Lately I’ve noticed a number of tweets and Facebook status updates that read something like this:
“Oh no, still haven’t blogged. It’s been days/weeks!”
“Sigh. So tired from work, but still have to blog”
“Everyone’s outside enjoying the gorgeous sunny weather, but I’m inside blogging”.
Sound familiar?
Goodness knows I’ve been there. Not going out because the weather’s finally good enough for me to take pictures for the blog. Missing out on birthdays, BBQs, dinners, etc because that day is the only day I have free time to blog. Knackered from work yet I still have to blog.
When did blogging start being work and stop being fun? What are we blogging for? What are you blogging for?
When blogging starts to become nothing more than a chore, it’s time to evaluate the direction you want for your blog. Unless you’re intending to run your blog as a business, it’s okay to take a step back. Instead of blogging daily, try blogging a few times a week. Instead of blogging a few times a week, trying blogging once a week. You can blog less and still be consistent. Many successful bloggers do that.
The problem with what I’d call forced blogging (blogging when your heart’s not in it) is that you almost always end up with posts that are – to be brutally honest – crap. At the Problogger Event, I learned that you have to write content that give you energy. Write about topics that inspire you. For me, sometimes it’s not enough to create content that gives you energy. You jolly well also need the energy to write!
If you’re worried about losing your readers, here’s an experiment you can try. Take a step back from blogging, but continue to engage with your readers on your social media platforms. Instead of writing a long review of a product on your blog, post a picture of it on your Facebook page with a note on what you like/don’t like about it. Go through your archives, post a link of an old article and talk about it.
Have fun with Instagram, take lots of pictures and share them with your followers. Allow your pictures to inspire you. Have a bit of a dilemma? Ask your readers for help.
Rest assured that even when you’re not blogging often, your readers and followers will still come back to you for more. When you’re ready to blog again, that’s where they’ll be as well.
Blogging can be work, but it should be “good” work. It should be something you enjoy doing. It shouldn’t exhaust you and it definitely shouldn’t stop you from enjoying your life.
It’s okay to take a step back. Just holler when you’re good and ready to blog again 🙂
Has blogging stopped being fun for you at some point? How did you work it out?
Back in March, I talked about having to stop for awhile, with no known schedule to come back. I’ve been going through some stage of clinical burnout since February…Nothing was fun anymore. But, the Japanese have a saying for times like these: the heart will follow the hand. For the days when I opened the page, fully intending to write a scheduled article, and just went blank… well, put it off. I can post backfilled links later. And for the days when I could write, I would. Of course, I explained what was going on to any potential readers. When I came back, I came back and spent a day or two solid writing ‘old’ scheduled stuff, and some new things, posting links on one updated post to all the content. I try to make things interesting! Although, I wish I had the style and passion that David from Popehat does!
I write a research blog, so for me, it made sense to backfill old posts. For a makeup blog, I can see not doing so much. By the time you review ‘old’ stuff, it might not be in stores anymore. At that point, it’s better to just stop and come back.
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Thanks for your comment BebeTaian. You are so right; the heart will follow the hand. It makes a lot of sense. I just can’t seem to get anything right when my heart’s not in it. There were some product reviews the past few weeks which, to be honest, didn’t take a lot of heart to write. Every time I look at the reviews, all I think is, there’s no energy in the article. That’s because I wasn’t in the right head space to write it.
For your research blog, yes it does make sense to backfill old posts. Every time you research something new, you add in. For makeup … not so much. Turnover’s way too fast.
Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt 🙂 I still love it, but I no longer make it the core of my being. If the day is good and I want to go out, I go. If I’m tired, I don’t blog. But I make up for it by preparing lots of drafts when the inspiration hits so when the slump comes, I can just pull something out of the hat.
Blogging shouldn’t be a chore. The day it starts becoming one, its time to re-evaluate. I took a blog hiatus recently and its been good. Its made me consider what I want to do and the direction I want to take and whether its been worth it. It has 🙂
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Paris B: I’m going to follow your footsteps and take a short break too. I definitely need a break. Getting blogging burnout quite bad. I do have lots of drafts but no pictures, and you know me, without pictures I can’t post anything. Then I have to find pictures or take pictures, edit the pictures and so on. In the end, man it can be quite exhausting!
Yeah, definitely time to take a break. No scheduled posts, nothing. Ahhhhhhhh *sigh of relief* 🙂
you are so right tine. too much pressure into blogging will turn in into stress rather than fun. i have been having some blocks lately, with a couple of products in mind to review, but no words can come out! like i can laze around the house for days with no motivation to blog at all…i can’t say i blog frequently but i try to keep at least once a week, else the laziness will just go on and on!
