THREE YEAR BLOG ANNIVERSARY

*crashes in with streamers and balloons and glitter and upbeat tunes and cookies and PIZZAAA!*

Happy Saturday! I'm assuming that you've read the title of this post, but in case you have something against blog titles and skipped it over... it's my three year blog anniversary! (it's technically tomorrow... but I'm celebrating it today since I always post on Saturdays so close enough)

Today I'm going to take a lil' nostalgic trip back through my blogging journey. Last year I went ALL OUT for my two year anniversary -- giveaway! fancy pictures! elaborate Q+A video! Naturally, this year's celebration should be bigger and even more extravagant. The longer I blog the better I'm supposed to become, right?

Heh. Well, yes. Supposedly.

I don't have anything complicated and wonderful planned -- just an overview. I had the idea of sending everyone a pizza so we could all eat and celebrate together, but that didn't end up working (surprise, surprise). Instead I'll eat pizza all lonely-like in my own house, and you can do the same from wherever in the world you live. Deal?

I could go on and on about pizza, but it's probably best to move on. Insert celebration post. :)

the pictures in this post are from my cousin's extremely aesthetic wedding <3 <3 <3

STATS

AFTER ONE YEAR OF BLOGGING // 2015

followers: 121
posts: 82.

AFTER TWO YEARS OF BLOGGING // 2016

followers: 308
posts: 144

AFTER THREE YEARS OF BLOGGING // today!!

followers: 504
posts: 176

TOTAL PAGEVIEWS: 185,233

TOTAL COMMENTS: 7,965

I share these stats, not to brag (not that there's much bragging to do, ha) but to show that growing a blog takes time. It means posting consistently, getting your name out in the blogosphere, and producing quality content. Keeping a blog means hard work, but ultimately doing it because you enjoy the process and the challenge. 

I truly do enjoy blogging -- especially with how it's brought me new friends and experiences and opportunities and the chance to shout my love for stories and pizza across the internet (and write really long run-on sentences *cough*). Does that mean I enjoy every single part of blogging? No. I don't enjoy pounding out a post at two in the morning or trying to break my brain over HTML coding. But when I'm able to finish that blog post anyway, or conquer the coding... that makes the frustration worth it. It's certainly taught me a lot about perseverance. :P

One of the most helpful things I've learned throughout blogging is how important it is for me to keep a schedule. There's that expectation set up for the readers from the start whether it be a post a day or a post a month. But a schedule keeps me accountable. It's hard for me to say "I'll post on Saturday!" and then not follow through on that. I've kept this up for three years in a row, so it's obviously worked out fairly well. ;)

Posting every week on Saturday means a lot of late Friday nights for me. Some teens spend their Friday nights partying, blasting music, eating food, staying up long past midnight. I also do this. Just exchange the partying with blog post writing. :P

*awkward transition* Let's look at the most popular posts, eh? My most viewed one from all time is How Writing Has Shaped My Everyday Life. That post was inspired by a question Emily Drown asked, so thank you for that, Emily. You're fabulous. :P

how writing has shaped my everyday life

NaNo Week #3 // Snow, Snippets, and A Sluggish Brain is my second most viewed post?? Which is a bit strange, since it's nothing special?? I'm a bit confused by that, but... okay. xD

nano week #3 // snow, snippets, and a sluggish brain

Finally, Being Real is my third most viewed post. It's a collection of thoughts about life and how we present ourselves on the internet. Ultimately, it's a promo post for a collaborative post for Burning Youth. I haven't posted much on there, still, but I'm looking forward to more in the future. :D

being real // burning youth

It's been an incredible, crazy year of blogging. I've made new friends, hit 1,000 followers on Twitter, gone to conferences, and taken more pictures which I am posting semi-consistently on Instagram. (and I'm planning on posting more often so let's become insta buddies xD)

And can you believe that I've now had this blog design for an entire year? I'm very happy I haven't accidentally destroyed the coding while experimenting a few times... (oops)

I'm looking forward to this next year of blogging. NaNo is looming ever closer, and I've been brainstorming blog topics so I don't have that last minute panic of, "ohmygoshIhavenoideawhattopostandit'stenatnightonfriday" (good luck deciphering that.)

