Blogger recognition award

I was happy to hear that I was nominated for the Bloggers Recognition Award by Nick Langis. Although it was my third award since starting this blog (after the Liebster Award and the Dragon’s Loyalty Award) the happy feeling that follows the nomination never gets any less because you know that people appreciate your writings, so thanks Nick! The rules for this award are that I get to tell how my blog got started and I get to hand out a piece or two of advice to new bloggers. Plus, I can nominate up to 15 other bloggers! As it happens, this ties in very nicely with today’s assignment for writing101:  describe what I do to recharge when I’m not writing.  Because you know what: writing is recharging for me.

Of course, I have more things in life that are fun to do. I love to read and go on trips as many times as work and finances allow. I like going into town with my family to drink a nice cup of coffee, preferably with some apple pie and whipped cream. And you can call me anytime to go out to dinner, but don’t call me if you want to do something sporty. On a daily basis what I love to do is sit at our large table with my family around me, television on in the background, playing video games and researching to make another nice article about my gaming passion. And that’s exactly how my blog started: I found that there aren’t many adult gamers around me in real life that I can chat gaming with. Sometimes I try, and talk to friend about the fun I’m having in let’s say Harvest Moon. Telling them it’s all in managing the right crops on the right field, that I’ve gotten as far as the third Winter, and that my dog is now trained to take out the cows. You’d be surprised at how quickly attention wanes, their eyes glaze over and they find a new topic to introduce. So I decided to start blogging about it instead, and take the chance of boring all of you.

It’s a good balance for me: I get to write about my passion, writing and socializing based on the writing is such fun. Time is limited due to my job and my other commitments, but I find that I can think about what I’m going to be writing when I’m doing the mundane tasks in life, like cleaning and gardening. A win-win situation! I think the key for me is that there’s no pressure and no deadline. I write because I love to write, I guess that as soon as I feel it becoming an obligation, I’d just stop writing.

That’s the tip I’d like to give to new bloggers: let your passion guide the words you write: readers will feel that an article comes straight from the heart, and if there’s common interests (why else would they have read your blog?) then you’ll have a head start that way. My other tip is that you need to socialize with your audience. Be active on social media and here in Wordpress, not just commenting on your own content but show you are serious in reading others’ content too.

One of the nice things about getting an award is that you can pass on the award to other bloggers. I’ve chosen these blogs for various reasons. Some with hilarious content, others with a heart wrenching story, some have been established for a while, others are quite new. Anyway, check them out!

Geek Ergo Sum, a self professed Geek with social skills

Prejudice & Politics, stories about international relations told through personified countries, often in a comical way.

The Idler Channel, an escape route into a world where it’s not important to have a specialty to yourself and you can be everything and nothing at the same time!

Brew n Spew, made by a lady who is still trying to figure out what she want to be when she grows up. She just turned 70 so she still has time!

Designing Life, made by Carol who is a writer and a passionate advocate for the empowerment of abused women.

Unorganized chaos, Laura is a physics graduate trying to get it together.

The Otaku Judge, a blog focusing mainly on great in depth reviews of anime, video games and manga.

Always starting something new, well, I guess the title says it all