Blog Improvement Project - Week 1

Week 1 - Setting Goals

The 2009 Blog Improvement Project officially started this week. Kim has asked us to think about our goals for our blogs. I have to admit, when I first starting blogging, I had no idea what I was doing. I found a few book blogs and thought I could do that. I wasn't sure how often I would blog or what I would blog about, but I wanted a new project so I decided to give it a try.

Having a blog has really tapped into my creativity (unfortunately it has been sleeping for awhile) and I am enjoying it more so than I thought I would. I do have to say it's very time-consuming, however I am staying organized so it doesn't become a burden.

Now that I've been blogging for little over 6 months, I am starting to envision how I want my blog to be. Here are goals that will help me accomplish this.

Write a review for all books read in 2009. Last year I was very selective with writing reviews. I mostly wrote reviews on fiction and mystery novels. I decided to not review young adult fiction or audiobooks. Having said that, my plan is to post each review within 5 days of finishing the book.

Keeping on this review theme, my reviews will not all follow the same format. I found myself quickly becoming bored with writing the same type of review each time. I brainstormed other ways to add variety and will incorporate these ideas throughout the year. I'm not sure if I will continue using a 1-5 star rating system. I thought about using a letter system instead, but until I make a decision, I will not include ratings as part of my reviews.

Write down ideas for reviews as I am reading. I keep a little notebook nearby to jot down ideas and thoughts that come to me so I won't forget them. It never occurred to me to take notes as I'm reading to help organize my reviews. Often, I think about something to include in my review as I am reading or I read a great quote that's worth mentioning. When it's time for me to start writing, I'm flipping through the pages looking for the quote or trying to remember what I had wanted to say.

Keep current with weekly posts and events. I've joined several weekly events and I want to keep the commitment of posting every week. This may mean I may have to do more scheduled posts.

Redesign my blog. Late last year I started thinking my blog was becoming unorganized so I created two new blogs for my reading challenges and reading journal. Both of these blogs are on Wordpress and I'm contemplating if I want to move this blog there too. In the meantime, I want to think of other uses for my sidebars (which I'm not satisfied with right now).

Leave comments on blogs I visit. I'm very good at visiting blogs, but am horrible about commenting. In addition, I need to start responding to comments that are left on this blog.

So, that's it. These are my blog goals for 2009.