There are so many people I want to thank. If you do comment, make sure to check back for my reply because I really want to take the time to individually appreciate all you lovely people who never fail to brighten my day with your words. That's my favorite part of blogging: making friends with other readers and writers!

Here's to another amazing year. <3

<3,
katie grace

[also, before you leave... my good friend Athelas is setting up a blog tour for Bryan Davis! If you want to feature him and the book (a MG superhero novel which sounds positively epic o.o) on your blog... sign up here.]

how long have you been blogging for?

thank you for celebrating!

RELAX -- blogging doesn't need to be stressful

Sometimes blogging gets stressful.

Before I go on, let me quickly say that it's not always stressful. The fun is there -- almost always there -- but often enough I'll let the stress of blogging get to me.

I've been talking to lots of bloggers lately, and I've realized that we all feel the stress to a certain degree. It's nice to know that I'm not alone in that... but why? We blog because we enjoy it, right?

Of course. But it's so easy to put the joy behind and let the stress rule instead (gosh, this is especially true for real life). 

I'm going to explore the fears + doubts + stresses + pressures + thoughts we have about writing and talk about why they're insignificant. Let's do this.

But you are posting. 

Let's face it -- blogging takes lots of time, and especially with school being a happening thing, time is hard to find. Sometimes you gotta enjoy the time you have and not fret about posting seventy times a week. (or even weekly. monthly. school and life is a thing and it's evil.)

Relax -- it's okay to push yourself to make time for blogging, but don't overdo it.

I struggle with this thought. If you struggle with it also, I'm gonna stop you right there. Your posts are interesting to someone. Different readers have different tastes. Some like humor, some like serious posts, writing inspiration, pictures, writing advice, wrap ups... the list goes on and on.

Not everyone is going to enjoy your posts, and that's okay. You have a blog because you have passion and talent. But someone out there is going to love what you do. (*points to myself* I love what you do, so there.)

Relax -- if you are writing what you enjoy, someone else is going to enjoy the same thing. 

So keep doing the thing.

I HONESTLY FEAR THIS A LOT. What if I run out of things to post? What if everyone has already blogged about everything there is to blog about?

But I have to keep repeating these reminders to myself: 

• You will always grow and learn.
• You will keep writing books -- and have new things to write about through that.
• The world is always changing. Life is changing. You're changing. That alone is a great and wonderful story.

You may have "blogger's block" at several points throughout time, but you have a mind to keep creating posts.

Relax -- don't let your fear consume your creativity.

Dude.

Bloggers. Need. Breaks.

I can't reiterate that enough. I highly suggest that bloggers take "mind breaks." (a hiatus) It could be a week, a month -- however long you need to recover your poor, exhausted brain.

Will people be mad at you for taking a break? No. Disappointed, perhaps, that they won't see some posts for awhile, but you'll return and the wait is so worth it, then.

Will people stop reading your blog for you taking a break? Ha, no. The break helps them catch up on all the other posts you've written. 

Will people forget about you once you take a break? No. Your blog will still be there. Their email subscription will still be there. 

They might miss you while you take a break, but most of your readers are also bloggers. We understand. And even if they aren't bloggers -- it's easy to understand that life gets crazy. 

Relax -- taking a break is important, and don't be afraid to do the thing.

... brainstorming some post topics that I'm really excited to write about.

... planning a blogging hiatus. (Not sure when. Either December or November. Or maybe half and half. WE'LL SEE.)

... creating a giant list of blog post ideas so I won't run out of posts anytime soon. (or so I hope -- ha.)

<3,

katie grace

Can you relate to any of these?

Does blogging ever stress you out?

Being Real // burning youth

It is ridiculously hard to be real on the internet. 

