It's been a good week. I love Christmas and can't wait to give and to receive presents. The kids are home and we aren't too overscheduled, so it's been fun. I got myself a genuine pair of Uggs, so you know that trend is dead—but my feet are really warm. Sam is watching Heroes on Netflix, which I like remembering.
I've had time to read and write, which I enjoy. You may have forgotten about Babble, but it is newly re-designed and I am still writing posts for them every day. I find that writing more often is good for sharpening my writing skills, but I am still not a very good blogger. I like to choose titles that obscure my meaning so you'll have a nice surprise at the end of the post. I can barely rig a slideshow to work properly and I still don't know what makes something "clicky." I would definitely like to learn to write snappy headlines and clickable posts. I think it's a valuable skill to write a compelling title. What I don't want to do is trick people with a "clicky" title and then have a post that doesn't deliver. Like I wouldn't want to name a post, "Innovative New Parenting Technique!" and then have the post be about hugging your kids. Drab titles that don't unfairly trick people in to reading my posts are a tiny subset of my integrity. Maybe I should let it go?
This month has been especially puzzling because I'm like the lowest page-view author on Babble. I say that not just so you'll look at my posts, but also because I find it interesting and unpredictable. It's quite thrilling, as a matter of fact.
Here are a few posts from this month for you to peruse:
Rough Stuff My Kids Will Go Through (And I Dread)
What to Expect When You're Expecting a Tween
Kids And Clothes—Pick Your Battles
Parenting Tips From Gandalf
Golden Retrievers Comfort Newtown
The Trouble With Texting
What do you think, do I talk about older kids too much? Is that a turn off to young mommy bloggers? Is it maybe not good to focus so much on advice from Gandalf? I wonder. I do try to write things that will appeal to my readers over there. It's not like I'm posting videos of myself playing the ukelele or something.
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I don't know...I think you are really funny and real and relatable. I read you on babble and that's about it. I just don't like the other blogs much. I like the babble stuff that comes across my facebook feed, but I love your blog and have for a few years now. I'm not a big commenter, but I always read! I should comment more. I never get comments on my own blog, which is lucky to get 50 views per post. I like to do it, but I'm just not a good blogger. You, on the other hand, are. Don't worry about your numbers over there. You are great.
ReplyDeleteDon't you hate when you write something then when you go back and read it, it sounds dumb? Yeah...me too.
DeleteWell, nothing you said sounds dumb to me. I find it quite encouraging. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you found the comment encouraging, just as it was meant to be. A side bonus is that you visited my blog. I am extremely pleased you did so! I promise I wasn't fishing for you to visit or comment. Especially if you read the lame "mug" post. It was a moment of weakness.
DeleteYou know what makes me a bad blogger? The fact that I can't fathom what it is that's so enjoyable about other bloggers that aren't you. I just don't get it. And I suppose that's why I am a bad blogger--because I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are so great and validating, especially when I fish for compliments. Hailey, you are not a bad blogger.
ReplyDeleteI have tiny kids, but I still click through to all your Babble links. I'm a fan. I agree that lots of parenting info on the Internet is geared toward the baby/toddler stages, but parenting is parenting, ya know? I feel like it all interests me. Plus, I'm going to be at that next stage before long. It's a mystery.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has children in/entering the tween years, I appreciate your insight. No babies or toddlers here and heaven knows I need all the help I can get. Keep posting links to your Babble posts because that's the only way I know that you've written something for Babble. :)
ReplyDeleteKacy - I feel the same why about Titles. When I wrote my post about my favorite Trader Joe's foods I originally called it "I Smell it in the Air!" which is a line Galadriel says in The Lord of the Rings when she is speaking of the impending arrival or the powers of evil. Then right after I published it I changed the name to "My Top Trader Joe's Picks!" because that seemed so much more clickable (and actually told people what the post was about) even though I really liked the oddness of the first title.
ReplyDeleteSo it might just be me, but when I go to http://blogs.babble.com/kid-scoop/author/kacyfaulconer/, I don't see any posts after November 14, which is why I haven't been reading for a while. That, and I had a baby on November 15th. But now, knowing that you have been writing all along, I am going to go on a Kacy Faulconer/Babble binge.
ReplyDeleteI mostly only read your stuff on Babble--except once in a while I will read one of NatTheFatRat's or some other people whose names I can't think of--and I then feel compelled to click the links to all the photos of fashionable clothing I couldn't or woudln't ever wear. I think what I'm trying to say is that their posts make me click, but they don't make me happy. Yours do.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog, but i'm just not crazy about Babble. All the arrows and clicking, and sometimes it shuts down my computer. I think your own blog is so thoughtful and well written, and I love the advice about parenting older kids. I also love your comment about Uggs...:)
ReplyDeleteI read all your Babble posts, because you're one of the few writers i've ever encountered who is both witty and incisive, whilst also being warm and emotionally generous! However, I thik that people who'd never read any of your posts, would nver be able to surmise any of that from your titles.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think that you could make your titles more relevant to your readers without being duplicitous / comprehmising yr integrity. Eg. I think that you could have renamed 'The trouble with texting' as 'Why I confiscated my tween's phone' and it would have been more relavant and probably more 'clicky'.
Thanks for the input. I am very bad at titles.
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