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Xin: That’s what I thought! Many times I’m just lacking in motivation, the other times, well, laziness plays a big part too 😛
Looking back at a number of posts I’ve done, they lacked energy. I cringe reading what I wrote. There just wasn’t any heart in them, which makes me think, I never should have written them. Sigh.
I schedule articles to be posted on alternate days, and sometimes when I’m on a roll, I can schedule 2 weeks’ worth of material in one day. So I actually get breaks, in a way. I guess I’m still considered fairly new to blogging, it’s only been a year and a bit, and I’m still riding the learning curve, still figuring things out. Who knows when I’ll hit plateau eh?
Lily (@ChloeAsh) recently posted..Monthend Randomness: Happy Halloween! Scary Movies Version
Lily: That’s good! I’m hitting the plateau now (the last one was in late 2010) and I think it’s starting to take a toll on me. I used to schedule a lot too but now the most I can do is schedule up to a few days ahead. Man I need a break 🙂
I’ve had that feeling of obligation of guilty when I haven’t published a post; but you’re right if writing isn’t a pleasure and becomes an obligation that you don’t really need, you must stop for a while.
Tine, Wednesdays are better with your advices.
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Aww you’re sweet Efrain. Readers like you make my day with your encouragements 🙂
i’d write quite regularly when I just started, but slowly over time it become quite a chore, and when I lost readers when I changed from blogger to WP, it hit even harder.
and then work and real life stuff comes tumbling in, just don’t find the energy or mood to write, take pictures or anything.
and then when I want to start writing again, i start thinking what would people want to read or see, and then i get frustrated when the materials I have isn’t interesting enough (by my own standards) and then i just stop. it’s a vicious cycle I think.
I guess I forgot why I started writing in the first place, it was more like a place for me to make notes of what I like and dislike and sharing it out. I tell myself that I owe nobody any reviews or thoughts on products/ events, except for things/ events from PR, and I really shouldn’t blog just because I have to, not because I want to.
Now I just write when I want to and that feels so much better. Guess I am one horrible blogger eh?
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No you’re not Plue. At some point in your blogging journey, you have to decide on who you want to blog for and the direction you want for your blog. If you’re planning to run your blog as a business, then yes, you have to think about what people want to read and cater to their interests. You’ll have to put your interests aside for a while.
But if it’s a hobby (like what it is for most of us), then go ahead and write what you like. You want to post a review, go for it. You want to write about your day, go for it. There are no restrictions. It’s not written in stone that a beauty blogger must only write product reviews. Trust me, beauty blogs which just have product reviews and nothing more don’t go far.
As for products received for consideration, consider putting up a disclosure policy on your blog stating that there’s no guarantee that the products will receive a mention on your blog and that they have to go in line with your editorial calendar.
As for events, unless they’re really interesting and worth mentioning, I don’t blog about them. No time lah to blog about every single press launch under the sun 😛
Great post Tine! Another motto I live by is that if a post doesn’t go up on time, don’t beat yourself up about it. No one’s going to suffer from a delayed blog post. Also if writing a lengthy review feels like a chore, try exploring different ways to write a review. Lately I’ve been tuning into my passion (digital media) and making visually engaging collages coupled with bite sized reviews.
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Yishan: That’s a great idea actually. Most people prefer visual stimulation. With so many blogs in the blogosphere, there’s only so much time to read one and move on to the other. Great photos and less words help.
On the days I want to write less (quite rare because I really talk too much!), I just put in a lot of photos to break up sentences. So it looks like it’s a long post, but it really isn’t.
When I can’t be arsed to write, I spend the time doing up pictures in collages. They’re a lot more fun anyway 😛
so true Tine that its better to take a step back…it happens with me quite sometimes that I don’t feel like writing!!! and, when, i don’t write with all my heart, its really not satisfactory!!! don’t have the heart to call it crap 😀 but, yup, writing a post everyday is not exactly easy and sometimes energy is all….i do try to write my posts in advance so that when I am not in a mood I shall post those pre-drafted ones!!!
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Swati: Hahaha it’s sad to have to call some of my work crap, but off the top of my head, I can recall the ones I just did it to fill up the blog space. It was bad.
Good idea to keep your drafts handy. Never know when you’ll need to pull one out of your hat when you are running low on blogging juice 😉
I do get this from time to time. If I have nothing to post, let it be and I won’t stress myself. After all it’s a hobby and not a chore.
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Coco: Yeah it shouldn’t be a chore at all. When a hobby becomes a chore … perhaps it’s time to find another hobby instead 🙂