A few days ago I put out a call looking for bloggers from the Fuelmyblog community to be interviewed so that we could get to know you guys a little better. We’ve got a large number of responses in and are still looking for more, but now it’s time to introduce our first interviewee, Belinha Fernandes of Papelustro.
What’s your name?
My name’s Belinha Fernandes
What’s the name of your blog?
Papelustro
What’s the URL of your blog?
http://www.papelustro.blogspot.com
How old is your blog?
Papelustro’s two years and a half. It was the first blog to be created.
If you’re willing to share, how many visitors per day do you have to your blog?
Just a few visitors: according to site meter I had an average 15 visitors per day in Papelustro. Stats were so much better the year before. But then I stopped blogging in earlier October and just made a weak comeback this year. I’ve been posting very irregularly since then. Most visitors have drifted away, only a few with whom I have created some strong bonds keep commenting and also emailing me. But I’ve seen new ones coming and I’m not worried about it. We must to give something if we want to receive back, right?
How much time do you spend blogging every week?
I really cannot say. I have five active blogs! I post when I have something worth posting about. Usually I do it fast enough. Three of my blogs are easy to post to because their content are mere images and small captions. I have another were I write down whatever life or imagination suggests to me. And I’m also managing a blog about a dog’s life. It’s a blog I made for my six year old nephew. For now he just takes the photos and let me do the writing. One day he’ll blog it all by himself. Then I enjoy visiting some favorite blogs, and most of all I also like to surf blogs communities in search of new blogs. I do this to chill out every now and then while making a break from my graphic work. I would say that maybe 3-6 hours per week definitely.
Is it the creative process or the editing process which take you longest when writing a post?
I always wrote things down. Probably my mother is responsible for my long training in writing anything about anything because she made me wrote letters to everyone as soon I was in elementary school! Once I have an idea on my mind I just sit down and write. Some of my posts are more elaborate like this one I wrote about Paul Simon’s song 50 ways to leave your lover. It all started because I had a dream about an ex-boyfriend. Then I remembered the song and thought that it would be fun to explore it a bit. I look for it in the net and then I wrote the post where I mix my ideas and Paul Simon’s. On the other hand some other posts are pretty simple to create and require little editing.
What inspired you to first start writing a blog?
My first blog with words inside was motivated by my former attraction for playing with words and even by an inner self need to write. It was kind of a bad journal with literary touch. I reused some of those texts in the new blog I created years after and that’s still active today. Going through some of it I can read that at the beginning of my blogging experience I did not have much sympathy for it at all. I thought that I had no need to publish words in the net as I was already writing things down elsewhere. I was not interested in sharing my writing; I was just doing it because it was fashionable! That earlier opinion only means that at that time I had not yet taken conscience of the community value and exchange possibilities that blogging implies.
What do you do to get inspired to write?
Everything can inspire me to write. I did a lot of writing in my professional life. Maybe when we have strict deadlines we gain some training in getting words out! I also wrote short novels and comics and a lot of letters, big letters to a lot of different people. I seem to have no difficulty to find inspiration. But I often keep notes of things I see and ear and read about. And sometimes we have to do a little research. But quite often words seem to have a life of their own and lead us along the way..
Is there anything that you simply refuse to blog about?
I never thought about it! No. Probably we can always find a way of blogging about anything in a way that our conscience be at ease with and without sacrificing our personal and ethical values.
If you went for a job interview and were told that you’d have to close your blog in order to get the job, how would you react/feel about it?
Ahahah!!Easy question to be asked a woman that’s been looking for a steady job for months! Of course that I would close my blogs! I would keep visiting and posting on my favorite blogs as I feel that as blogging too! I would be very angry about it but I would do it…
Do you talk about your blog with your relatives and friends or do you avoid mentioning it?
My relatives and friends do not have a lot of empathy for internet stuff blogs included. They have no interest in it what so ever…
What is the biggest mistake you made when starting your blog?
The biggest mistake was not to think the blog through. It lacked a little planning. I should have made just one blog that included all the things I want to blog about. That’s why I have so many blogs now. I do not want to mix random thoughts with digital work and collages and other artists work! I need a new layout, I guess…
Any tips for aspiring bloggers?
To blog about something we are passionate about and have knowledge is my top one tip. To create unique content or at least to provide always a personal insight on subjects posted. To first think blogging as sharing something and only secondly as earning something. To give blogging some planning before starting will help to prevent some future disappointments!
What 3 bloggers do you look up to the most?
I prefer not to answer, too many blogs, too difficult!
Do you still see yourself blogging in 5 years time?
Why not?
That gives a very good insight Belinha …….
I love the idea of blogging with your nephew. Such a sweet thing to do!
Heiii…what a surprise!My words and my hugly-hugly english in Fuel blog!Thanks people! Hope I was not much of a bore…:-)…looking forward to read other’s Fuel bloggers words too!
Great interview Belinha
Enjoyed “meeting” you.
Belinha…I am not supposed to be here but it was great meeting you a second time, very enjoyable interview, cannot wait to get to know you all a bit better
x
Enjoyed the interview! Will check out the blog here shortly-