Before you jump to conclusions, no, I'm not a robot, or a creepy man, or a serial killer pretending to be a real "Katie Grace on the internet."

I'm just me. A sixteen year old girl who has dreams too large for her own good. Who has the ability to cry too easily, eat a whole pizza, back up into a garbage can, and get bad grades in her schoolwork.

But in my head, I'm Katie Grace. She is the writer who writes 20,000 words in one day, who has it all together, who writes blog post after post and novel after novel. 

The sixteen year old me fails at deadlines. Who looks at the tasks on her to-do list and the bags under her eyes and the unreasonable time blinking on the clock and just sighs. 

Katie Grace won't stop. The clock is always ticking. There's always things to be done, and she will continue like her energy is limitless. Bigger goals. Smaller deadlines. Do things faster, better, go, go, go. 

But which one is really me? 

Both. Both are me. I'm Katie Grace -- the sixteen year old girl who loves to write, but is unsure of her ability to actually do it well. 

I'm the girl who blogs a lot and it's working out well for her, but she constantly fears that she will someday run out of material. Or that people will become uninterested.

I'm the girl who writes about doing so much, but not about the struggle and the stress to get that done.

I've been thinking about this for awhile, now. How to balance the two and be real without sharing every part of my soul.

And then the fabulous Kate emailed me about a blog project. A group blog. A blog that writes about real things. Real struggles. Real feelings. A perfect place where I could share my real thoughts and feel like they belong. I haven't written anything on there yet, but I will. And so I thought I'd let you know about it.

Here is a snippet of the lovely mission statement Kate wrote up --

we are the young ones

the emotional ones

the restless,

the drifters,

the dancers,

the artists,

the midnight cereal eaters,

and drivers of dirt roads that got lost

between the trees.

we are the up all nighters,

with the wide eyes,

and the dreams that won't call it quits.

[keep reading...]

So I guess this post was a mixture of a lot of things -- something I've been thinking about, self promo, pushing you over to a blog where fifteen amazing minds have joined together to create this beautiful anthem. I hope to see you over there. <3 

[burning youth blog link]

// katie grace

Can you relate to the struggle? 

Hope to see you over at burning youth. <3

(also, congrats to Mary H. and Anika for winning the giveaway!)

TWO YEAR BLOG ANNIVERSARY

(see how I sneakily wrote "blog anniversary" instead of "blogoversary" since MOST OF YOU THINK THAT'S INCORRECT SPELLING. *sigh* :P)

The title kind of gives it away, but in case you skimmed past that...

Wow. I'm not sure what to say other than wow. TWO YEARS IS A LONG TIME. And yet it's so short. You feel? Crazy how time passes.

Several exciting things are happening. First of all, you've probably noticed that I have a new blog design?! Excuse me while I scream forever.

The amazing Claudia helped me make this design happen, and I couldn't be happier. I love how it still has the same color scheme, but it looks so much more professional and clean and asjkfd;l it's so cool to have it up and running. TODAY IS SO EXCITING I JUST CANNOT.

Hopefully you love the design as well! It makes me happy. ^.^

ALSO, if you currently have my blog button on your blog, I now have a new button. (you know. just in case you want to *cough* update the button *cough* xD)

Before we move on to other exciting parts of the post, let's take a trip back on memory lane.

(also, random shout out to Liz and her blog because it's her anniversary too?? her blog is also turning two years old?? on the same day??? we must be connected because that is the best coincidence ever.)

f o l l o w e r s:

August 27, 2014 // under ten. (rough estimate, because I didn't track it then.)

August 27, 2015 // 121.

August 27, 2016 // 308.

p o s t s: 

2014 // twenty seven

2015 // fifty-five

2016 // forty-three (so far, mwahaha)

p a g e v i e w s: 71,000. 

c o m m e n t s: 4,800 (ALMOST 5,000. EEK.)

