The Five Year Blog Anniversary Post! (Ft. My Wisdomous Blog Advice)

It’s Halloween! And that means it’s my blog-anniversary-thingummy! Woo!

So let’s have an awesome-sauce post with the following awesome features:

• me giving what is most probably contradictory and confusing blogging-advice

• me ruminating on my 5 years (5 years!!!!) of blogging

• me generally over-using both exclamation points and brackets

(There was probably too much caffeine and/or YouTube consumed in the making of this post. #JustSaying.)




Blogs. They’re funny little so-and-sos.

You start out writing… the randomest sh**... and spilling your metaphorical guts into the interwebs, and five years later… Um.

Let’s not finish that sentence. *Pushes under rug with foot*




Honestly, dearest nerdlets, I’m so goddamn happy that people continue to read this blog!

*hugs all of you!*

Blogging is so awesome and I’ve (virtually) met so many awesome people that I count as friends. (Love ya! So much!)




Also, as a completely random and unforseen side-effect, it means that I keep in-the-know about the stuff enjoyed by people much younger than me – not just books either!

Through the great and powerful blogosphere/social media-y-ness, I hear about new music and movies and YouTubers and all that cool stuff!

And that means that I get to act smug when I know all this random trivia and slang and memes (so much the memes!) when The Bestie has no idea because she’s at least partially an adult.

(Key word: partially. You think a fully-adult hooman bean would actually hang out with me?!)

Oh, yeah, I’m down with the kids 😎

Via Giphy

A lot can happen in 5 years… phew! A lot can happen in 5 years. 

And through it all I’ve had you, dearest nerdlets, and the ever-present, ever-needy, Dora Reads.




Cos a blog? It’s a constant creation.

It’s ALIVE.

Via Giphy

There’s always something to be done: something to create, correct, update, and promote.

There’s broken links to remove and related posts to link. There’s fonts that randomly change their size between the time you finish the post, and the time it automatically publishes.

There’s gifs to add and pictures to shove in and/or create. There’s comments to read and answer…

It never ends.




And that’s awesomely awesome – because a blog is a living, organic, creation. 

It’s ever-changing, ever-evolving, always growing into something new.

I love that!





So, now that Dora Reads is the grand old age of 5 years old, I can start yelling at all you young whipper-snappers about what to do and what not to do when it comes to blogging.

(Not that it’s ever stopped me before.)




Of course, you should only ever follow blogging advice if it works for you – some of it will and some of it won’t.

Likewise, you should only follow my advice about following blogging advice if it works for you.

...Yes that sentence is contradictory and/or paradoxical. Welcome to Dora Reads!

*pushes contradictory nature of existence under increasingly lumpy rug*




So, what’s the most importantest words of undoubtedly wisdomous wisdom I have for you when it comes to blogging?

Buckle up. It’s a revelation!

You need to be yourself.

There are as many ways to blog as there are blogs. 

And, not to freak you out or anything, but there are millions of blogs out there.

If you try and follow the crowd? You’re just gonna end up as part of the mass.

I read a lot of blogposts. It comes with the territory – social media and all that.



Related Post: Nerd Church - Dreamers, BE YOU!

Via Giphy

But the thing is, a lot of them are instantly forgettable.

Same format, same images, same pastel colours and millennial pink and swirly fonts.

There’s nothing wrong with ANY of those things – if they honestly portray you and your self-expression, then go for it.




But your writing will have to work twice as hard, or more, if I’m gonna remember you.

...Because my brain has already confused you with ALL of the other minimalist black-and-white colour schemes, or ‘sleek’ same-old, same-old flat-lays with the pastel background, shiny laptop, and fake-flower props.

(If you don’t know what a flat-lay is, I love you. Never change.)




Likewise, you gotta find your voice, little bird (...I have no idea where this sentence came from, but I think I’m gonna leave it in.)

How’s anyone gonna hear you sing if your voice is lost in the noise?

(...yeah, no, I’m not even sure what that means. #JustGoWithIt. #BlamingTheCoffee.)




I guess what I’m saying is this: genuine is the only way you can be.


If you’re fake, one of three things will happen:

Either you’ll be unable to keep it up and end up crashing either physically, mentally, or metaphorically…

or no-one will read your sh** and your blog won’t grow…

or you’ll see some growth, then do something that contradicts the fake image you’ve crafted and people will stop reading your blog and/or unfollow your socials.

Simple as.

Fake may win in the short-term, but in the long-run? Not so much.



So, be you, dearest nerdlets. Be your amazingful, beauteous, fantabulous self.




And thanks for five amazing years, with hopefully many more to follow! (Cos I ain’t goin’ nowhere!)

How would you describe Dora Reads?

(I'm so self-conscious just asking you that! 😅)

Is my blogging advice helpful, or useless?

Talk to me! 💋💬

You can follow me on Twitter @CeeDoraReads, on Pinterest, and on Dora Reads @ BlogLovin. For more ways to support me, check out the Support Me page

Related Reading:

• Nerd Church - Dreamers, BE YOU!

• Four Years of Blogging, Dearest Nerdlets, and Many More To Come (+ FREE Printable Bookmarks PDF)

• 3 Lessons From 3 Years of Blogging

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Last updated: 31st Dec 2019