A Toast to Barbara Swafford

A Taste for Blogging

When I think of Barbara Swafford, I think of learning how to bake sourdough bread.

An essential part of baking sourdough bread is the “starter” dough; a small amount of “live” dough that starts the fermentation process that is so essential to making sourdough bread.

Starter dough is often saved and passed down through generations. It has helped many new bakers make sourdough bread for the first time.

What does this have to do with Barbara? She’s the one who gave me my first “starter dough” so I could learn how to bake a blog.

She taught me the fundamentals of making my blog come alive in the blogosphere. I learned about the importance of starting with the basics.

Before finding Barbara and Blogging Without A Blog, I had the flour and the salt, but I didn’t have the “starter dough.”

About a Blogger

When I first started blogging, almost four years ago, one of the things I really wanted from my blog was to have a dialogue with other people who also wrote and blogged.

I knew diddly squat about how blogging worked or how to make my dream become a reality. I wrote posts and published them without paying attention to the recipe that made a good blogger.

Naturally, I didn’t get many comments other than from friends and family. This was something I didn’t understand until a friend recommended Barbara’s blog to me.

On her blog I found everything I needed to know about becoming a better blogger. I read posts from her archives, learned about commenting and many other points of “cooking” up a decent blog.

Even in her first comment on my blog, Barbara passed on her wisdom.

Hi Sara,

I love the quote. It’s one of those quotes that gives a person hope when they’re faced with dark times in their lives.

My life has had a lot of ups and downs, but with faith, patience, perseverance and determination, it works out. Often in a surprising way.

P.S. Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my blog. From your comment, I found you. I’m looking forward to reading more of your work.

The Blog Comment – My Favorite Ingredient

Her postscript gave me my first inkling about how a blog was different than a website.

I took her advice and began commenting on other blogs; that marvelous part of blogging I now enjoy. I visited other blogs (usually found via Barbara) and left comments to show my appreciation of the posts of others.

It wasn’t long before a few people stopped by my blog and left comments. And in time, I found myself in an absolutely wonderful, supportive blogging community that is alive with gifted writers, photographers, illustrators and even videographers.

They all make me think, laugh and sometimes even cry. We share comments and our adventures in blogging. I wouldn’t trade the process of commenting for anything!

When I’m in doubt and need a friendly word of advice about how to be a better blogger, I go to Blogging Without A Blog. From creating your own avatar to using plugins and understanding the “techie” side of blogging, she’s got all the ingredients in her cupboard. And, she knows how to use them:~)

I love blogging, but I would not have known about its yummy delights had Barbara not been willing to freely share her “starter dough.”

Through Patricia’s Wisdom

I want to thank Patricia of Patricia’s Wisdom, for organizing this tribute to Barbara. Once again, her beautiful wisdom showed the way for me to say thank you to a wonderful blogging teacher and mentor, Barbara Swafford.

Tagged as: a blogger, avatar, blog comment, blogging, comments, for blogging