Blaugust 2025: Lessons Learned
This year’s Blaugust: Festival of Blogging has reached an end and it would appear that this event has been well received by those who have participated in it. I believe that there were 168 bloggers taking part this year, many of whom have not participated before. Some were new to blogging, where others simply wished to see if they could increase their writing output. As ever there was a wide variety of blog styles and subject matters and it has been most interesting to read new posts every day. I have attempted to leave comments and positive feedback where I can and I hope that some of these new blogs that I’ve discovered continue to write. Well done to everyone who took part. I hope it has been an enjoyable and informative process and that you have learned from it. I know that at least one blogger has determined that writing online is not for them, which is a valuable lesson.
As for myself, this year’s Blaugust has been broadly enjoyable from a writing perspective. I have posted every day and so met the goal that I set for myself at the beginning of the event. A slap up meal and a bottle of the good stuff awaits as a reward. I shall try to continue posting regularly in September but don’t feel disposed to make any commitments beyond that. The biggest impediment to writing I have at present is a neck injury that I recently “acquired”. I find sitting in my gaming chair at my desk can become painful after an hour or so. But like any problem, there are always ways to manage or work around it. Here are a few additional thoughts and lessons that I’ve learned from this year’s Blaugust. They’re in no particular order and I’ve simply written them down as they’ve occurred to me.
Squarespace as a blogging platform, lacks several key features such as a word count and a means of counting published posts.
The word count of a post on Contains Moderate Peril can range from 700 to 1,200 words.
I can write short posts if I wish to but prefer to express myself in a more detailed and expressive fashion. I speak the same way, so it’s not my default position to be brief.
I celebrated 18 years of blogging during Blaugust, so I cannot claim to be a newbie. However, like life itself there is always scope to learn new things and this year’s Blaugust participants have given me much food for thought.
Lot’s of bloggers don’t worry about adding images to their text but I guess that very much depends upon what you write about.
I think there is a finite number of blogs that you can effectively follow. I am presently tracking over two hundred blogs via Feedly and it is proving difficult to do this, due to the time it takes. I may have to do some “pruning”.
It is reassuring to see people still expressing opinions on politics, current affairs and social issues. I understand how social media culture can be somewhat intimidating or unpleasant, so making any sort of public statement requires a personal “risk assessment”.
Every blog post you read presents an opportunity to learn of a new pop culture reference.
Blogs can directly or indirectly tell you about the author’s life. Some folk are going through a lot. Bear that in mind. Be kind or at least don’t be a fool.
If you post pictures of your pets on your blog, then people will read it.
Reading new blogs via Blaugust: Festival of Blogging has been fun, as has getting to know their authors. It also highlights how the blogging scene is in constant motion and that people come and go over time. It brings absent friends to mind. Blaugust, as well as my 18 years of writing online, has brought back fond memories of numerous bloggers who have hung up their proverbial spurs and headed off into the sunset. However, that is the way of things. Nothing remains the same forever apart from those two hardy perennials, death and taxes. So it just remains for me to say goodbye to Blaugust 2025. With regard to those who have participated, let us remember the wise words of Young Mister Grace from the BBC sitcom Are You Being Served, “You’ve all done very well”.
