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#IWSG: 8th Blogiversary: How Many Years have You Blogged?

Celebrating the 8th Blog Anniversary!

On the 8th Blog Anniversary

At Daily (w)rite, we’ve been getting together for 8 years: I started blogging in 2008. This blog has almost 30,000 friends now, most posts average dozens of comments, and my blogging buds are some of the best ever. Thankyou, blog-loves, you know who you are!

This will be my 689th post–in this new year I plan to be more diligent about posting: 2 posts a week/ 8 posts a month. With the help of the A to Z Blogging Challenge, I hope to top a  modest 100 posts this year.

Today is IWSG day: Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for organizing and hosting the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) every month! Go to the site to see the other participants. In this group we writers share tips, self-doubt, insecurities, and of course, discuss the act of writing. If you’re a writer and a blogger, go join rightaway!

In 2015, I got a few pieces accepted for publication, was commended at the Bath Flash Fiction Award and was longlisted for the Mslexia and Flash500 Novel Competitions. In the new year, I’ll be working on polishing and querying the novel, writing a ton of short stories, and working on a ‘mystery project.’

I hope 2016 is as good a writing year as the last one. Of course, I’m insecure as ever–I’m not sure what I’ll be able to swing this year. Writing is an uncertain business where supply far outstrips demand, and the publishing landscape changes daily.

Insecure Writer's Support Group

What goals have you set for the new year? What did you achieve in 2015? How do you plan to make 2016 better? When did you start blogging? How far have you come? Where would you like to reach? Are you part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) ? What would you like to see more of on Daily (w)rite ?

If you’ve just arrived, welcome! Stay on and have a cuppa– we’re a friendly bunch here. And you can be sure I’ll find ways to support you if you drop in a comment and become a friend.

Please join Daily (w)rite on its Facebook Page in case you would like to be heard by this community. If you liked this post, you can have biweekly posts delivered to your inbox: click the Subscription button in the sidebar.

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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107 Comments

  • hello damyanti its dennis the vizsla dog hay happy blogoversary and menny happy reeterns!!! hay hmm i gess if yoo kownt my first appeeranse on my dadas blog then i hav ben blogging for eight yeerz and three munths wow that is like fifty yeerz in hyooman yeerz!!! ha ha ok bye

  • I swear I am not a lurker! Sometimes I just don’t know what to say …

  • macjam47 says:

    Yay! Congratulations, Damyanti! Eight years of blogging is impressive. Both of your blogs are wonderful sites to read interesting content, learn something, and be entertained. I always enjoy stopping by. May you have many more years of blogging and many more followers. Hugs, my friend.

  • MissFina says:

    I’ve officially started blogging today. Yay! In an effort to selfishly offload my thoughts onto others, I’ve actually been immersing myself in everyone else’s thoughts on their blogs. I don’t have any grand plans to excel in the blog world but writing seems to flow naturally to me so I’ll just see how it all goes.

    Bring on 2016!

  • Certainly goals to work towards… although, all goals are.
    Still, I like your goals!

    Personally, I want to bring my writing quality to above “ho hum”.

  • hilarymb says:

    Hi Damyanti … lots of comments – excellent. Great Roland linked across to you for this … I go into my eighth year next week … and haven’t achieved as much as you – but this is excellent to read. Congratulations and here’s to many more … cheers Hilary

  • Keigh Ahr says:

    Thank you for the IWSG suggestion. I’ve obviously just missed the January date, but have registered my blog on the site and plan to participate starting next month.

    As for my 2016 goals, I want to become an active member of writing communities, both online and face-to-face. I know I can learn a lot from others, and if I can somehow be of assistance to my peers, that would please me greatly.

  • G.B. Miller says:

    Congrats on 8 years, although if you started in ’08, you would be starting your 9th year.

    My goal for this year is to blog less and write more, and try to become more active on social media.

  • WriterlySam says:

    Cheers to a New Year of blogging brilliance and witty banter with buddies!!

  • Congratulations and Happy Blogaversary!!!
    I hope 2016 is wonderful for you!

