Guest Blog 12

Ceri Evans discusses her blog, Read and Review It.

The Importance of Saying Yes

By Ceri Evans

Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to write.

Sure, it sounds cliche, but the very foundation of my childhood was a love for literature - from writing princess stories for my younger sister to staying up way past my bedtime reading,

everything was fueled by my desire to write. Writing is my passion; it always has been.

And so, when, just over a year ago, a new friend of mine mentioned her book blog, I was intrigued. The idea of my writing being out there in the world thrilled me, and it seemed like the perfect way to combine my two passions.

So I set up a wordpress account, selected a theme, and carefully chose a name… Before doing absolutely nothing. Sure, I liked the idea in theory, but what if no one read it? What if it turned out to be my biggest failure? I couldn’t risk that.

And I let those fears control me. I logged out and never looked at that old account again.

But, a few months later, it was time to start thinking about university applications, and I needed something to make me stand out. As soon as I thought about writing my personal statement I knew that having a blog would be the ideal solution - and it gave me an excuse to finally pull myself together and go after what I wanted!

So I set up a wordpress account, selected a theme, and carefully chose a name… Before hitting publish. Was it absolutely terrifying? Yes. Was I scared that it would just sit there, on some unseen corner of the internet, simply existing? Absolutely.

 But I did it anyway.

Something I’ve learned whilst blogging is the importance of not letting fear dictate your actions, as well as not worrying too much about what other people think. Sure, I could have given up after that first post got something like five views, but I didn’t. I kept at it, and, slowly, those views turned into something more, with thousands of comments in just over seven months. With hard work, I turned things around, and with that came some truly lovely readers.

But you know what? Even if they all left, I would still carry on, because I’m doing what I love, and that’s all that matters.

And yes, it isn’t easy. I don’t think anyone ever realises how much work goes into blogging before actually experiencing it. The seemingly endless hours spent promoting posts on social media can really take a toll on you, and I quickly learnt that it’s common to spend more time on social media than the actual writing, which is crazy. When you add on the time spent doing the actual reading, too, it’s a wonder I have any sort of life outside of my blog. 

But I do. And I wouldn’t change it for the world - my blog is definitely up there with the most rewarding things in my life right now, and it all stemmed from me facing those initial fears and building up my confidence.

If blogging has taught me anything, it’s that I can do anything I set my mind to.

About the Author

Ceri Evans is an avid reader and YA fiction enthusiast. Visit her blog, Read And Review It, to see more of her writing.