateful to have found you through blogging. 😘

      Hope you have a fun weekend as well!

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  9. I started blogging in 2007. I don’t remember exactly why, but now that I think about it, perhaps it was because I belonged to a private women’s chat group on Yahoo (before blogs), but then blogging became the next Big Thing. I’ve always been a writer and then the bonus of being able to add your own photos probably excited and challenged me. I’ve only used Blogger – and as you know, now have problems with it, so stopped blogging. I’m OK with that though. I’m just not into it anymore. So maybe it was a subtle sign from the Universe? If I decide to write publicly again, I’ll do it on Substack.

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    1. I see so many bloggers moving to Substack, and I feel a little tug to follow, but I don’t want to lose my content here. I suppose I could keep this blog and just link over. It’s a decision I’ll have to make at some point. I’d need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of moving to Substack first.

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  10. Kari, like you, I’ve had blogs on both Blogger and WordPress. I like them both for different reasons. But I stayed with blogger because it allows me more freedom to do what I want with it. I can runs ads or not run ads. I can also use outside companies for my blog template and commenting system and Blogger doesn’t charge me fee to do that. Is it perfect? Hell, no. But for what I want to do with my blog, the good outweigh the bad. I still have two blogs on WordPress that I no longer post on.

    You and I are very similar in the way we write our posts. I actually use a different Blogger blog that is private where I compose all of my posts before transferring them to my live blog. And also like you, I build my posts. Very rarely do I write one in a single sitting. I am really bad at spelling, so I use Grammarly to spell check. That really helps.

    Thanks for sharing, my friend. I may post this on blog in the future.

    Have a faaaaabulous weekend!

    X

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    1. I had no idea you could run ads on Blogger! If I’d known that, I might have never left! I do love WordPress, though—I miss having plugins.

      I love the idea of composing your blogs on your Blogger blog! That’s a great idea. I might try that too since I still have my Blogger dashboard. And yes, Grammarly is such a helpful tool!

      I hope you decide to take on this challenge!

      Wishing you a wonderful weekend, my friend! 🩷

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  11. I love this, Kari! How interesting to see how your blogging process works and the history of it. I’ve tried having a blogging schedule, and it just doesn’t work for me. I rebel against myself every time! 🤣 I like WordPress, but I’ll have a decision to make in 2026 when my subscription is up for renewal.

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  12. It is fun to learn about your blog start and the history behind it. I’ve been on blogger since I started. I think wordpress is a better platform for lots of reasons, but when I consider trying to switch I feel dizzy and overwhelmed.

    I think without a set schedule I’d lose track of time and rarely blog. Or I’d actually get around to finishing the many posts in my drafts and the blog world would be fed up with my many posts.

    I used to always write my posts like a week in advance. That made me feel more relaxed. Then I started writing them the day before, and I’ve recently gone back to writing a few in advance. That makes me feel less frazzled. I write about what is happening in the moment, but then I don’t share it with everyone until the moment has passed – but it’s not like my readers know the difference. If I have something pressing happening, I interrupt the lineup and insert something ‘hot off the presses.’

    I have found that blogging means something different for me now than it did back when I started.

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    1. That whole process is so overwhelming—I don’t blame you. Blogger is an excellent blogging platform.

      Ooh, I’d love for you to finish the thought in that last sentence. What was your original meaning when you first started, and what is it now? That could make for a great blog post. ❤️

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  13. Ooooh I loved reading your answers! I also started on blogger in 2008 and moved to wordpress, I think maybe in 2014? I started the blog because I had been reading Catherine Newman’s for a few years, which was aspirational to me. I wanted a creative outlet and ended up with so much wonderful community. I usually start my posts with something I have been thinking about or something funny that happened to me. I used to write whenever I felt like it, but when the pandemic hit I started publishing weekly, on Mondays. It stuck with me, and I like having that little deadline in my mind. At the time, I had no physical space to write since everyone was home, so I would write on the weekends. I always let my drafts sit because I like to edit them a lot. I want to put out a good post, and so I think every draft benefits from editing and pondering. I don’t know if I have a favourite post but I have a lot that I’ve loved that have to do with jeans, the Lutheran Ladies’ cookbook, and shopping carts.

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  14. I have no idea how to make money on a blog nor do I know how to change formats. I paid someone to do that for me..lol. Maybe you can teach us someday?!

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    1. Apparently, neither do I, or I’d still be on that version of WordPress. 🤣🤣

      I needed help migrating—it was way too hard for me to do on my own. I can write, but the tech side is definitely not my area of expertise. I wish I could teach you, but sadly, I cannot. 😔

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  15. What a fun Q&A! I love hearing about how you started, and I extra love how much love you have for past Kari. She had good instincts for sure!

    Like you, I sometimes keep posts in draft forever. Some of them seem boring, or too much of the same old thing, or like they won’t be relatable to readers… which is interesting to me because a) I write for me, not for “an audience” and b) I have the KINDEST readers who I think would respond with kindness to anything I posted. This is all to say that I relate deeply to that aspect of your posting process and I’m glad you are going to push past “perfection” to post more — I’m betting the posts will be wonderful and meanignful even if you aren’t sure about them.

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    1. I think about relatability for readers too, Suzanne and I have the kindest readers—I’m pretty sure they’d keep reading even if I wrote about the quantum physics. 🤣

      You’re so kind, and I really think we’re on the same wavelength. Let’s push ourselves outside our blogging comfort zone a little in 2025. Deal?

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  17. I enjoy learning how and why a blogger does what a blogger does. Your answers were insightful. I agree: i want to write and post based on what feels right in the moment, rather than following a set routine. I like my weekly commitment but I also wonder if I should let things flow more. No definite answer, just wanted to let you know I understand.

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    1. I understand completely. I don’t know why I’m like this—I guess I just got into a habit and felt like I had to keep it up. But it’s my blog, so I can change the rules whenever I want. That’s a freeing thought, isn’t it? 😘

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  18. I read on another blog recently their stress about posing on a set schedule and I don’t get that at all. You should write, post when it feels right. Right? I mean a schedule sounds like a chore and we have enough of those.

    I have stuff in my drafts that I probably won’t share because of scrutiny….never fails when I put something out there that might not be the norm, a few people love to point out this or that. For some reason, when I read something I disagree with, I have no issue not bringing it up, but whatevs.

    Do you remember how clunky blogger was? Ughhh….wordpress is so much easier and fun!

    Love this post!!

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    1. For me, it’s less about stress and more about feeling stuck in a routine. But I can see how stepping outside of one could be stressful. Change is hard—I definitely feel that.

      Clunky is the perfect word for it! LOL. WordPress is so much easier to use.

      I’m so glad you loved it! 😘

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  21. I love to find out what draws people to blogging, as it’s such a diverse community of people.

    I’ve fiddled around with my frequency, with the platforms I’ve used, and I’d never say never about making changes in the future, if they happen to suit my life at the time. I think if blogging stops being an experience that gives the writer something – whether that be serious or light-hearted – that’s when it’s time to consider making a change.

    Thanks Kari, I’ve copied the questions into a Draft post and will share my responses in due course.

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