  • I’ve been writing for less than a year but I’ve managed to put up two posts a week regularly! I’m hoping to grow my blog and online presence in 2016 to have a decent author platform when I manage to published my first book! I really enjoy reading Daily (w)rite and look forward to more great posts in 2016. 🙂

  • Jo Wake says:

    I have been writing a blog a bit longer than you Damyanti but I don’t have anything like the following you have. Not exactly sorry as it is lots of work to respond and also visit everyone as you know. I have never envied Alex all his followers either.

    • Jo, we’re all individuals and our blogs reflect who we are. I for one am grateful to all my friends who’ve given me far more than I could give them. I’m also blessed to have friends like you, Alex, Lee and other from the A to Z team, because you give me perspective and support–things I sorely need as I go forward on my blogging journey!

  • Denise Covey says:

    Hey Damyanti. Congratulations. I’ve been blogging much the same time as you and have seen many ups and downs. I love the IWSG and am co-hosting again this month where I talk about Resolutions a different way.
    I plan to do lots more submitting this year. Gotta get over my fear of rejection which means I rarely submit anything. But look out when my arsenal is opened.

    Denise:-)

    • Denise! You’re made of awesome (I’m sure everyone tells you that), and I love the WP blog! So much work goes into hosting the IWSG–I’m in awe of Alex and you all, his ninja army.

      Please please do submit more this year–don’t worry about rejections, they mean nothing, or less than nothing: it is only the opinion of 2-3 people. Keep sending stuff out–most good stories get rejected till they find someone who’s truly in love with them. If folks like Tania Hershman or Alice Munro can get rejected, you’re in good company :).

      Waiting for your sub to The Forge!

  • It’s great that you still love the blogging. More than a decade of blogging – even though your life will have changed a lot in that time you still keep going. That’s a love of blogging for sure.

    This year, I plan to not make a mess of things. Some things in my life have really started to come together. Other areas are a worry, though.

  • xhobdo says:

    Many many Congratulations 🙂
    Keep Blogging. Best wishes.

  • Atul Sabnis says:

    12 years! Phew! 🙂

  • Congratulations–you are much more prolific than I; I do well, and always have, to turn out one post per week.
    I have been blogging since mid 2013, first on a different blog and now here. I love to connect with other writers; sadly, I don’t know any except here in the Blogosphere.

  • ccyager says:

    Congratulations! I’ve been blogging at Anatomy of Perceval since September 2007. My! How time flies!

    My goals for 2016 include revising the second novel in the Perceval series and finishing the first draft of the third. I also want to finish short stories I’ve started and send them out into the world. I have this nagging feeling that the reason I’ve been struggling so much lately is because I’ve let my fiction writing slide.

    Money could interfere, as it usually does, i.e. the lack of it and need to earn more. I’m running on fumes at the moment and scrambling to find more revenue streams. Indiegogo is definitely going to happen as well as launching my business Yager Editing Services.

    Cinda

  • Vinitha says:

    Congrats, Damayanti!

  • curtisbausse says:

    I’ve just read your Picasso Dreams – lovely! Congratulations on both your blogging and your writing.

  • Gargi Mehra says:

    Congrats, Damayanti! That’s a great writing year for you! Wishing you success in 2016 as well!

  • Awesome

  • I don’t set New Year’s resolutions, they seem to have a whiff of desperation and built in failure. Instead I set specific goals throughout the year.

  • You are amazing. Keep doing it 🙂

  • simonfalk28 says:

    Wow, 8 years! Being part of the 30,000 I don’t feel like a statistic. I just don’t know how you manage it! 🙂 This post reaches me as the goodreads reading challenge comes in as well. So I best think about what the year ahead might look like. I know one thing though, it will mean checking inboxes and newsfeeds for Daily (W)Rite regardless of what platform you post to. 🙂

  • Amit Agarwal says:

    Hearty Congratulations!

  • Vinayak SP says:

    Congrats.. but why dont you use adsense or any… I think you should try Media by yahoo along with adsense… I jst checked your blog n thought to suggest you….

