Esri (Chapter 5)

MMO community connection:

Gaming Granny

Chapter 5: Blogging

When did you first start blogging?

I started blogging in July 2008. I blogged on The White Lion Blog, a Warhammer specific blog, until January of this year when I quit playing Warhammer. I had intended to quit blogging, but several readers suggested I try a non-game-specific blog and The Gaming Granny was born.

Why do you blog?

I started blogging to evangelize the White Lion class in Warhammer. Although I tired of Warhammer, I did not tire of the White Lion. It is probably my dream class — a melee-DPS class with a pet that is a LION!!! What more could you ask for? I still miss my war lion, Ravi. I continue to blog primarily because I like to write. I’ve come to consider my readers friends and even though the communication is mostly one-way, I feel it is an important part of my life.

Do you have a schedule or some sort of routine you try and follow when blogging?

I am currently neither playing games nor blogging on any kind of schedule due to pressing personal concerns other than blogging once a week or so to keep my few, but loyal, readers up-to-date on my status. When I am actively gaming, I try to have 3 or 4 blog posts a week. I generally write my posts first thing in the morning. A week will generally see the “Sunday Sampler” which is a compilation of gaming news and posts from fellow bloggers from the previous week that I found to be of compelling interest, a couple of “what I’m doing in x game” posts and maybe a cute animal post. I occasionally blog about my personal life, as well.

Is there some grind involved in blogging? If so, what is it and how do you cope with it?

I simply don’t do “grind”. If I find something is “grindy”, I stop doing it, at least for awhile. That’s one reason I switch games every six months or so. I often go back to a game I’ve played in the past, but it seems I’m always going to switch every once in awhile.

By contrast, what do you find pleasurable about blogging?

I enjoy writing and I enjoy the give and take with commentors.

How many people offline know you blog?

Maybe 6.😉 My family, my boss (although she doesn’t know what I blog about) and one friend. Everyone else who knows I blog is primarily an online friend or a blog reader.

What advice would you give someone who wanted to try their hand at blogging?

I hardly consider myself in the position to give advice, but I do feel strongly that if you are going to write you need to use proper grammar and spelling.🙂

What is something you know now that you wish you had known when you first started?

I can’t think of anything, really. I enjoy blogging — when I no longer enjoy it, I just won’t do it anymore. That’s the way I roll.

Can you picture a future where you will hang up your keyboard and no longer blog?

Yes. I’m not ready to do so yet, but I’m sure the time will come where I think “this isn’t fun anymore”. I have a lot of stuff I have to do that isn’t fun, so I don’t spend my free time doing stuff like that.

At your funeral, what song(s) would you have played as your corpse is set alight and cast out to sea on a funeral barge?

Who said I was going to have a funeral?