Introduction
There are so many different kinds of personal blogs out there, from those that are written around a specific theme (like travel or fashion) to those that focus on the author’s life and their thoughts about the world.
In this post, we’ll check out some of the most popular personal blogs out there—blogs that might inspire you to start your own blog or give you some ideas about what to write about if you already have one!
Scary Mommy is a hilariously honest parenting site.
Scary Mommy is a hilariously honest parenting site. The site’s mission is to provide a space for you to laugh at the funny things your kids say, share stories about them and with other parents who are going through the same things as you. When you’re feeling like an exhausted mess of a human being because your toddler has decided that bedtime is optional or your baby won’t stop crying no matter how much breastmilk you give him, Scary Mommy will remind you that this too shall pass and there will be days where everything goes smoothly again.
Scary Mommy isn’t just about parenting though; it’s also about being a mom (and sometimes even just a parent). You’ll find articles on topics ranging from how to land your first freelance gig after having kids to what it means when someones says they don’t “do” Halloween but still gives out candy around Halloween time without fail every year even though their kid doesn’t go trick-or-treating anymore because they’re “too old for all that silliness.”
The Pioneer Woman is all about recipes, food and family.
The Pioneer Woman is all about recipes, food and family. The blog’s author is Ree Drummond, a real person who has been blogging since the late 2000s. A celebrity in her own right, Ree has become a household name for many people across America (and beyond). She is best known for her cooking skills and her love of cooking family meals—especially comfort foods like chili, lasagna and steak. Her recipes are generally simple to make but look amazing when they’re done—just as you’d expect from someone who’s been doing this since before we knew what blogs were!
The Bloggess offers a look at her life and her battle with depression.
The Bloggess is one of the most popular personal blogs out there. Written by Jenny Lawson, it’s a humorous look into her life and her battle with depression.
The blog started in 2005 but has continued to grow in popularity ever since. It’s so popular that Jenny has turned it into a best-selling book called Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir). She also wrote another book titled Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things which became an instant success when it was released in 2015.
Humans of New York takes photos of people in NYC. Sometimes there’s a story, sometimes not.
Humans of New York is a site that takes pictures of people in NYC. Sometimes there’s a story, sometimes not. The website was created by Brandon Stanton and has been featured in The New Yorker, Time and The Wall Street Journal. It has over 9 million followers on Facebook and over 1.5 million followers on Twitter.
Dooce is confessions of a stay-at-home mom.
Dooce is a blog written by Heather Armstrong, a stay-at-home mom. The blog started as a diary of her life and soon became one of the most popular blogs on the Internet. She writes about her kids, her husband and their life together in Utah.
She is also the author of several books including “Mom Planet: To Stay at Home or Not”, “It Sucks to Be Me: One Woman’s Heroic (But Mostly Failed) Quest to Become Her Own Best Friend” and “The C Word: A Memoir About Life and Motherhood (and Other Things That Bother Me)”.
A Cup of Jo features personal essays, fashion, craft ideas and recipes.
If you’re looking for a blog that offers something a little different, A Cup of Jo is definitely worth checking out. This blog features personal essays and style guides as well as recipes and crafts. The author, Joanna Goddard, is an American blogger who has written two books based on her blog posts: A Cup of Jo (2010) and Pretty Happy (2014). She also runs the fashion site Style for Five Bucks.
A Cup of Jo was founded in 2007 and focuses primarily on fashion but also includes lifestyle topics such as home decorating and travel destinations. The site boasts over 200 million page views each month so it’s no surprise that Goddard has been recognized by many prestigious awards including Time Magazine’s “25 Most Influential People on the Internet” list in 2012.
Julie & Julia is about food, family and life in Paris.
Julie & Julia is about food, family and life in Paris. Julie Powell’s blog was a runaway success—one that was turned into a book, then a movie starring Meryl Streep. But her story transcends all those mediums: it’s about cooking, but also about the way that food can connect us to each other and put us into contact with our history.
Little Baby Garvin is the life and times of one military family raising twins.
Little Baby Garvin is the life and times of one military family raising twins.
The author, Jess, is a mom (of course). She’s also a military wife, which means she has to move around a lot with her husband’s job. Her oldest child is 2 years old and her youngest are twin boys named Garvin and Cooper who are 2 years old as well. Although they’re not identical twins, their names rhyme so that was an easy decision for their parents to make!
The Middle Place chronicles one woman’s struggle with cancer after she finds out that her father also had cancer.
I found The Middle Place by accident when I was Googling “cancer blogs.” This blog chronicles one woman’s struggle with cancer after she finds out that her father also had cancer and passed away from it. It’s a story about the author, but it’s also a story about her family—her husband and children—and what they went through throughout her treatment.
It’s hard to find stories about cancer on the internet that aren’t just sad or scary to read; this one is different because of the positive tone at its core. It doesn’t sugarcoat anything, but it isn’t depressing either; instead, it focuses on learning from every experience in life, especially those bad ones (like being diagnosed with cancer).
Oh My God I Think I’m Turning Into My Mother is written by two sisters who are turning into their mothers just like they feared they would be.
Oh My God I Think I’m Turning Into My Mother is written by two sisters who are turning into their mothers just like they feared they would be.
The blog covers topics such as:
- The family that you didn’t ask for, but can’t get rid of
- The perpetual struggle to not become your mother/father/sibling/pet
- How to deal with the fact that everyone has one or more annoying traits that they inherited from someone close to them
There are lots of great personal blogs out there that people love to read.
There are lots of great personal blogs out there that people love to read. Why? Because they’re authentic and relatable. The more you can be yourself and share your story, the more likely it is that someone will relate to what you have to say. And if someone does relate, then they’ll want to come back for more!
Here are some ways to create an authentic blog:
- Be honest—don’t try to hide things or be dishonest about your life just because it’s easier. Honesty is key and will help build trust with your readers! You don’t have anything left to hide at this point anyway…so why not start now?
- Keep it real—share what’s going on in your life without worrying about how others might perceive it (or even whether they’ll care). The internet has no shortage of drama queens who live vicariously through other people’s experiences just so they can feel like their own lives aren’t boring/uninteresting/boring again next week when they’re back at work complaining about how much “there’s nothing good on TV right now”. Let those folks keep watching Grey’s Anatomy reruns while you focus on creating something awesome instead!
Conclusion
I hope you’ve been inspired by these personal blogs. Next time you find yourself with a few minutes, check out one of them and see what they’re all about!
