DillyTante who I met through Mumsnet Bloggers Network has just written a very interesting post on Mumsnet. After reading what Liz Jones wrote about us after Mumsnet Blogfest last Saturday it got DillyTante thinking as to why we blog and what we get out of it. She has posed a few questions so I wanted to take time to answer them as I do think bloggers get bad press sometimes. Please see other people’s replies here.

Why do you blog? A few reasons really. I’m an insomniac and was slowly sending myself bonkers so I realised I needed to do something so I started crafting and blogging to keep my mind off being awake at night. Also, my youngest has just started nursery so I now have about 10 hours a week as a free woman so I felt that I wanted to start a little crafting business and blogging kind of came hand in hand with that I felt.

What do you get from it? Interestingly, I get deep deep satisfaction from it. I haven’t written properly for nearly 20 years since I did my GCSE’s so I’m feeling totally shocked by how much I’m enjoying it. I don’t feel I have a writing style as some people who I read do, but I totally and utterly write from the heart and that’s pretty cathartic for me.

Is it trivial and is that ok sometimes? My blog is pretty trivial apart from my insomnia post that has really hit a cord with so many people. The feedback has been beyond phenomenal that I’m thinking about having a little section of my blog focussed solely on sleeping problems and mine (and your) findings. I’m not sure how it’ll pan out yet but I’m working on it.

Why should people be interested in what you write? I’m not sure to be honest. When I first started blogging I didn’t really get it, I was just doing it as a release for me but now that I’m blogging and therefore reading other people’s blogs it just seems so natural. People don’t have to read it if they don’t want to but if they do – brilliant.

Do you care if they are not? No, I absolutely do not care if people don’t want to read my blog however I would care a lot if someone commented along those lines to me as I’d feel that was a bit harsh. If you don’t want to read, just don’t read – what’s the point of commenting and being nasty about it!

If you blog just for you why do it publicly? This is an interesting question actually. I think if I had blogged and no one read I would have continued just to continue it as a release but the more people who read, the more exciting it felt and the more I wanted to write. i do it for myself but I think the enjoyment I get out of it is more now that I know people quite like reading it.

What value do you think you are adding to the world by blogging? I don’t think I am at the moment but as I said earlier, I think I’d like to help other people with their insomnia journeys – even if it’s just someone to write with who totally understands what they’re going through. I know from experience that it’s really important to know you’re not the only one.

Do you feel defensive about blogging? To be honest as I’m quite a newbie I haven’t had to get defensive about it yet. My friends are hugely supportive as they realise how much it is helping me with having something more in my life than just the fact that I’m an insomniac and so far I haven’t encountered anything negative from outsiders – so fingers crossed I never have to become defensive.

I want to thank DillyTante again for asking these questions as I’ve really enjoyed answering them.

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