Indolent Insomniac Interview

Hello Everyone , This interview is one of my new favorite blogger Indolent Insomniac , he has been very active on the indi circuit and has been very vocal about everything , So it made me to interview this happy go lucky (appearing like at least :P ) blogger , As always the interview is unedited and True to its sense.

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself? Your blog , and your aspirations and your hobbies?

Ans. I am a lazy, happy-go-lucky, sensitive (but not that sensitive, ahem…) opportunist who loves to sleep and drink coffee!

My blogs

SemiCoherent Ramblings and such… is a personal rambling blog where I let my heart out, and

FictitiousFables is the one where I let my creative side roll.

My aspirations: To write a book someday, write for a news-paper, Maybe design a PC game, Learn Tennis., Hobbies include listening to music, playing games, watching movies, sports (all kinds except tennis), read loads of books, and well, write!

[In Between Rahul Miglani : Why don’t you tell us your real name ]

2. How you first got involved in with blogging?

Ans. I was inspired by a friend of a friend whom I met on Face book. I read his blog and then thought to myself – This is a decent way to irritate people with your ramblings, why not go for it?

3. What do you find most challenging about blogging about your topics?

Ans. SCR is all about personal thoughts and views, so there are no challenges there, unless someone asks me to write about something.FF is a story/poetry (there’s one poem in it!) blog and as of now poetry is something that fascinates and baffles me at the same time.

4. Tell me about some of the people you have met while working on your blog?

Ans. Well, most of the people I met while blogging are through the wonderful Indiblogger platform. Firstly, I met with Leo and TF (the blogging greats, according to me at least), but I really connected with Anju, Somesh, Kirti, Pooja and you (to a certain extent).

[In Between Rahul Miglani : I did not force him to name me :p]

5. How would (someone) describe your blogging style?

Ans. You really should be asking ‘someone’, because you won’t hear a single negative comment about my blog from me. ;) As far as I’m concerned, my blog is simple, open, ad-free, “funny” (that was given to me by someone), and from the heart to say the least.

6. What do you do when you are not working on your blog?

Ans. Sleep, Drink coffee, Try to attend college, Drink coffee, play games, watch TV/movies, Drink coffee and sleep.

7. Where do you see yourself blogging wise in the next 6 months, and 5 years down the road?

Ans. Next 6 months: probably right where I’m now, except with more readers, hopefully.

Next 5 years: WOW!! Umm… may be author of a book, but still blogging and hopefully owner of a domain.

8. What networking do you do that you feel helps your blogging business?

Ans. You are asking this question to the wrong person, my friend. As of now, the most “networking” I’ve done is join Indiblogger. And twitter. Although I don’t use twitter as often. And I don’t consider blogging as a business, per se, which is why I really care very less for networking. I have a “Ad-Free blog” widget on my blog for crying out loud! ;)

9. How do you keep coming up with material/content for your blog? Many people struggle with coming up with different articles/posts and they only have one blog.

Ans. Like I said for SCR, the content is just my thoughts at any particular point of time, converted into sometimes coherent ramblings and rants. So I don’t really have to go soul searching for inspiration.

For FF, it is just the result of many tv series and movies that I watch. Each post is a figment of my imagination and the content is again random. So I rather keep my blogs (and myself) free from constraints.

10. What’s your strategy with your blog in general, do you plan to blog, or maybe you have some samples?

Ans. “Strategy with my blog”? Dude, you make it sound as if I’m going on a war or something. I don’t plan anything, I write as it comes to me. Sometimes, I push for thoughts but more often than not, I write only when I feel like it.

 
11. Any specific tips you have for newbie bloggers who want to make it in the blogosphere?

Ans. Oh, wow! Me, giving advice, is not a good idea! Because, my advice would be drink enough coffee to get caffeine high and ideas will start floating. And considering I’m a newbie myself, I’d say good English (read good use of spellcheck and thesaurus) goes a long way, and sms-lingo and hinglish is a definite turn off.

12. What would you prioritize? Content? SEO? Traffic? Readers?

Ans. Content>Readers>Traffic>SEO. Which, I guess, is the way the system works? I mean, you give good content, you get more readers, which increases your traffic and which in-turn enables Search Engine Optimization.

