Followers/Readers
Today Crooked Creek has 148 followers. That makes me very happy. What would be even better is if most of those signed up as “followers” are real readers. It stands to reason that some percentage “follow” and forget, but if some of my posts are read and cause people to think more deeply (or widely) on any subject then I feel the time spent blogging is worth it. When we look at life’s challenges and even day-to-day issues from an before unexplored angle I believe it often changes our way of doing, of living, of giving.
Blogging
Blogging is a chore, I will not lie! It is not easy, even after attending a class for new bloggers. It turned out that the instructor was learning as she went along and that was very frustrating. I must admit that it has continued to be frustrating after almost 100 posts. Some things don’t work as they should. Some things just don’t work at all. It takes me several hours for each post, but I’m sure that many bloggers have less difficulty and perhaps some worry less about small errors. I’m saying all this to say that that it is worth the effort. The internet affords us the opportunity to share our stories and I am grateful for that. If you think you’d like to blog, I encourage you to jump in.
I started out on the WordPress platform with a free domain. I quickly learned that it was not going to be very attractive, so after a while, I bought the “Personal” plan. I’ve never been satisfied with its bland look, so today I upgraded to a “Premium” plan and have to admit that it looks more like what I envisioned. I had planned to make the changes when Crooked Creek got to 150 followers, but today I was in the mood to move forward. So, SURPRISE! I hope you like the new look.
Writing 
Writing is not a chore. It takes time and effort and sometimes it turns out better than others, but I enjoy writing tremendously and blogging is about the next best thing to writing that book we all have inside us (or think we do). Thank you, readers, for following, reading and commenting from time to time.
Crooked Creek by Sue Mattingly 
You write beautifully and your words always strike a responsive chord. Thank you for sharing.
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It does seem that a lot of people :Follow” just to get their own blog — often some sort of business —advertised. Which is too bad. I’m with you; I would rather have interaction with real readers.
If I may make a suggestion: Get rid of that “Uncategorized” default. You do this by going to Settings and clicking on Writing (the second word at the top of your screen. The first work under Writing is Categories. Click on the arrow to the right and it will pull up a list of your categories.
You’ll see that Uncategorized is the Default. Change this by choosing a different default. You may have to install a few more Categories, like Personal, Opinions, Musings or Thoughts — and then choose one of those for your default. “Uncategorized” is basically worthless, wasting a word when a more suitable one would work better.
Word Press allows up to fifteen Cs & Ts per post. Using more categories and tags will spread your blog post title and first few lines around to more readers who are interested in your topic via the Tags page. Check out https://wordpress.com/tags for some options. (Though a lot of bloggers have taken to advertising via Tags, too. Grr. It didn’t used to be that way.)
I hope this helps you to find more REAL readers. You can delete my comment, especially if you already know all this and just don’t want to bother. 🙂
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I’m curious to see how much more flexible your new plan turns out to be in the long run. I just did the first step up myself, which basically eliminates ads. Of course now they want me to do the Premium plan, but I like the look of my blog as is, so why change. I like your new look, but not that header image. I’d replace it with a road scene or something more relating to “Milestones.” My opinion, for what it’s worth.
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Your opinion is appreciate and worth a million$. Thank you! And, by the way readers, I highly recommend Christine’s blog. Take a look at: https://christinegoodnough.com
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Sue, love the new look. Looking forward to each new blog. You have a great talent.
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Thank you! It means so much to me that folks enjoy reading Crooked Creek.
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