Name: Amanda G.
Age: 24
Location: Singapore
Blog URL: Musings of a Crazy Cat Girl
What is your blog about?
Musings of a Crazy Cat Girl is a lifestyle and personal blog where I can truly be my expressive self! Posts on my blog can range from my day to day life to just about anything under the sun, really! You never really know what I’m gonna be blogging about next and I think that’s kinda unique as it leaves people wondering what they’ll be seeing on my blog when they visit it. I try not to veer away too much from what I’m comfortable with though! I currently have three ongoing blog series — Perspectives, Amanda Reads, and Amanda Plays. Perspectives is a series where I blog my opinions on issues which I feel strongly about. Both Amanda Reads and Amanda Plays are kind of like a companion series whereby the former sees me going on reading adventures and the latter, my gaming ones. I would love to really kickstart my fourth blog series, The Write Thing, which is a collection of original short stories written by none other than me. I do have a few writings in my laptop that I can showcase so we’ll see how that goes!
Is this your first blog?
Nope, this isn’t my first blog. I’ve been blogging since my teen years but went on a hiatus when I was about 16 or 17. I was quite active on Tumblr for about four years during my 20s and I had a pretty great experience with it before I decided to close it to get back into blogging again proper in December last year. So here I am now with Musings of a Crazy Cat Girl!
When did you start your current blog?
I started my current blog in December last year after much contemplation between staying on Tumblr or succumbing to my blogger’s itch! It’s been a positive journey so far and I can’t be any happier!
What made you do it?
Whilst being on Tumblr for four years, I had been constantly dabbling with the idea of blogging proper on a public platform because I really did in fact miss doing that kind of thing. Having a private blog didn’t feel the same as it lacked an audience. I wanted to be able to express myself openly not just through pictures, but also through words. I felt empowered and motivated when I write and writing has been my thing for as long as I could remember! Hence, after four good years on Tumblr, I made the decision to close it to start Musings of a Crazy Cat Girl and I haven’t regretted it at all.
What was your first blog post about?
My first blog post was about how I was going to try blogging on a public space again. I felt quite anxious about it as I had been on quite a long hiatus and was afraid that I lost my blogger’s touch. Haha. But I set my heart upon really putting in the effort to take my return to the blogosphere seriously and told myself to take baby steps while at it as well!
What do you think is the most useful tool to you as a blogger?
I think being a part of a blogger community helps a lot especially when you’re just starting out and need a platform to give yourself and your blog the exposure it needs! Blogger communities are also avenues where you can meet a lot of great people and be really social. That’s how I got my initial pool of readers as well as blogger friends when my current blog was still in its infancy! I see it as kind of a companion to social media tools like Facebook pages, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
Do people in your real life know about your blog?
Yes
If yes, has your blog helped you career wise?
I have a career in a relatively different industry and my blog is something that I do on the side at the moment so there isn’t any direct relationship between the two. If anything at all, I see my blog as a side project of sorts for me to explore my creative side so that I don’t lose touch with that. I have always loved writing and I want that passion to keep on burning for as long as it can. My blog helps me do that.
What has been the one thing (blog post, project, etc) that you have been really proud of?
There are a lot of things that I’m really proud of since starting my blog and it’s so hard for me to pick one! Let’s just say it’d have to be getting nominated twice for the Liebster Award, and also getting my very first blog feature on 20 Something Bloggers’ Weekly Community Round-up which really took me by surprise! It’s a community that I’m very glad to be a part of!
Where do you see your blog in a year?
I hope that in a year’s time, I get to say that I’ve achieved even more with my blog! I do want to be able to go for blogger meet-ups, trying my hand at guest blogging, etc. Well, the bottom line is, I’ve still got so much I want to explore with my blog and I hope to get the chance to!
What do you wish you knew when starting your blog?
I wish I knew how great WordPress as a blogging platform was when I first started my blog! I was really wowed by the amount of available plugins at my disposal and even after making the switch from Blogger, I’m still finding new ways to improve my blog.
What do you wish you know more about now?
I guess it’s gotta be ways to give my blog the exposure it needs but I still prefer reading up on them at the moment and not really doing anything too drastic with my blog. Baby steps, I say!
How do you keep motivated to post?
I think what keeps me motivated is how much encouragement and positive messages/comments I get when I have a new blog post up! That, and also how empowered blogging/writing makes me feel. It’s just that I get really motivated when I have a blog topic at hand which I can draft out a post with and seeing how it can be a great fit for my blog. Blog productivity is what keeps me going!
Anything else you’d like to add?
I just wanna express my thanks to everyone who has made it possible for me to get to where I am today with my blog, even though it’s still relatively new! Every comment/message and follow I get means so much to me and I can’t even begin to say how much love I have each and every one of you. As much as I always say that I’m blogging for myself, it still gets me so happy when someone tells me that they have enjoyed reading my blog or have given me a follow on Bloglovin’, subscribed via email, liked my Facebook page, followed me on Twitter, etc. I hope to bring even more great things for you guys as time goes by so do stick around for the ride! :)
