Some Superfluous Opinions

Music & My Mind's lovely author Manette nominated me for a Blogger Recognition award!

Thank you!

Tag rules:

• Attach the award.
• Thank the person who nominated you.
• Provide a link to the original post at Edge of Night
• Give a brief story of how your blog got started and a piece or two of advice for new bloggers.
• Select 15 blogs to nominate.
• Comment on each nominee's blog and let them know that you've nominated them.

Beginnings:

Literally the least dramatic story ever. It was summer, I was 17 years old and very bored. I've always liked writing and I had recently started liking theatre, so I combined those. I first thought to write about all sorts of things that interested me, movies and such, but the focus shifted to theatre almost immediately. I called my new blog a place for thoughts that don't always seem to find an avid listener in real life but which I still want to tell someone about.

Why English, though? I don't remember. Before Some Superfluous Opinions I had blogged in Finnish, mostly light columns about my own life. I guess I wanted to try something new. I didn't think of it as an educational project, but I suppose blogging in English has improved my language skills.

I sometimes regret my choice of language. Oftentimes it doesn't seem to make sense – I'm afraid no one who doesn't speak Finnish is interested enough in Finnish shows to read my reviews. And whenever Finnish theatres share my posts on social media (kiitos!), I feel a bit ashamed that all the Finns who click the link have to read my thoughts in English.

But on the other hand, there's no one else writing about Finnish theatre in English. I'd like to read, say, reviews of Estonian theatre in English, but none seem to exist – so if there's anyone who feels the same way about Finnish theatre, they at least have this blog. And in the Finnish blogosphere, with no other culture blogs in English, I guess my choice of language ensures I have an ecological niche all for myself. I also want the people who make the shows I review to able to understand my texts should they want to read them, so whenever I see foreign musicals, it's handy I'm already blogging in English.

I regret the blog's title, but it's five years too late to change it anymore.


Advice:

Firstly, patience. A new blog won't gain readers overnight. I've been blogging since 2010, and for the first couple of years, my blog had hardly any monthly traffic. Lately, it's been a bit better, last year was almost busy blog traffic-wise – but there's still way to go, and it took years of regular blogging for my current readers to find here. Though I guess if you're blogging foremost for attention, you're doing it wrong in the first place.

Secondly, label well and have your contact information available. Especially if you, like me, are a blogger that specialises on a certain hobby or interest. There might be someone who comes to your blog to find specific information, or wants to collaborate with you in some way. Help them out by tagging your posts and having your e-mail address available.

Thirdly, comment. This is something I could improve on myself. I guess I'm too self-critical when it comes to commenting others' texts – I feel if I cannot bring any brilliant new thoughts to the table, it's better to not comment at all. Wrong! Maybe simply telling a fellow blogger I enjoy their writing could cheer up their day. It sure would brighten mine.


I'm not in a tagging mood today, so I don't think I will be forwarding this tag to anyone this time. Thank you to Manette for tagging me and giving me a chance to babble about myself, though!