This post is part of a series of interviews highlighting Fuelmyblog bloggers and their blogs..
A great way to find out who are the bloggers part of the Fuelmyblog community. If you would like to feature in this series add your name in the comment box or email sylvie(at)fuelmyblog.com
Thank you Shaun for sharing your perspective on blogging with Fuelmyblog 
What’s your name?
Shaun Hickox
What’s the name of your blog?
Nippon The Bus
What’s the URL of your blog?
www.nipponthebus.com
How old is your blog?
About 16 months old now.
If you’re willing to share, how many visitors per day do you have to your blog?
According to my webstats about 40 a day, not sure how many of those are actual people though.
How much time do you spend blogging every week?
It depends, I am a fantastically lazy person who spends far to much time doing very little.
I also need to think about a subject or an event that has happened to me, sometimes inspiration is hard to come by. I usually try to get one new post up every week. This doesn’t always happen though.
Is it the creative process or the editing process which take you longest when writing a post?
Editing definitely. I just write what spews out of my brain at the time. This leads to many errors which seem to take forever to iron out.
What inspired you to first start writing a blog?
After completing a computing degree but not continuing in the industry. I felt should at least try to keep alive a few of the skills I learnt by making a website. I started off writing the whole site from scratch but then found that using wordpress was just easier. Since I started using their platform I have very little need or desire to mess around with code.
What do you do to get inspired to write?
I generally just write about the things I see around me that I think are funny, weird or interesting. Occasionally I write about my hobbies or stuff from my past, but not that often.
How do you market your blog?
Can’t say I’m very good at this, I have submitted it to various site such as fuel my blog. Not sure how much of a difference it is making though.
I’ll have to add links to aggregators such as Digg and the like a some point too.
What are the blogging tools you cannot do without?
Wordpress is ace, I have found Skitch a great programme for resizing, uploading and generally mucking around with pictures. I have also found that using a text to speech programme to read out my posts makes proof reading quicker and easier.
Is there anything that you simply refuse to blog about?
Not really, if it interests me at the time I’ll blog about it.
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?
I’d be a bit surprised, obviously it would depend on the job but it would be sad to lose a fun little hobby just for a job. I’d also have to ask their reasons for demanding this.
Do you talk about your blog with your relatives and friends or do you avoid mentioning it?
I don’t go out of my way to mention it but if something related comes up in conversion, I’ll give it a little plug.
What is the biggest mistake you made when starting your blog?
Can’t really think of anything I would describe as a mistake.
Any tips for aspiring bloggers?
Just write and see what comes out. If you enjoy doing it then you will stick at it.
Who are the bloggers that you look up to the most?
The bloggers I enjoy reading most are usually people I’ve like from other media such as Neil Gaiman and Dave Gorman. Not quite a blog (although he has one) but I also like watching Kevin Cooney’s Vlogs about living in Japan , he’s a funny guy but also pretty informative.
Do you still see yourself blogging in 5 years time?
I hope so, I don’t know if I will still be in Japan but I’m sure that wherever I end up will be as crazy and interesting as this place.
The link to the blog doesn’t seem to be working ……. or is it me? I wouldn’t be surprised ……. I’m having one of those days ……..
nope…I would say i am having one of these days lol! thanks DP you are a star!
It’s good over there isn’t it? …… now I’ve been shown the way …………..
Great blog Shaun!
Sweets, pudding, yoghurt.
Let’s all buy them together … tralala
I am sorry I got distracted by the Dave Gorman link and forgot to actually comment.
Thanks for the Skitch link, will have to check that out.