Behind The Blog: Living Life The Write Way

Last week, I posted my interview with Karis Rogerson, the amazing writer and blogger behind Living Life The Write Way — how cool is that name? Perfect, right? Well, today, I’m so excited to share a peek into Karis’s world and writing life. She’s got such wonderful tips to share, and I’d love to just sit down with her in a coffee shop and chat about blogging all afternoon. Plus, she was raised in my dream country! Take it away, Karis…

Quick facts:

Name: Karis Elizabeth Rogerson


Birthday: May 10th, 1993


Where are you from: I was born in Columbia, South Carolina, but raised in Italy. My parents work with a small evangelical church there and we moved around the country a bit. I did most of my schooling in public schools, although from 10-12th grade, I was at boarding school in Germany.


3 words that describe me: Let’s see…sassy, sarcastic, scared


Occupation: Student and freelance writer


Blog: Living Life The Write Way


When did you start your blog: I began the blog three years ago, as a sophomore in college. I wrote sporadically and would go months without posting, but now I’m back up and running and posting twice a week — profiles on Wednesday and thoughts on writing on Saturday.

What inspired you to start a blog?
It was perhaps less inspiration and more being told it was something I should do for my career. I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was in probably the second grade and studied journalism in undergrad as a way to get there and make money while my books were marinating in my brain 🙂 So I started the blog as a way to showcase my writing, have fun and grow my online persona.


What do you love the most about blogging/writing? Does anything about it stress you out?
The best thing about blogging is when a post does well. It’s stressful, though, because sometimes I’ll write a great post and it’ll fall flat; other times, I’ll write what I think is mediocre and it just does really well. So there’s a lot of mental rearranging, figuring out what works where and what people want to read. The profiles have been successful! They average about twice as many views as the regular posts, and they’re so much fun to write.

If you had to describe your blog in one sentence, what would you say?
Ruminations on living a life of writing.

What has blogging/writing taught you?
Everything. Writing is my soul, I say. It does something to me, soothes me, gives me a jolt of adrenaline, heals me, in a way I haven’t experienced through anything else. I’ve done some video editing for school and as fun as it is, it doesn’t have the effect on my heart and soul that writing does. Writing is my greatest joy. What has it taught me? It’s taught me openness and vulnerability; it’s given me the ability to share and express my empathy in ways others seem to understand. Writing is…magic.

What advice do you have for new bloggers/writing?
Just put yourself out there. It’s hard, and it’s slow-going at first, but if you remain consistent and stay open and put yourself into it, you’ll be successful in the end.

Where do you see yourself and your blog in 5 years?
The dream: as a published author and successful journalist with thousands of followers, still writing my profiles and ruminating on writing. The reality? Well, I like to think in terms of dreams until reality slaps me in the face and makes me reconsider my dreams.

What has surprised you the most about blogging?
People! I’m what I like to call an optimistic pessimist, the pessimistic part being that I don’t trust people and expect them to hate me. Some of them have — but most haven’t, and that’s been a joy to experience.


Thanks so much, Karis! Be sure to check out her blog and follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram! Would you and your blog like to be featured in a future Behind The Blog post? I’d love to have you, so email me at mellow1422@aol.com — looking forward to hearing from you, friends! xoxo