Sadje, who blogs over at Keep It Alive, was nominated for the Blogger Recognition Award. So congratulations, Sadje. Well deserved. Sadje was kind enough to nominate me, among others, for that award, so thank you for recognizing me and my blog, Sadje.

Naturally, like everything else in life, there are some rules. I will follow four of the the six rules. I will:

Thank the blogger that nominated you and give a link to their site. (Done)
Do a post to show your award. (This is that post)
Give a summary of how your blog started. (See below)
Give two pieces of advice for any new bloggers. (See below)

But I will not follow these two rules:

Select at least 15 other bloggers for this award.
Let each nominee know you’ve nominated them and give a link to your post.

So, here goes.

A summary of how my blog started.

“This, That, and the Other” is actually my fifth blog (which explains why its URL is “fivedotoh.com”). I started my first blog in 2005 because I like to write. I like to express myself. And I write better than I speak. And unlike speaking, where my words often come out unfiltered, and once spoken, cannot be edited or taken back, I can edit my posts before I publish them.

I really didn’t know much about blogging until a friend of mine said that he blogged and I read some of his posts. I thought to myself, I could do that. So I started my first blog. And when I saw that someone I didn’t already know had read my post and even commented on it, I was through the roof. I was hooked.

Since 2005, I’ve had four other iterations of my blog. My first two blogs were on Blogger, then my third blog was on a platform called TypePad. And before “This, That, and the Other,” I had a different blog on WordPress. I keep blogging because I’m retired and I still have things that I want to say and blogging helps keep my mind sharp and my creativity flowing. And I have also found a wonderful community of other bloggers that I love to interact with.

Two pieces of advice for new bloggers.

My first bit of advice is to be you. Write about things you want to write about. If you have a niche, great. If not, don’t worry about it. I don’t have a particular niche. I write about, well, this, that, and the other. You should write about whatever comes to mind and interests you. You might also consider picking a few prompts (e.g., word prompts, photo prompts) that other bloggers post and responding to them. And, at the same time, make an effort to proofread your posts before you publish them. You probably won’t catch every spelling error or grammatical faux pas, but do your best.

My second bit of advice is to ignore advice from other bloggers and just do your thing. Just try to be genuine.

As I mentioned, I’m not tagging at least 15 other bloggers for this award. But if you wish to share the story of how your blog started or pass on your advice to new bloggers, please feel free to do so. But also link back to Sadje’s award blog. (And to this one.)