In an effort to improve my posting frequency and get out of a rut, I’ve signed up for the community blogging challenge Blaugust, a blend I’m presuming works better with an American accent.

The premise is simple. Just post as much as you can in August. It doesn’t have to be every day, but just post a lot. There are optional themes and prompts for each week, as well as optional “blaugchievements” (the guy who came up with this challenge seems to have a real vendetta against the English language), and ways to connect with other participants.

Consider this post a gentle nudge to join me, whether you already have a blog, or you’ve been half-thinking of giving it a go (I’m looking at you, IRL family and friends who think it’s cool (?) that I have a blog but don’t have your own!)

If you’re interested in giving it a go but don’t have a blog yet, here’s my dead simple guide to getting started.

  1. Pick a simple platform and create a blog. Don’t sweat this choice too much - they all do more-or-less the same thing and you can always migrate later if you don’t like your current choice. My recommendations:

    • Bearblog (free for basic, $6/mo for the full package). For the absolute simplest and fastest way to start posting text for free, try Bearblog. I literally just signed up and made a post while I was writing this.
    • micro.blog ($5/mo). This is the one I use. As well as blog hosting with cool features like the bookshelf, it provides a social media-style timeline for following and replying to other blogs.
    • Scribbles ($5/mo). The newest platform on this list, Scribbles has a great non-markdown editor and makes it easy to discover other blogs on the platform via the explore page.
    • Pika ($6/mo) is another great option if you don’t want to use markdown.

    These small platforms are all ad- and tracker-free, and you own your own content, which is why there’s a fee - you’re not paying with yours and your readers' data. I read blogs hosted on all these platforms, they’re all great. If you don’t care about ads, trackers, and retaining full ownership of your content, there’s always wordpress.com or tumblr for free.

  2. Sign up for Blaugust so other participants can find your site easily.

  3. Start posting in August! And remember, no one actually gives a shit about your blog, so there’s no pressure to post something Good (advice I need to constantly remind myself of). Just get in the habit of posting. The Good posts can come later. If you’re stuck for ideas try some of these.

  4. Get an RSS feed reader. RSS is how you can stay updated with other people’s blogs. It’s exactly the same technology your podcast player uses to subscribe to podcasts, but you can use it to subscribe to blogs and other sources. There are many good free and paid options on all devices, and it’s easy to move your subscriptions from one app to another. You can subscribe to my site by pasting https://samjc.me/feed.xml into your RSS reader.

Please do let me know if you decide to join in with Blaugust so I can follow your posts.