If you write about things that really matter to you, that truly interest you, or that you care, you are bound to do a good job of writing it.

-Mandira

Sometime the name itself tells the story, and it happen with us when we first time visited “CHURNING THE WORD MILL” blog.

Before telling you more about this blogger, WebNeeTech appreciate the blogger for coming up with such good name which signifies her blog and objective and also for giving one of the best and most expressive interview we have received till now.

Meet Mandira, a 28 year old social worker and  who loves CHURNING THE WORD MILL. She founded this blog in July 2007 and carrying around 240 post at present. She says “I started blogging entirely on a whim. Unlike what it is for many others, for me blogging was not a thought out decision.”

She added “At the time of starting my blog, I did not have the faintest idea of what I would do once I got my space in the blogsphere.  I didn’t have a real objective in mind. So  I just began by writing whatever came to my mind- I couldn’t even make proper categories on my blog for sometime because the things I wrote about were so diverse! I have literally discovered the joys of blogging along the way. Now I have two blogs and my mother has one too!”

For serious bloggers and ones who want to jump into blogging world, must read Mandira’s interview.

_____________________________________-

Blogger’s Detail:

Blogger’s Name: Mandira

Age: 28

Occupation / Profession: Social Work

Blog name and URL: Churning The Word Mill, www.churningthewordmill.wordpress.com

Blog Focus Area, domain: No specific focus area. I write about my life and just about anything else I feel like.

Blog launched on: July 2007.

Monthly visits on website: It varies quite a lot. Wordpress  blog stats  tells me visits to my blog per month vary from 144 to 3711.

Do you have team of bloggers? No.

Interest / Activities: well obviously blogging! Reading, baking.

Located at: Mumbai, India

Email ID: churningthewordmill@gmail.com

_______________________________________________

Interview (Q&A Round)

Q. What motivated you to start blogging?

I started blogging entirely on a whim. Unlike what it is for many others, for me blogging was not a thought out decision. A friend of mine had a blog(www.yumblog.wordpress.com) and she was the  one who introduced me to the world of blogging. I began by reading other people’s blogs and after being nudged a couple of times by my friend, I decided to get myself a blog. My main reason for getting a blog was that I was curious about blogging. I wanted to find out what it was all about. At the time of starting my blog, I did not have the faintest idea of what I would do once I got my space in the blogosphere.  I didn’t have a real objective in mind. So  I just began by writing whatever came to my mind- I couldn’t even make proper categories on my blog for sometime because the things I wrote about were  so diverse! I have literally discovered the joys of blogging along the way. Now I have two blogs and my mother has one too!

Q. Tell us in detail about your blog, your idea and how it can benefit others?

Like I said, my blog was started as a spur of the moment decision but with time I think it has developed a character of its own. An interesting aspect about the history of this blog is that along with evolving “what to write”, I also had to evolve the name of the blog. Initially I began with a blog on tumblr but I didn’t like that platform too much, so I moved to wordpress. At wordpress I had used my full name in the url.  Once a blogger, who is also a friend from college, and I were discussing blogs when she casually remarked “I deliberately didn’t include my name in my blog name or url. I write about work, my clients and I wouldn’t want anyone of them to find me through my blog and hunting me down for all that I have written about them!!”  It was then that it hit me that some degree of anonymity is a good thing. She dint have her name on her url but I did! So I deleted the blog and moved to the present churningthewordmill one in July 2007. All this moving web spaces I did in a span of 3 months or so. After that churningthewordmill has been my home. It took me quite a lot of time to come up with the name. Since no matter what name I came up with, wordpress always told me it was taken, I had to really think hard to come up with something new and unique that wasn’t already taken. By the way, if you ever want to start your own blog, try not using words such as random, rambling. You will always find them being used by someone already! The name “churning the word mill” came to me at a peculiarly inspirational moment while stuck in a traffic jam. I smsed it to a friend, she liked it and I registered it soon after I got home that evening.

I look at my blog as a record of my life. A fairly detailed documentation, if I may call it that,  of all that’s happening to me and around me, about things that make me happy, thing that upset me, funny incidents I encounter, my family, friends, travels. Its basically a space where I pen down or rather type out what is happening around and my thoughts on it. I have learnt that this “documentation of life” is what I really like about my blog. There have been times when I have wonder why I am writing so much. I mean how does it matter to anyone if I went for a holiday to Pondicherry in October 2008? Or if I took stock of my life on my last birthday and made a list of all the things I need to improve on? It might not matter to others, but I have come to understand that it does matter to me! I have now been blogging for a few years and I have most of the important events of my life, my memories written down. With passage of time, we gradually begin to forget and our memories begin to fade. Only very poignant ones remain etched in our minds forever. But with having a written record of everything, I forget nothing! If its all written down somewhere, you can revisit your past whenever you like. You can compare notes, map the direction your life is taking. I have done things like that a few times myself.

I don’t know how my blog can benefit others. I am a social worker so it makes sense to have a blog that helps or benefits others, but I am quite sure mine doesn’t! May be people who read the blog can find some similarities between in their lives and mine and relate to me at some level. May be posts that are reflective in nature, prod other people to spend some time thinking about the subject themselves. But other than that, I don’t really see how my blog benefits anyone. That said, I think my baking blog may benefit a few foodies! J On second thoughts, you know this question should be asked to people who read the blog. They would be in a better position to answer it.

