Over the past few months, several blogging pals,  writer friends, and I  have progressed in Blogology.

We  studied the myriad commandments of blogging. We read high brow blogs, shared wisdom from writer gurus, swapped links, met at cafes and discussed our latest writings in preparation for submissions.

We commiserated with each other over magazine rejections of our writings, and we provided feedback, help with proofreading and encouragement while sipping coffee and munching on popcorn and too many pieces of rugalach. (chocolate rolled yeast cake)

We wrote and blogged, and emailed each other for writer advice and support.

Through it all, we kept the Golden Rule of Blogging (and writing)  in the back of our minds.

Do unto others as you would want ….NO – stick to the topic.

Pick a niche and stay focused.

But let’s face it; we break the rule. All of us have veered off our respective topics.

For example, one blogger’s topics are officially about writing, publishing and  books. But as her tagline says – “well, mostly” – she has no qualms writing about  magazines, submissions, fiction versus non-fiction, parables in stories, artwork and avatars, children’s activities, and Texan accents versus regional accents.

My topics are grandmothers and mothers-in-law, but I have no qualms veering off and writing about self-improvement, writing groups, earthquakes, writing bloggers, photography, weight control, children, upcoming Holidays, bowling and music therapy.

A few bloggers out there have made all these mantras and rules. We read and know all the “Ten Commandments of Blogging”  rules. So do I.

But alas, we break them (sometimes).

Here are the Ten commandments of Blogging:

Thou shalt stay on topic.

Thou shalt write consistently and regularly.

Thou shalt read other blogs and books.

Thou shalt stay abreast of SEO and online marketing techniques.

Thou shalt write excellent and fabulous content.

Thou shalt compose catchy and clever titles to blogs.

Thou shalt use social media.

Thou shalt put thy tush to the chair.

Thou shalt read “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott

Thou shalt never neglect thy husband, children, and house.

And now for the confession: I break the rules, and so do my writer friends (sometimes).

Why do we break the rules (sometimes)? Because if you read the above list, you will note that it is impossible to keep all ten commandments on the same day. Unlike the regular Ten Commandments, these commandments contradict each other.

For example, when one is reading Ann L’s book, one is clearly neglecting husband and children. Right?

Similarly, when one is sitting glued to a chair, one is not reading “Bird by Bird” because I don’t know about you but I don’t read sitting up in front of a computer. I read whilst sitting in a chair or lying down on my couch.

The Eleventh Commandment:

Thou shalt follow some of the ten commandments at all times, while being cognizant of all of them.

There you have it; be cognizant  of all of the commandments, and that should be good enough (for now). Happy blogging!