The Ten Commandments of Blogging

1. Thou shalt not waste readers’ time. Offer up thy readers a worthy sacrifice that they might take and leave satisfied.

2. Thou shalt honor thy muse. Be prepared in season, out of season to seize inspiration when she comes that ye might write, dance, photograph, paint thy bliss. Be not caught without thy scroll, ink, pen, iGadget, camera. Thou shalt not redeem the moment the locust has eaten.

3. Thou shalt preview thy draft and spell-check before publishing that the Angel of Vengeance shall not fly over thy blog in the night.10commandmts2

4. Always speak ye the truth.

5. Thou shalt not take up the like button in vain, foremost on this blog. It is holystic ground. Thou shalt in integrity read the posts before clicking anything lest thou incite my wrath. Know ye that I see thou couldst not have read four brain-intensive posts in one minute. I be no fool. I do not need dross. Go ye find something better to do, ye bored soul.

6. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s likes, nor his comments, nor her following, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.

7. Thou shalt honor thy active supporters as ye best is able. It will go well with thee and thou shalt live long in blogosphere.

8. Go ye forth and support five new bloggers this day. Show unto them kindness. Thy blog shall also be fruitful and multiply.

9. Thou shalt count the cost of brain wear-and-tear and the bloody battle against time. Be ye a good soldier of blogosphere. To blog is to accept a high calling.

10. Thou shalt refrain from grumbling when Holistic Wayfarer tarries in her visit. She is likely beset in the wayfaring, climbing cybermountains, crossing desert valleys, caught in a maelstrom of words. Forget not that she also teaches her boy how to write that he might grow up to be a mighty holistic blogger.

564 thoughts on “The Ten Commandments of Blogging”

  4. just been wandering round your pages, after being told you’d been reading ‘the great fogginzo’…I love this. It’s like being in a badly curated but tumultuous gallery/museum where you keep stumbling upon unexpected treasures and bumping into strangers who are perfectly willing to tell you stories or sing you a song. I shall keep on returning!

  5. Hi Diana, I haven’t misplaced you in my thoughts. Since we last communicated I hope you are well over that virus. As I have just begun on Word Press, this post resonates what I have been observing though out my time here. I for one make mistakes too, and as I mention to you earlier, you are the only person that I found thus far that is the real deal. By this I mean: you connect back to me the way I would like bloggers to connect back about my post. I have a few likes but they don’t connect as if they are really sincere. I posted this on my face book time line for those ridicules people there to see how I would like to ROLL. Thank you for being you!
    Nsasi

  7. New to the blogging world, but discovering a yearning in the word of blog that has forced me to set parental controls upon myself- go to bed, finish your chores, you must eat. Thanks for a wizened summary.

  8. oops,,,, 1,3,4,7,9.. sorry not very good at these yet . or is that still.. I do try to pay attention to others and their way of getting things out to share or see thru another’s eyes .. and I again fail.. very sorry about number 9,, lol and 1 thru ten..

  9. this was genius, great pointers too! i like this one the most “8. Go ye forth and support five new bloggers this day. Show unto them kindness. Thy blog shall also be fruitful and multiply.”

  10. Darn, darn, darn, I really have to work on 7 and 8. Just when I think I’ve got the hang of it…The aspect of blogging I like the most is reading such creative works. Admission: when I find myself desiring the gifts of writing like others I admire, I remember that I am blessed with my very own unique gifts.

  14. “3. Thou shalt preview thy draft and spell-check before publishing that the Angel of Vengeance shall not fly over thy blog in the night.”

    I am the worst at this. Every time, I think it’s perfect, and I look at it a day later and UGH. SO MANY ERRORS.

    Great post, thank you for posting this!

  16. Wonderful commandments…each one of them are has its inherent potential to change the trajectory of blogging…8th one is a real important one which can change your blog progress along with others which you help them to get better…

  20. —————Thou wilt not redeem the moment the locust has eaten.————

    Still at the top of the leader board in esteem.
    Well done \o/

      1. Yep, D, you need a Vision to run…………….apparently u have good eyesight

        it’s the vision- the quest- the pursuit-

        so yes, ‘take it!’

        😉

  21. I just loved reading this! Very insightful, thank you for sharing!!
    And “Always speak ye the truth” is a very helpful tip because I have been struggling with content for my blog and whose truth I am sharing. 🙂

      3. Peace unto you my child. May your days be long and prosperous, and may the blessings of youth rest upon your wearied 40-year soul.

        Beware of false bloggers, attempting to capture your joy with flattery and vain deceit. It is they who creep into comment sections smelling of honey, but tasting of vinegar.

        Happy New Year! This ought to get interesting– from one Bible-reader to another.