  • Beloo Mehra says:

    Congratulations! 8 years – that’s impressive. Here’s wishing you many more wonderful years of blogging and writing ahead.

  • Shailaja V says:

    Congrats Damyanti and a wonderful 8 years it has been too 🙂 Wishing you a wonderful 2016 🙂

  • Indywrites says:

    Congratulations on your amazing 8 years. I think I will be digging the archives soon so find more gems.
    All best for the year ahead.
    I have blogged for about 3 years and have learnt so much and I like that this journey is so good for my mind and pushing boundaries.

  • arunprasadhm says:

    8 Years… Wow congratulations. Though I have been writing/posting pics for 3 years last year was the serious one.

  • dvaal says:

    Congratulations! I hope one day I will be able to make this same claim.
    http://www.fiddledeedeebooks.wordpress.com

  • Archana Kapoor says:

    Congratulations dearie… I’m just about a year old in the system 🙂

    Happy New Year and hope you achieve greater success this year… 🙂

  • I started blogging when Yahoo360 was started which would be more than ten years ago. When Yahoo closed its blogging page they moved us to Multiply, and when that site folded I moved to WordPress March 2011.

  • I set general goals of the things I need to get to. This year, I’m hoping to continue with I’ve been doing, while also shifting focus some to my novels.

  • CONGRATS! That is so amazing! 8 years?!?! I am so astonished. For me, it will be 6 months on the 17th of January, but I hope to continue blogging (forever?) for a very long time. Your blog was one of the very first ones I found, and I am so glad I did! Thanks for being such a wonderful writer/blogger/interweb friend. This year, I don’t have any specific writing goals, I just hope to write MORE. Blogging has helped me to do that already, but I would like to try to write more stories just for fun. 🙂

  • I started blogging in 2008 but didn’t have any idea what I was doing until I met Alex and the ISWG. I’m still making up for lost years and fumbling in the dark.
    Happy New Year, Damyanti – and all the best with our NEW ventures!

  • C.E.Robinson says:

    Damyanti, such incredible news! Happy 8 year Blogaversary. Consistent & impressive writing! I seem to dawdle along with blogging for the past 2 years. No intention to increase stats. Just want to write a peaceful post once in a while, support fellow bloggers, and offer a welcome page gallery full of tranquil sunsets & sunrises. 2016 looks brighter for me with progress in writing my own fiction book & co-authoring another. Slow but sure going! Happy New Year! ? Chryssa

  • Nicola Young says:

    That’s an amazing achievement. Few bloggers make it that long. Sounds like you also had great success with the writing last year too.

  • Jim Kane says:

    Damyanti,

    Started I think with a Blogger account in 2007 but transitioned to a WordPress in 2008.

    I have made major changes in emphasis this year to focus on about four or five themes and write more frequently this year.

    Happy Anniversary!

    Jim

  • Eight years! Impressive. My personal blog has only been going for 2, but I did write on someone else’s site (irregularly) for about 3 years before that. So does that count as 5?

    Congratulations on all your successes in 2015!

  • misfit120 says:

    Congrats to you Damyanti. 7 years for ol MisfitWisdom

  • fenster says:

    What an awesome year! Well done, and I wish you more success this year. I too am committed to blogging more, and making another push to get novel #1 published. #2 and #3 can wait their damn turn. I also plan to submit more (umm, honestly, 1 would be more) for publication. Time to swallow that fear and get moving.

  • Alice says:

    My 8th year too…what changes! Not so many friends as you, but oh, they are good ones.

  • Congrats Damyanti. My space will celebrate 9 years in 2016. Thanks for sharing the plans about supporting insecure writers. Will try to check them.

  • Congrats, Damyanti and Daily (W)rite! 8 years is an amazing milestone to reach. My site will be 7 years old in July.

    Wishing you the best for 2016!