I started my Saturday posting schedule last October, so that makes almost a year of consistent posting! Schedules are hard, but one of the best things you can do for your blog. Sometime I'll have to write a post about this. *nod*

I hit three hundred followers and seventy thousand pageviews in my two-year blog anniversary month, which is pretty exciting. That's... a lot. And kind of weird. I don't understand. xD

My most viewed/popular post of all time was "That End Of The Year Wrap Up Post." (which only means that there will be another one this year, mwahaha.)

My novel guest posted on my blog, which was hands down my favorite post to write. Maybe Tan will make another appearance? Ooh, or his brother. If you're interested. :D

I wanted to make a list of amazing people that have encouraged me through blogging, but as I started writing names, I realized that the list could fill several hundred posts and it's an impossible endeavor. I'll just share extra love (and pizza!) in the comments. ;)

Moving onto more exciting things...

I'm giving away an absolutely lovely WRITE notebook (so you can jot down your ideas or hand write a novel if you chose) and a pack of my favorite pens. These will be separate giveaways, so you have more of a chance of winning part of the awesomeness.

I own my own copy of the write journal, and it is definitely the best journal I have ever received. (and I have a lot of notebooks. Emphasis on the A LOT.) It has plenty of pages, the ruling is nice and thin, it's sleek and gorgeous, plus it has a binding that helps it lay flat without bending the cover. It's amazing.

As for the pens, they're super thin pointed (*happy sigh), so they're perfect for writing, journaling, arting (<-- totally a word), and whatever else you please to do with them. (just don't poke people in the eye. They might make good weapons, but that doesn't mean they're meant for that.)

Also, the pens don't explode all over your bag when you bring them in a plane (been there, done that...). So that's good. :P

The giveaway will be open until the midnight on September 2nd. I'll then contact the winner on the third. :D

I hate to say this... but this is not international. I really wanted it to be, but then I looked at international shipping prices and my wallet started crying. Sorry. :/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is definitely one of the more terrifying parts of this post, but I'm also REALLY EXCITED. I got an insane amount of questions, and the fact that I tend to ramble didn't help me in answering lots. :P So I only got to a select few, but I hope you enjoy anyways!

(it should be embedded in the post, but if that doesn't work, hop on over to view it on youtube.)

(also excuse the cringy parts and the awkward cuts and all -- there's a first for everything!)

(and if you can, watch it in HD since it'll be better quality. *nodnod*)

AND I WAS A TOTAL DUMMY IN THE VIDEO AND DIDN'T ANSWER THE MOST ASKED QUESTION. xD I started explaining what my favorite kind of pizza was, but then my scattered brain decided to move onto other things. 

So, my favorite kind of pizza is cheese pizza. :P *hugs mah pizza* 

// katie grace

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING AWESOME. I love you all. *hugs*
What's your favorite kind of pizza?

The Struggles of Blogging

I know I said that I would do a blogspot design post, but it just wasn't working and so while I'm strongly feeling the feel of blogging struggles, I might as well write a post on it. Logic.

So. Blogging.

Blogging is awesome in so many ways. I could go on for quite awhile about it's awesomeness, but I'll just leave it at awesome and write a post on that later.

But blogging is also hard. (Oh, hey, I also wrote a post about why we call writing hard if you want to read that.)

So here's a list of very relateable (at least I hope) blogging struggles.

Struggle #1: HAVING TO CONSTANTLY THINK OF NEW IDEAS

At least for me, thinking of ideas for blogging is hard. I mean, I'm posting around  60+ times a year, and that's a lot of original posts. (I don't get bloggers who post like 10 times a month. o.o) Especially for me, since my mind loves to torture me with dry spells where I have no ideas. My brain starts thinking, "I could talk about the possibility of making pizza flavored tacos. That could become a thing, right?" And then I mark it down for a Saturday, and when that Friday night comes, I'm very confused at what I meant. THE STRUGGLE IS VERY REAL.

