Happy New Year, everyone!!!! And Happy Blogoversary to me!! :D I both can and cannot believe that this is my fourth blogoversary, haha. On ...

Summer Snowflakes Presents: BLOGOVERSARY NUMBER FOUR

Alexa Mintah

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Happy New Year, everyone!!!! And Happy Blogoversary to me!! :D I both can and cannot believe that this is my fourth blogoversary, haha. On the one hand, there was never really a time I thought I’d stop blogging, so I’m not surprised I’m still here; but on the other, it seems so weird that I’ve been doing this for four years already. Time has just shot by me, in so many ways, but I’m glad I was able to spend so much of it here with all of you. 😊

Without further ado, let us commence the PARTY.

As is tradition at all proper parties, one must have cake. So. Feast your eyes on these internet delicacies.

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*sighs dreamily* If that doesn’t make you want to immediately quit your day job and become a gourmet chef, I don’t really know what will.

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For the next event, I regret to inform you that, as is tradition for Summer Snowflakes blogoversaries, it is now time for the reading of an Alexa original awful poem. *clears throat* You have been warned… although it is possible that the poem might not be too awful this year; I may have graduated from simply awful to mildly mediocre. In any case, if you wish to be certain you will keep your eyes, you may skip down to the part after the centered text and continue your day as if such an atrocity never occurred. If on the other hand, your eyes are of little consequence to you and you are willing to take the chance, please, read at your own risk and decide for yourself.

The Fourth Blogoversary Poem

Thank you

From deep in my heart.

Thank you

If you’ve been here from the start.

Thank you

If you came for cute dogs;

Thank you,

Though you’re on the wrong blog

Thank you

If you’ve been here for a day,

Thank you

Because, regardless, you stayed.

Thank you

For your reading so sweet.

Thank you

For your commenting feats.

Thank you

For praying, for being.

Thank you,

For this blog you are seeing

And my life, indeed, would not be the same

Without knowing your names

And you knowing mine.

For your words, oh so kind,

I thank you and thank you and thank you and thank you

For always remaining at my side.

In all of the days and all of the times,

From your heart to mine,

Thank you and thank you and thank you.

In all seriousness though, A MILLION THANKS to every one of you. You are all such beautiful souls, so lovely and supportive. I adore the atmosphere you’ve created, one of kindness and unity and love and encouragement and all those other fuzzy words that should only be used if they’re real. Some parts of the internet, even bookish parts, are incredibly toxic, and it just… I can’t even say how much I appreciate the fact that that kind of poison, we just don’t allow it here. There are times I’m nervous or even defensive about certain posts because I’m afraid some of that toxic attitude will leak in from somewhere or that it’s just lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce the moment I make a “wrong” move, but it has never touched this blog and I am so grateful to every one of you who reads for keeping it that way. You let me know that this place, this tiny corner of the internet, it’s safe. And I appreciate that more than words can say.

Also, thank you for sticking around through all the changes, especially as I started school last year. I think I’ve figured out a schedule (biweekly for each post, if you’ve been a little confused) that actually works for me... even though comments and commenting back STILL take me an age. I am working on that.

But anyways, just… thank you. Thank you for being you and for sticking here with me. 😊

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Now that we’re all sufficiently sniveling and sentimental, ON TO THE QUESTIONS.

What inspired you to do Posts of the Week?

Back in 2015, another blogger started a linkup called Fan Month, where participants spent the month of March basically being a fan and cheering on other content creators, bloggers specifically. As usual, I was incredibly behind in the blogosphere, so I joined up and used the opportunity to catch up on posts. Part of the challenge was to share content you enjoyed and, since I was dedicating all my blog time to fangirling and not posting anything new on Summer Snowflakes, I decided to create Posts of the Week: that way, my blog wouldn’t look completely dead for a month, but I’d also keep to the challenge and maximize my fangirl time.

I was only going to do these posts for the length of the linkup, but when it was over, I realized how much I’d enjoyed that the challenge forced me to make time to read other blogs and engage in the community and all the things like that, plus I also loved sharing people’s posts and cheering bloggers on and just letting them know I liked what they wrote. So, I made Posts of the Week a regular on Summer Snowflakes, and it’s been that way ever since.

What do you prefer doing, writing a brand-new story or editing/rewriting a beloved story?

That is a really good question! I had to think about it for a while before I came up with an answer. I love drafting because I’m a pantser, so discovering who the characters are and all the pieces to what the story will become, that’s always a time of revelations and wonder and I absolutely love it. But there are also downsides: writer’s block, if I have no idea what I’m supposed to be discovering next, and pre-editing blues, if I’ve written myself into a hole and suddenly become aware that the editing process is going to be a beast.

As for editing, I kind of hate it because it often is a beast, but I love refining. When all the deep edits are done and I’m just tweaking a sentence here and there and I’m able to see this shining story that I created. It’s almost as good, if not better, than the original wonder of writing it. So, all of that to say, I don’t know. I used to say I hated editing and only liked drafting, and that’s still kind of true; but at the same time, the end process of editing, especially with a beloved story, is 100% worth it. I can’t really have one without the other and they both have problems I hate and merits I love.

If I absolutely have to pick one though… to my own surprise, I would say refining (not rewriting, but refining) is my favorite part. Because the hardest work is over and I get to see that I’ve created something good. 😊

How do you stay organized?

A full answer to this question would require an extensive and probably rather frightening trip into the darkest depths of my mind, which would be a little much for this blog post, haha. In fact, I don’t think I really am organized. My novel notes, my computer files, my room, my mind, there’s random stuff everywhere; but I know where all of it goes, so it makes sense to me and I’m able to unravel it, one piece at a time, such that it occasionally makes sense to others. Also, I’m a very schedule-oriented person, so before I go to bed each night, I make the next day’s schedule, then review it in the morning and come back to it periodically throughout the day. Between the two, I somehow seem to manage.

Sorry if that’s not really an answer. If there was something in particular you wanted to know about organizing, mention it in the comments and I can try to expand more specifically there. 😊

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That is all for today, folks. Again, A MILLION, BILLION, GAZILLION thanks for reading my blog and commenting and just being the wonderful people you are. I deeply appreciate it and look forward to another year with each and every one of you. 😊

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