Miscellaneous - The Daily Waffle

  by Fiona Hutchings

published: 24 / 7 / 2012

intro

Our Website of the Month this month is 'The Daily Waffle', which describes itself as "a blogging network with something for everyone"

Aaaand I'm back. I know, in and out like a yo-yo. This month I've chosen a blog I came across when soliciting favourite album posts for my own blog . 'The Daily Waffle' http://www.dailywaffle.co.uk/ styles itself as "a blogging network with something for everyone." They liked my blog as much as I liked theirs so now I write for them too, about music naturally. But how does a blog that covers everything from Birmingham to Batman come about? Who is the ringmaster coordinating a creative circus where anything and everything is being waffled about? Peter Dyke, its editor, set me straight about everything 'Waffle' related. FIONA: Can you tell us little bit about yourself? PETER: I'm 33 years old, I'm married with one beautiful daughter. I'm currently at the beginning of a long road to studying for a degree in Mathematics part time via the Open University, and being born and raised in Salford I'm an ardent follower of Manchester United. I'm a member of British Mensa and I invented the set square (I may have made the last one up). FIONA: What inspired you to set up 'The Daily Waffle'? PETER: I'd been blogging for a Manchester United fan blog called 'The Faithful' at the time, and only been blogging in general for a couple of months. I really enjoyed writing, but wanted to spread my wings so to speak and write about things other than football. I had a look about for somewhere I could write about different topics but really struggled to find somewhere, as blogs are generally genre specific, so I decided to create my own. So with no clue what I was doing, no writers and a massive amount of blind faith, I launched 'The Daily Waffle'. FIONA: Did you decide to include the different types of waffle such as creative, geeky and serious waffle from the beginning or did the blog grow? PETER: At the start, Sarah (my partner in crime) and I came up with a list of topics you'd expect from a general news site, and tried to write to fill them as much as possible. It quickly became evident that was a rubbish idea so we tailored our categories to fit in with the writers who write for us at the time. As the months rolled on, we kind of got a settled list and that is what you see today. Now, if we pick up a blogger who wants to write about something specific, we'd add a new 'waffle' for them. FIONA: How do you choose what topics to cover? Or do they choose you? PETER: We cover virtually anything at 'The Daily Waffle', so I've never really written about specific topics as such. When we first started out I was was trying to write about current affairs, but these days I tend to fill the gaps where they are needed. So in essence, the other writers choose what I write about these days by not writing about it themselves. FIONA: How do you interact with your readers? PETER: We have a number of methods for interaction. We have a Twitter account, a Facebook page, a Tumblr blog, a Pinterest site and of course the comments sections on the individual articles. We also have an email address for people to contact us directly. FIONA: What's the best thing about blogging? PETER: Hmm, the best thing about blogging for me would be the chance to express myself through my writing. Knowing that one day I can write an article about the launch of a new Apple device and the next I can write about exercises for curing writers' block. I can skip from topic to topic as I see fit, and that sort of creative freedom is extremely appealing to me. FIONA: And the worst? PETER: With a doubt, writers' block. I suffer from it quite a lot, so tend to write in spurts, but it's a horrible feeling when you sit down to write and there is nothing there. The link between your thoughts and your fingers is gone and words desert you. But I've learned a few exercises along the way to help with that, and I try to just step away now rather than climb the walls with frustration. FIONA: Why should Pennyblack readers come and check out 'The Daily Waffle'? PETER: Because every time you do, an angel gets their wings....... Oh, and there is something on there for everyone. FIONA: Thank you.