Q. What area or topic you generally cover in your blog, any special reason behind it?

I write about just about anything that catches my attention but largely, the posts tend to be about my life. I sometimes write about current affairs, but I haven’t done that in sometime. Earlier I used to put up recipes that I can across and found interesting but then I started a baking blog with a friend and I gave up posting recipes on churningthewordmill at together.

I fairly frequently write about people around me. I think if you take time out to observe people carefully, you will find that they are by far the most interesting subject to study. We all meet tens of people in our lives and I write about those that catch my attention- for good reasons or bad! I also realize other blogger and readers respond well to such posts, because human nature is the same everywhere and somewhere, sometime they too have encountered similar people and situations. Take for example the “letter long due” post (http://churningthewordmill.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/letters-long-due/) I am sure lots of you have met people like this. I don’t like to write too much about what exactly I do at work, but my profession makes me travel a lot and I love documenting that. So you will find quite a few posts on my travels along with pictures to go with them. Living in Mumbai city itself is a treasure trove of things to write about. I write about my experiences of living and working in this city, its peculiar, bewildering character and my interactions with other people inhabiting the city. When the mood strikes, I write reflective posts as well.

Q. Which blogging platform you are using (wordpress, blogspot, bloggers etc), any reason about it?

I use wordpress. Initially when I began blogging I used tumblr. But back then Tumblr did not have the facility for comments and after writing the first few posts, I began wanting to hear from people.  At that time only a handful of my friend knew I had a blog so each time they had to tell me something about a post they had read, they would have to do that on email or chat or on the phone and I would have to wait longer to get a response from them. That’s when I realized if I needed to hear from people it had to be on a blogging platform that allowed comments. So I moved to wordpress. And I love the comments options it offers! I also love color and wordpress has lots of colorful themes to choose from. You will notice I like to change my blog theme often. I am basically not a tech savvy blogger so I don’t need too many jazzy options in my blogging platform. Whatever basic needs I have, WP meets .

Q. How frequent you update your blog? How many post your blog is carrying at present?

I didn’t begin with a predetermined target of posts in my head. I mean I did not decided I will do , say at least 8 posts in a month. The number of posts I end up writing depends on if I had something interesting to say or if I had thoughts go around in my head that I need to put down somewhere or if I wanted to get the opinion of fellow bloggers on something. There have been times in my life when there was so much happening that I want to write it all down! But that’s not practically possible because time is also a factor.  Actually it’s a big factor! Its not uncommon to have professional commitments eating into all your waking hours and when such a situation arises, I have no choice but to cut down on the posts. Sometime back I made a decision to restricting the amount of time I was spending on blogging. I took the decision because I felt that blogging and blog hopping was taking away too much of my time. As much as I love this virtual world that I have created through the blog, I also have a real life and I need to have a balance between the two. I was spending so much time blogging, that I was neglecting other important things such as reading. I have generally managed to keep to my resolution but there are times, when I am just dying to write.That’s when I completely ignore my resolution and write. So in terms of total number of posts published each month, you will find a wide  variation- from as little as 4 posts  to  as much as 24!

In all I’ve got 231 posts on the blog right now.

Q. What tools you use to increase your blog readership and bring people on your blog? Do you use social networking sites?

Nothing really. I read other blogs that I like and so I am sure I get some readership from there but other than that I honestly don’t do anything to increase readership.

I am very much present on social networking sites, as is everyone else these days, but I don’t use these sites to bring readers in. I have connected with some blogger friends who have been blogging friends for long and now feel like real friends on social networking sites, but other than that, there really isn’t anything I do.

Q. Any specific tips you have for new bloggers who want to make it in the
blogsphere?
God, I never thought I would be asked something that questions some day! Especially since I started my own blog so randomly! The question makes me believe I have “made it in the blogsphere” and as thrilling as that thought is, I am not so sure if it’s really true! But since you asked, let me try to answer this as best as I can. I think it’s good to be honest in your blog. If you write about things that really matter to you, that truly interest you, or that you care, you are bound to do a good job of writing it. True emotions have a strange way of shining through posts. Even if you are writing about inane daily life kind of things, be honest in writing your opinions or thoughts. The same thing applied to commenting.

I think it’s good to keep the posts of a moderate length.  Its ok to have long, rambling posts once in a while but I think if the posts are too long, too often, it can at times get difficult for the readers. However, if you have decided to write only for yourself and don’t really expect others to read and respond to everything you write, then its ok to ramble on!!  Also, if you can use humour in your posts, that’s great!  The world and its worries can bog us down and a good laugh is an ideal way to break from it.

Its also a good practice to reply to comments. Blogging and blog hopping are time consuming activities, so if someone took the time to read what you wrote and left you a comment, I think it is important to reply.

Q. Do you earn revenue through your blog? If yes then how a blogger should monetize his / her blog? If no, then any plans in future?
Nope. And I don’t want to either. I use my blog as a space for self expression and to connect with people and for me that’s enough.

Q. What are your other favorite blogs which you follow, can you list the top 5 such blogs?

I can’t name top 5 but I can name a few blogs that I am fond of – Homecooked(homecooked.wordpress.com), Craftyshines(craftyshines.wordpress.com), Parul(orangeicecandy.blogspot.com),

Solilio(mesoliloquy.wordpress.com),

Indian Home Maker(indianhomemaker.wordpress.com),

Monika (monikamanchanda.wordpress.com),

Dhiren (hitchwriter.wordpress.com),

Abha (amateurabe.blogspot.com),

Dipali (dipalitaneja.blogspot.com)

and of course, my mother’s blog- spirit in life (spiritinlife.wordpress.com).

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