  • WanderLost says:

    Glad to hear that you had a good year! I started my blog in 2015 (and had to take a semester hiatus because working 3 part-time jobs and taking 16 hours of classes don’t mix with blogging.) My only resolution this year is to get a post up every week and to start writing more outside of school. (Graduating might be nice too.)

    I really like that IWSG. I might go and sign up myself.

  • Happy Anniversary Damyanti…congratulations.

  • Congratulations D. 8 yrs certainly makes you a veteran. 🙂 Its the 5th for me.

  • emaginette says:

    I’m a one-day-at-a-time kind of gal. So I’m going to wing it and see what happens. 🙂

  • chemistken says:

    Congratulations on the anniversary. I’ve only been blogging for a little over 5 years. It’s amazing how time flies. And congratulations on the successful submissions.

  • A great achievement indeed, Damayanti 🙂 8 years is no mean feat! I’ve been blogging for 2 years… 🙂

  • rxena77 says:

    Really impressive stats. I’ve been blogging since 2010. So far I haven’t been tar and feathered but the year is still young I did get a unique rejection — just the first page of my manuscript sent back with a dirty footprint on it! I guess a picture is worth a 1000 words! 🙂

    I just got another rejection today via a list of folks who were picked among whose lofty company i was not found.

    Thanks for working so hard to put out a lovely blog and Happy Blog-Anniversary! Only success for you in the months to come!

  • Dan Antion says:

    Pretty impressive Damyanti – Congratulations! I’ve been blogging since 2009, but it started on a technical blog and moved to my current mix. I don’t know how long I’ve been following following you, but I’ve enjoyed every post!

  • Congratulations on the 2015 successes. Hope 2016 brings plenty more. Thank you for the reminder to update my aims for this year.

  • My word Girl, congratulations. Major focus on your part. This is my 8th month and I hope I can last equally as long. Well done.

  • The Typist says:

    Let my join in everyone else in congratulating you. My older blog, Wet Bank Guide, was started in 2005 as a response to Hurricane Katrina, or as the group that came to call itself the NOLA Bloggers refer to it, the Federal Flood. The NOLA Bloggers were an incredible community speaking out for their city when people questioned if it should be rebuilt, staged a conference for 10 years, and many of those folks have become best friends. It is amazing how blogs persist in spite of Facebook (which killed more than a few I know) , perhaps because they offer a continuity and, in your case, a coherent community that other social media do not.

  • Congrats Ma’am , Well for you it has been 8 years , for me just 8 months 🙂

  • Congratulations on your 8th Blog anniversary 🙂 It’s great .Wish you the best in 2016.

  • franklparker says:

    Congratulations! My blogging activities are intermittent and have been so for a number of years. First on blogger, then WP, then a free-hosted site and finally the one you see today which is meant to promote my writing.
    I wish I could say I reach a lot of readers but the truth is I still have a long way to go!

  • James Pailly says:

    I’m loving the word blogiversary. Congrats on your eight years! My six year blogiversry will come this April, if my memory is correct.

  • monkey begin blog on december 13 in year 2010 & make post # 837 today. it long road of many word what monkey travel & monkey plan to keep walking. goal of monkey = improve grammar + tell story + show picture + make comment on what monkey like & not like about human creature. monkey continue wonder in word about life + universe + everything. maybe monkey even write more poem. monkey hope damyanti keep write & write & write & that paths of monkey & damyanti cross once in while on wordpress.

  • Yoges V R says:

    Congratulations on your 8th Blogiversary. Best Wishes for your Journey Ahead.

  • Pankaj Goyal says:

    Many many congratulations….:). Bloggers like you always inspire me to do well.

    • Thankyou, Pankaj. I like to think that my blog is more of a water cooler, where people stop by for a chat :). My own contribution to it is rather limited!

  • Congratulations!
    My blog in WordPress it’s going to be 1 year of activity and posting this month. I have been blogging for longer in Blogpost but I just made the transition and even though I miss Blogger I love my blog here so 🙂

  • Congratulations.