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Struggle #2: BLOGGING IS VERY TIME CONSUMING

In my 'how I write a blog post' post, I calculated that it takes around 3-4 hours to write a blog post. Sometimes more or less depending on the topic, but it's a good middle average.

And that's a lot of time. I don't regret the time I take to write up my posts, but sometimes I do wish I could have an automatic post writer or proofreader or format-er. Or I could just smash my head against the keyboard and words would come out. *dies* xD (I think every writer thinks this, actually...)

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Struggle #3: IT'S HARD TO MAKE YOURSELF KNOWN

I know we're supposed to not "blog for followers," but I think it's true that we as bloggers write posts for readers, yes? We write posts so they can be enjoyed by others. But it's a difficult task making yourself known. You can't just go out into the street and yell "HEY EVERYONE GO READ MY BLOG. THANKS." (I wish it was that easy. xD)

No, you have to put yourself out there. Make friends with bloggers. Actually take interest in other blogs. It's surprising how much of a 'social' activity blogging actually is. (I know that sounds weird -- talking about socializing on the internet. BUT IT'S A REAL THING I PROMISE.)

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Struggle #4: POST EXPECTATIONS

This might be just me, but sometimes I'll write a post I'm very proud of. It gets good feedback, I'm a happy person, and everything is just peachy. Then comes the next week. I write my post, and after I'm finished (or even while I'm writing it), I start to doubt.

"Should I have done something different? This is a horrible idea. Ughh I don't knowwwww. *sighing*" 

I get worried that people read my blog expecting a certain type of post, and I don't want to fail by doing only mediocre. *shrugs* Every artist has their share of insecurities. :P

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Struggle #5: FINDING THE RIGHT PICTURE

I try to use a picture in every one of my blog posts, and it is QUITE DIFFICULT to find the right one. And not only find the right picture, but where to put the text. How big to put the text. Make it look amazing.

Also, having all the pictures match on your blog. Mine don't match in the slightest, but I'm doing better with using the same text, now. :P

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Struggle #6: BLOG DESIGN

*dies* BLOG DESIGN IS THE WORST. I mean, it's so much fun to make your blog look all pretty and fancy, but its such a pain. Tutorials with coding can either work, do nothing, or completely mess everything up. 

And there's the problem of trying to make it unique. It's never cool to completely copy another blogger's design, so despite wanting to copy some bloggers on their pretty, clean white designs, looks like the orange fall theme is going to stick with me. ;)

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Struggle #7: STICKING TO THE SCHEDULE

Ew schedules. Ew deadlines. 

Schedules are hard because no matter what (within reason), you have to post. If it's late, you're tired, and don't have much motivation... you promised that Saturday post. (totally not me right now. TOTALLY NOT. Heh.) 

But, if I didn't have a schedule... (like I used to) ...I would run into the problem of posting only two times a month. It's happened. I mean, that's still good, but I like setting goals and deadlines for myself. :P

thanks to hannah for thinking of this blogging struggle. ;)

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// katie grace

What are some blogging struggles you deal with? 

How I Write A Post

Happy Saturday, everyone!

I'll start off with saying this: I love reading blogs. I love seeing writers like me channel their creativity onto their own personal website. But you know what I've noticed? I haven't seen a blogger write about how they draft a blog post.

Maybe that's because other people aren't interested in knowing those types of things like I am. But I'm all nosy and like to know how bloggers do things. :P

For me, often if a post isn't working, I'll actually write it on paper, first. (Thankfully this post worked out alright and I didn't have to do that.) Sometimes it helps to write somewhere else than the Blogger site and let my mind think a little differently.

With this post I took some screenshots (of which the quality isn't perfect, but oh well. It's readable and I tried. :P) and went through the steps of how I draft a post. This isn't a tag, but I'd be super interested to see how you write a post, so go ahead and steal this idea! :D (I'd love to read it after you're done!)

Here we go.

ten minutes // THE "BRAINSTORMING" STEP

Once upon a time, I get an idea for a blog post. I plan to post it on an upcoming Saturday. The Friday night before I freak out and frantically try to put it together. (< Heh. Not always entirely true, but...)