13. What’s the best thing a blogger can give to his readers?

Ans. Good content and/or a good laugh may-be. Food-for-thought is also something I’d look for in a blog.

14. A lot of people are interested in blogging for the money earning potential. What are some tips for people interesting in making money from blogging? What are some realistic expectations in regards to what can be made?

Ans. Again, wrong question, wrong guy! And since you asked this question, I was curious to know how many bloggers actually benefited from Ad-sense or info-links or *whatever ads you support*?

15. What book would you say has made the biggest impact good or bad on you?

Ans. Oh, where shall I begin? Hmm…  I read fantasy fiction and thrillers so no book in particular, but various characters did make an impact. First of all the entire Harry Potter gang, made a huge impact on me as I was growing up and in recent time Steve Logan of  The Third Twin by Ken Follet and Mariam of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini were sources of inspiration. I could go on and on.

16. What has been your strategy for creating visibility to yourself and your blog?

Ans. Like I said, around 90% of my readers are from Indiblogger. The remaining 10% would consist of my immediate family, and some dumbass friends.

17 What was the most challenging moment in your blog content development process and why?

Ans. What is most challenging to me is that when people blog about trending topics. Like I said, I blog about random stuff that passes through what passes for a brain of mine. When I see people blog about trending topics/latest news (for the few non twitteratis), I feel like I should be blogging about them, but I can’t think of anything new! I mean so many people write so much about it, there’s nothing left for me to write.

18. Five adjectives that describe you.

Ans. Oh this is easy. Lazy, Narcissistic, Funny (I believe), Romantic and Adventure seeking.

 
19. Name some of the bloggers whom you look up to and why?

Ans. Oh well, I look up to too many bloggers, to count. Some of them are Leo, The Fool, Anju, mademosiellebluebell, Captain Awesome and sometimes even you! ;)

[In between Rahul Miglani : Me , you said me !!!!!!!!!!!!!]

20. Ever been to another country or state that you liked better then where you currently live?

Ans. I was born in and is a native of Kerala, did my primary in Pune, my secondary (10th) in Mumbai, spent a year in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, did my higher secondary (12th) in Alwar, Rajasthan and currently pursuing B.Tech in Coimbatore, TN. And the best place of all to be is Mumbai. Maybe it is because I spent around 8 years of my childhood there, but somehow I still feel attached to that place.

21. Your connection with Indi and the experience?

Ans. My connection with Indi? Indiblogger is the platform where I not only met and connected with many bloggers, but also got inspiration from. The experience, so far, has been exhilarating and I’m really happy for some of the connections that I made with some of the best people.

22. Which genre do you feel gets the raw deal?

Ans. I feel like the reviewers get the raw deal. And I’ll tell you why. It’s because if the product, may it be a book or a cinema or a consumer product, anything, if it doesn’t fall under my genre/interest I’m sure as hell not going to read it. The poor reviewer types up a whole review and then when his/her readers don’t read it, they are bound to feel cheated.

23. Which one plugin would you suggest all bloggers to have?

Ans. An email subscription widget! For people who do not use the platform the blogger uses.

24. Everyone has a favorite/least favorite post. Name yours and why

Ans. I just cannot put a finger on the posts in SCR. All are straight from the heart. In FF, my favourite post(s) was/were “Asterix and Call of Duty” series. Because, well for some reason, I could connect to it, even though it was an post of fiction.

25. What motivates you most in life ?

Ans. Life itself motivates me. I look forward to each day and just can’t seem to sleep. If I could live 24x7 without sleeping and solely on coffee, I would! Sadly I can’t.

26.Words for me/my blog .?

Ans. Even though I’ve read only a select few posts on your blog, they were really nice. And about you. Well aren’t you the greatest guy in the world for even considering me for this interview. And for that, I thank you! ;)

Phew! Done! Cue: *APPLAUD* shows a wide grin and walks off the stage waving at the imaginary crowd! ;)

This interview was one of the most lively Interviews I must say !!! I have Ropped in a few More !! Keep on checking this space !!!