When this item hits the front page of the blog in the next few days, SUTRE! will have around 50 posts to it's name. And, by design, this post is purposely going to be a traditional blog entry. I am just sitting here making it all up as I go along. No particular plan in mind. An entry in my diary that may or may not be read by somebody else.
I guess the thing I do have in my mind is to share the experience I have had in the last three months since I first had the idea of starting this blog. I can't say it has changed my lifestyle particularly, but it has meant re-allocating my time between my various hobbies. Presently I am spending more time on SUTRE! than any of the others.
Because I chose to record history rather than present, it takes me a whole lot of time and effort to get material. I may have a good idea for a feature in my head, but finding suitable information, especially the hard facts and figures, is challenging to say the least. Most days I am spending a minimum two hours on the site - once or twice it has been seven or eight ! Researching. Changing the layout. Reading back on old posts to re-check I have put the right information in.
But I must say I am very happy with what I am producing so far. At the end of the day, I might be the only regular visitor to the site (other than my wife who checks for typos for me), so as long as
I am pleased, perhaps that's all that matters. But when I say happy so far I probably really mean that my enthusiasm for the project has if anything, increased. There are so many blogs out there that fizzle out after a short while - half a dozen good posts initially that leaves you thinking hey, this has potential, a couple more in the second month, then nothing for three months until the author pops back saying 'I have been so busy with other things............'
I have the great satisfaction that this blog is actually going the other way. So many ideas are floating around in my brain. If I do have a problem, it's keeping the brake on. I want to keep to the right pace - not for myself, but just in case people
are watching regularly. I have at least a further 250 items to post going forward.
That's not to say they are are all ready for publication but I know what they are going to be and I currently have the luxury of preparing a day or two ahead. If I sat solidly for 3-4 hours a day (which I could do if I wanted to), I would easily be able to post half a dozen times a day. But I won't do that. The reason I chose blogging over merely creating a historic NCFC web site, is that adding as you go along, and in an informal way, is so much more fun. Like I said SUTRE! is a diary. A journal. It can be picked up or put down as quickly or as slowly as each individual viewer chooses.
Normally history is boring. In my schooldays it was about learning dates and events and pairing them together. I am trying very hard for this history lesson to be much more interesting. And I think I am, though I say it myself, largely succeeding with that. Some posts, such as the Final Placings series and others that need statistics and percentages, are very formal - I don't see what else I can do. But again that's the great thing about the blogging format. I can put posts in like this that breaks it all up a bit.
So, 50 on the board, I have my eye in, and already I have thoughts of reaching my maiden century. I have a couple of new series to introduce next month that are quite light and will add a bit more fun to the pages. My zeal shows no signs of flagging I am pleased to report.