      4. “It is they who creep into comment sections smelling of honey, but tasting of vinegar.”

        LOLeth

        At least ye soundeth like ye be part of the Remnant. I shall see the at the next banquet table, save ye a seat.

  27. Missed this in April; glad to have found it now. Very amusing – and some artfully addressed truths. Happy New Year, Diana. Wishing you all good things in 2015. ❤

  28. The first commandment (along with most of the others) applies to writing in general. I keep Annie Dillard’s advice in mind; “Assume you write for an audience consisting solely of terminal patients…What could you say to a dying person that would not enrage by its triviality?” Who, on their death bed, wants to read about those delicious onion rings you ate last night at that bar you like, or your rail against candidate so-and-so in Pennsylvania’s 13th congressional district? No one.

      1. I wasn’t really making any statement against humor. I guess I’m just moving towards the position that my blog should be a platform to share the writing I do independent of the blogosphere, rather than become a separate entity from my writing. So for me, a “worthy sacrifice” is a work of nonfiction prose or poetry that tries to get at the truth of life and living, while avoiding trivial subjects (like transient politics).

  31. Maybe this is a stupid question but what, specifically, would you consider “wasting your time”? Gracias 🙂 La Panzona {Pahn.So.Nuh}

    1. Not a dumb ques at all. I read a lot of blogs and do often (silently) ask the blogger: “ReallY. Whom do you think would care about this?” That’s in the end something only each blogger can answer or argue but a reader recently addressed the very thing you did (Commandmt no. 1. Here’s our thread, starting with his feedback):

      I keep Annie Dillard’s advice in mind; “Assume you write for an audience consisting solely of terminal patients…What could you say to a dying person that would not enrage by its triviality?” Who, on their death bed, wants to read about those delicious onion rings you ate last night at that bar you like, or your rail against candidate so-and-so in Pennsylvania’s 13th congressional district? No one.
      Reply

      Holistic Wayfarer says:
      January 1, 2015 at 6:56 pm | Edit

      I hold to it 98%. I allowed myself last yr on this blog the humor I’d considered a frivolity. I discovered laughter builds community and friendship – and life.

      ===============
      As for the flip side to your question, I answer in my About what I consider the things worthy of our time, what I write about. My way is not the only way, as bloggers with bigger readerships prove. Just my two cents and my wayfaring. =)

      1. It’s really ironic because I’ve spent most of my life struggling with depression and have been extremely moody, broody and serious. Ever since I met my Mexican, his outlook on life encourages the “lighter” more “frivolous”,if you will,side of me to break free. He put the humour back into the humourless.

        I would argue that honing in on the more microscopic moments is a coping mechanism. There’s enough misery and stress in the world to power a million nuclear bombs. I don’t envy the miserable, because I AM mostly miserable. So if I encourage people to tell me what they had for breakfast that morning, it’s because sometimes we just need an excuse to “lighten the load”. And there’s something to be said for not taking life and oneself too seriously. Thank you. I’ve made many neural connections today because of you. Have a lovely evening.

      2. Seriously, there are MILLIONS of WordPressers here. I encourage my fellow bloggers to form their own mission statement, frivolous statement, whatever-the-hec-you-want statement and go out and grab those who’ll be all for it.

        I totally get what your husband did for you. I always thought I’d love to curl up with a good author *wink* but what I needed was my Samba-drumming unicycler to lighten me up. Yes, Brazilian Samba, yes unicycle.

        I can’t resist. This one’s short and you did say you’ve learned to laugh:

        My Husband Threatened Me

      5. Sounds like so much fun! The party’s at your house! I loooove samba!!! Now that’s something that wake the dead from their slumber.

        Are you sure you want your son playing drums? In the teenage years the chicks are gonna be flocking to your doorstep and you’re gonna have to fight them off with a broom!

        Lovely family. Take good care.

      1. One begs to differ! That’ is where the religious mind misses the point! The First and Greatest of the 10 commandments was to ‘Love God’ with all that was within – in doing so the fruit IS Joy and Laughter in the presence of God!

  38. Thanks for stopping by my blog & liking my home page. I appreciate it and the chance to find your blog. Having read the Commandments, I know you read it! My children and I are older, I’m a secular humanist Jew -so some differences between us. I suspect we have some things in common. I do believe I detect a great sense of humor there!

  41. Reblogged this on Wright Words and commented:
    It is no easy thing to get folks to follow your thoughts via visiting your blog. There is a lot of “headiness” out thee, people with deep thoughts and profound wisdom just waiting to be read. So I thank The Holistic Wayfarer for some tips on keeping relevant and on track. I thought you too might find them interesting!

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