3 years of being the noisy villager!

The Noisy Villager turns 3 this May and I sometimes read my old posts at some I smile, at some I think why did I write them, But I would like to think I have grown in how I write which was my intention to start with; to write better and keep memories (which is and will always be the number one intention).

Throw-back to them good old Dadaab days :-)

3 years is a long time and seeing that my first post was Dadaab!!!! in 2013 which was ‘just’ post 2011 and the drought/famine of 2011 in Dadaab I came to realize was called the influx and people will talk about the influx and I wouldn't know what they were talking about but in a few short weeks I began making talk with big words like durable solutions, repatriation, resettlement, integration, host community and persons of concern (words I hardly used before then and do not use now)

What I have learnt about blogging is that the biggest hope you have when putting a post up is that at-least one person finds what you write interesting to read to the end because there is always the fear that nobody reads beyond the first few words.

Because of this blog I read my books more carefully as I always want to write book reviews(but I always get too lazy to write them!), take more pictures and make a lot of inquiries about stuff I want to write about so as to make sure the stories are good.

5 things I have learnt so far........................

Define your niche

Blogging is like having a conversation about any topic of your choice, with a room full of people you otherwise would never have met. Tell a story, teach a skill or impart knowledge that makes them want more! Whichever you do make it worth their time-Berry Dakara

Funny I should put this here because the Noisy villager is all over the place and doesn’t have anything in particular that is it’s focus but it is important to have something specific you write about and are some sort of an expert in and that thing can as well be your own small day to day adventures.


Be yourself 

Writing is fun and easy if you are writing about things that you love and are close to your heart because if you are writing as a hobby and then you start say writing about technology(assuming this is mostly unknown to you) then you are bound to make mistakes and will struggle to keep on doing it and will in the end kill all the happiness that comes with hitting the publish button because you are writing about things that are unfamiliar and will need a lot of research to write on.

Read

Read books, blogs, magazines, anything really but just read. I picked up reading for fun last year and I have not regretted. It makes you think better, wider, be more creative and definitely write better. The  Kenyan blogs I think are the best currently and this based on the three blogs I read because they are the best are Biko Zulu and This is Ess and I love love this article Owahh did on Sudan(the white Rhino).

Use Pictures as much as you can

As much as you can add pictures to posts it makes them more interesting and easier to read.

Keep it short

People don’t have all the time in the world to read your thoughts, keep it short as the saying goes be sure you are done speaking before your audience is done listening.

Consistency

Write often and if you can stick to a schedule say maybe post every Friday stick to it.In that way it will always be easier to write instead of writing when you feel like it as laziness can creep in if you do not have days to post on trust me I know :-).

Promoting your blog

If your main intention as I know/assume many bloggers intention is to have people read their blogs, then you have to actively promote it by using this tip I picked from Silvia Njoki. If you have more than one social media account and you really want a lot of people to read your blog; Be sure to share it in all your social media platforms but at different times so that you have the opportunity to catch as many readers as possible and there is no harm in posting twice at say maybe 24 hrs interval.This tip is especially good for all looking for traffic to their site(unlike me who sees 5 hits and I panic)

In the spirit of celebrating the small things we went out and kinda ate :-). I was initially going to go for cakes and tea/coffee but the person I was going with insisted there is a new joint in town that she thinks is cooler than the cake place. My verdict is; It is not cooler just different but it is more spacious and they have caano moos(banana milk-shakes) :-) :-).

food :-) :-)

To everyone who spares a few minutes and reads this blog in all its randomness thank you!.