  • I plan on release a fury of novels in various genres. Ladies Prism is a romance novel. Jugular Spirits is a horror novel. Undeniable Immortality is a psychological thriller. Just to name a few that will hit the scenes this year. The inception of my movement and publishing company came into fruition in 2015. Scotian Breeze is the movement. Treasure Words, Collect Figures is the company. 2016 is going to be better on all cylinders; from a writing perspective all the way to a physically active lifestyle. I started blogging in late October, 2014. I’ve come a long way with this blog. I didn’t think my impact would be as influential as it has been on a global scale. I plan to be floating with the stars. I’ll have a book promotional tour overseas from the UK to Russia. Congratulations on being here for eight years. May there be many more years to follow. Peace and blessings.

    • Sounds like you have a lot on your plate, and have the gung-ho attitude to make it all work 🙂 Wishing you all the best with your publications, and here’s to many years of blog friendship!

  • Whoa! 8 years, haha thats awesome, congrats on the blogiversary 🙂

  • Tikeetha T says:

    Congrats on your achievement. Mine will be 8 years next week I think. It’s been a slow process. Keep blogging!

  • Arlee Bird says:

    Congratulations on the consistent blogging efforts for so many years. I started blogging at the end of 2009 so I celebrated my 6th anniversary last September. In a way it now seems like I’ve been blogging for decades.

    May you have fruitful blogging experiences for years to come!

    Arlee Bird

    • And what a wonderful 6 years it has been, Lee. Thanks for introducing me to the AZ community. I met a ton of my blogging friends during that first challenge. Looking forward to cohosting duties again this year!

  • Arvind Kumar says:

    Wish You a very happy anniversary

  • Happy anniversary! Love reading your blog posts. My blog was created 2 years ago (November) and although I wanted to celebrate its 1st and 2nd anniversary, I decided to postpone until I was more active on it. 2016 is the year for change!

  • Almost Iowa says:

    I passed the ten year mark in December, however most of that time was on Gather.com, a website affiliated with Minnesota Public Radio. Sadly, the site died about two years ago and I have since found a home here.

    I enjoy the people on WordPress and have never had a bad experience – which in this contentious world is saying a great deal.

  • Reblogged this on ugiridharaprasad.

  • In 2015, to put it simply, I started my blog (I had started many blogs before at WP as far back as about four years ago that last about three or four posts) and have consistently been posting nearly every day with poems, photographs, and some other musings.

    I have also, unlike the past, sought out other bloggers who were aligned with my content and my personal issues and challenges. By doing so I have found myself within an awesome community, who have not only inspired and supported me, but also gave me much needed therapeutic support (e.g. dealing my mood disorders).

    In 2016, I (simply?) seek to maintain the same consistency and commitment both in posting my works of poems & photographs and in engaging the works of others. For me, it is that consistency and commitment to myself and others that is the most important.

    The more difficult challenge in achieving the above is to also include doing other things I like, such as reading a long work of prose, such as a novel or non-fiction story.

    The only thing I would add to my 2016 I will continue to ponder and maybe act upon the idea of publishing some of my works.

    • Sounds like a great journey, Doug. The best part about blogging, I find, is the ability to speak at length with each other, and often on topics of niche interest.

      Love that you’ve found your community– I agree it’s a struggle to be consistent over a longer period–when things get hairy, my blog is the first thing to go on hiatus. But I miss my friends, so I go check up on them even when I’m not posting 🙂

      Wish you a great year of blogging, and hopefully, publishing success!

  • Congratulations on your success! Happy Blog Anniversary!

  • Happy anniversary, Damyanti. I celebrated (?) nine years on 26 November last.

  • 8 years is awesome! i’m about 1 and a half years in. Love every single minute of refreshing my stats page 🙂

  • Congratulations on eight years. And so many friends! That is the really awesome part.
    Last November was six years of blogging for me.

    • Thanks, Alex! Of all my achievements the one I treasure most is the online friends I’ve made. Can’t believe I know you for 5 years now 🙂

  • trentpmcd says:

    8 years – wow, that’s great! Happy Blog-Anniversary!