High Five

Today I have been on BeBee for two years. My main motivation for being here is to learn more about blogging and the art of short form writing, and too widen my interests through other's posts and online engagement. I don’t consciously build a personal brand, I am not trying to market my expertise or sell anything. I just blog for the fun of it. 

I have grown fond of promoting BeBee and I am highly interested in what people write, and how they write. And through it I try to learn more by reading posts of others, and by posting on a different array of topics. So, two years on, allow me a somewhat self-indulgent look back at my blogging experience, and a high five in celebration.

Numbers and Statistics of My Posts.

Mark Twain once said: "Get the facts first, and then you can distort them as you please". Which is not my aim here, just a curious glance at what the BeBee numbers tell. I took out my pocket calculator, viewed the statistics of my posts, and made a few calculations. To keep it simple, I did not include views and comments, only relevants.  

Total number of posts to date: 115 – that’s around one a week on average.

Total Relevants of all posts: 4117 – each very much appreciated!

Time I take to write a post: Two hours – sometimes less, often more.

Total time spent writing BeBee posts: 230 hours -  about 28 working days.

Total words of all posts: about 70 000 – the length of a book or novel.

Shortest and Longest Posts: 360 words and 1560 words (phew!)

Time readers marking relevant spent reading all my posts: about 137 hours.

Reading time of all readers marking relevant per post: about 71 minutes.

Time it takes reader to click the relevant button: Half a second:)

My Personal Favorite Posts. 

All of what I have published on BeBee has been enjoyable. But of course there are some posts which are my personal favorites. Not necessarily because of the engagement received, more because of the intrinsic satisfaction of researching, writing, and revising to something I am happy with. 

Why We Like BeBee Stories

Habits of Great Novelists

How Not to Write a Book

The Mystery of Time

Letters to Tags

Cat Stevens

The Craft of Writing

Portrait(s) of Herb Ritts

Travels Far and Fortunate

Bertrand Russell on Uncertainty

Afrikaans. A Short History...of Sorts

Writers I Learn From. 

Jim Murray - flowing conversant narratives, huge experience. 

Pascal Derrien - poetic, a singular voice and always original. 

Paul Walters - descriptive, open, irreverent and humorous.

Fatima Williams - wisdom far beyond her young years.  

Dr Ian Weinberg - insightful and incisive reads, every time. 

Dr Ali Anani - creative, metaphorical and a polymath.

Randall Burns - fun, with uncommon common sense.

Savvy Raj - dances and sways into hearts and minds. 

Bill King - unique stories that reveal our humanity. 

Debasish Majumder - probes all with poignant poetry.  

Lada Prkic - precise, disciplined and personal. 

Ken Boddie - his varied posts, and playful comments. 

Cory Galbraith - interesting research, and most inspiring. 

Paul Croubalian - tech writing made entertaining. 

Phil Friedman - sharp, very sharp, and eloquent. 

Ten Thoughts and Observations on Blogging on BeBee.

Blogging is a continuum of thought which carries on long after I have posted. The content and comments continue to germinate in my mind all together giving a richer blogging experience.

I write for myself first. To clarify my thoughts or distill my knowledge on a topic. Thereafter if I think it could be worthwhile for others, I share the piece in the hope that readers find it interesting.  

I have learned to be more patient. Once I wrote, read and posted in one go. Now I often let a draft it simmer for a while. I might even discard it. Some drafts still don't feel right. Some eventually do. 

Now and then I re-share older posts. Each time I edit what I wrote earlier. There is always something I can improve, or say more succinctly. And my thoughts change (hopefully for the better) over time. 

A number of my posts are a curation or selection of the work of others. I relish it – trying to select and fuse the best of what (to my mind) others have said. I learn a great deal doing so. 

I don't plan ahead what I will write. My interests are random. Sometimes a topic catches my interest, or something wells up. Then I think about it, do research if needed, and compose.  

The art of writing fascinates me. I read the blogs of many bees looking at the unique ways they use words and express themselves. I admire many here who have a distinct style and voice. 

The attraction of blogging on BeBee is personal feedback– relevants, comments and shares. Engagement that I appreciate from many people that I have come to know online. 

Writing is a hobby. I really do enjoy it. Stringing words together and giving structure to what I am thinking is immersive. Mostly. Sometimes the words don't work. On other days it flows along.

The best thing about blogging on BeBee? I have written about innovation, behavioral economics, athletics, BeBee itself, travelling, writing, music, photography, other Bees - the list goes on. I can write about whatever I like.  

What will the next two years on BeBee bring? Only time will tell. For this moment though...

High Five!

With thanks

Gert Scholtz