The first step for me is the brainstorming step. I do everything in the Blogger post document... thing. (Is there an official name for this?) I jot down ideas for the post and ideas for how I want to go about it. My mind runs a million miles a minute, so I try to do this point as fast as I can. That's why my sentences are a mess. :P

This is what my brainstorming looks like: (hint: it's a mess.)

(One more apologize for the mediocre quality. Couldn't figure out how to make it clearer. *pouts*)

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seven minutes // THE "OUTLINING BUNNY TRAIL BRAINSTORMING" STEP

Step number two is supposedly the outlining phrase, but I get distracted way too easily. So for this post, step number two turned into the I-tried-to-outline-but-then-got-distracted-with-other-thoughts-for-this-post step. It happens more than you think with blogging. *headdesk*

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seventeen minutes // THE ACTUAL OUTLINING PHASE

After I get distracted with the step above, THEN it's time for outlining the body of my post. If I'm doing a step by step post (like this one), I'll summarize what my point will be in a short sentence. I don't get very wordy with this step. My main goal here is to get the skeleton of the post down.

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one hour and thirty-nine minutes// THE "WRITE THE POST" STEP

THIS PART OF THE POST TAKE SO LONG. (as you can see above. Ack.) Even though I'm able to write 1,000 words in 20 minutes, drafting a blog post is an entirely different story. *flops* I think it's the thought of letting my words onto the internet where anyone can read it. Um, frightening. 

So I dawdle with this part. I hem and haw over which words to use and when to start a new paragraph. Maybe someday, when I get more experienced, this step will come easier. I can only hope.

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eleven minutes // THE "MAKE THINGS PRETTY" STEP

I love this step. I love making my post easy to read and pleasing to the eye. This is the step where I bold phrases and italicize words to emphasize certain parts. I also justify my post so each individual line stacks up all nicely. 

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one hour and twenty-five minutes // THE "PICTURE EDITING" STEP

There are three different kinds of picture I upload to my posts. I used all three in this post. 

1 // THE MAIN IMAGE: This is the image you will see at the top of each post. It includes the title of the post and a link to my blog. 

2 // TEXT IMAGES: Often for text headers or points I will download a picture of some text since that font isn't available for blogger. I'll make up these images in Picmonkey and then insert them into my post. 

3 // OTHER IMAGES: Sometimes I'll put in a picture of a book or a dragon egg. If the picture needs editing, I'll do that, otherwise I can just upload it right away. For this post, I had to number each image, so this step took a little longer than other times.

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twenty minutes // THE "PROOFREAD + EDITING" STEP

In this step I'll read over my post AT LEAST 2-3 times, looking for typos and oddly phrased sentences. I use the Blogger preview feature when I do this so I can be sure that everything looks right -- that all the pictures are centered and there aren't any odd spaces.

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// THE "FORCE MYSELF TO POST IT" STEP

After all the above steps... then I can post it! Since I can't actually bring myself to hit the "publish" button, I schedule all my posts for sometime after midnight. (because I'm usually up past finishing it up. Oops.) Then it'll post when I'm fast asleep and I don't have to second-guess my blogging skills. :P 

Once it posts... I breathe a sigh of relief that I finished it on time. I answer comments, visit blogs, think up an idea for the next week, and the cycle starts all over again. 

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And that's how I write a post. Under each step you can see how long each individual step took. And once I add it up? I spent a total of four hours and fifteen minutes on this post. I would say that most of my posts end up taking around 3-4 hours. *nod* And that's why I don't post more than once a week, ha.

Thanks for reading!

- Katie Grace

How long does it take you to write a post? Does your process looks somewhat similar to mine, or is it entirely different?
*whisper* And you should totally write a post on this, because I'm curious like that. :P

(Also, my wonderful critique partner, Abi, just started a blog! You should go follow it. :D

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                                                            CONNECT WITH ME!

     

Tutorials for the Blogspot Blogger: Pages Edition

This is the third post in my "Blogspot Blogger Design Series." You can read the first introductory post here, as well as the one I wrote up about sidebars.

Today's topic? Pages.

So what even are pages? Pages are the individual tabs most commonly seen below or above the header on a blog.

The first time I tried to add pages to my blog, it took me two hours. It's not as easy as it seems! (Unless you do a web search. But somehow my fourteen year old mind never thought of that possibility. *shakes head*)

Here's what you do:

• Go to your blogger home page. 
• Click on your blog. 
• Find pages.
• Create as many pages as you'd like.
• Then, go to layout.
• Look for pages and click the little, tiny edit button.
• Select the pages you want to display and click save.

So now you have your pages lined up nicely on your blog, but the next step is to make your pages looking pretty. 

• Go to layout. 
• Click customize. 
• Then, advanced.
• Here are the two options you can play with: 

There are some pages you should have, but I think a lot of it is preference and using pages to personalize your blog. Below are some page I have seen on other blogs and my thoughts about them.

1. ABOUT ME

This page. THIS PAGE, GUYS. Everyone should have an about me page. I don't care who you are or what your blog is like, just please have an about page. If I'm going to follow a blog, I want to know about the person writing it! I want to know about their quirks, personality, favorite bands, if they like pizza (*cough*), and all that fun stuff.

2. CONTACT ME

"Contact me" pages are great. This is the page where you'll insert a contact form for questions (Here's how to add a contact form to a page.), and list all your social media sites so people can stalk you properly. 

3. ABOUT THE BLOG

I don't have this page (though maybe I should consider doing so?), but I've seen a lot of other people who do. After readers get to know a bit more about you, then obviously the next step is to learn about the blog. Here you can link to some of your most popular posts or posts you're most proud of.

4. FAVORITE BLOGS

Okay, to be entirely honest, this is probably seen as more unprofessional than not. But for me, listing my favorite blogs is a way to give back to the wonderful blogosphere and appreciate how awesome the other bloggers are out there. (and plus I've found a few new blogs this way myself on other blogs.)

5. WRITING // REVIEWS

Most of the people following me are either book bloggers or writing bloggers. So...

IF YOU'RE A WRITING BLOGGER: I loooove visiting pages where bloggers talk about what kind of books they're writing. This is the place to insert makeshift covers, collages, blurbs, and link to posts about your novel if you have any. 

IF YOU'RE A BOOK BLOGGER: You have no idea how much I love it when book bloggers have a tab devoted to their archives of reviews. It makes it SO easy to search for their opinion on a certain book! 

6. BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

I've only actually seen one blog with this type of page (I would link to it, but I forgot which blog it was. Sorry!), but I thought it was such a genius idea. I'm slowly working on one myself because it is so fun to shove your favorite books in people's faces and watch them suffer with the pain and feels. :P 

7. ARCHIVE // POPULAR POSTS // START HERE

These are all basically ways of linking to posts you'd want new readers to read once they arrive at your blog. 

*cue the overflow of links* (Note: These are all blogger tutorials.)

HOW TO ADD A DROP DOWN MENU WITHIN A PAGE. (This can be great for organizing your different WIP under a "things I'm writing" page.

HOW TO REMOVE THE BORDER AROUND PAGES. (This is the lined box around each page section. It looks a lot cleaner without these lines, so this would be a good tutorial to use.)

HOW TO STICKY NAVIGATION BAR. (You know how some blogs, when you scroll down to read a post, the pages bar keeps scrolling down the post with you? This is what that is.)

HOW TO CENTER YOUR PAGES. (It just looks a lot cleaner with your pages centered rather than hanging out on the left side of the blog.)

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- Katie Grace

What pages do you have on your blog? What pages do you like to see on other blogs?

Also note: Tomorrow is the last day of the month (aaah, right?!) which means my January Monthly Highlights post will go up then.

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                                                            CONNECT WITH ME!