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(When you don’t feel like blogging, is it time to blog?
July 27th, 2008 | Posted in Blogging |
You’ve probably heard the saying, when you don’t feel like praying, pray. When you don’t feel like serving, serve. Feelings follow actions, so as soon as you start doing something, eventually you start feeling the desire to do it. But is the same true for blogging? If you don’t feel like blogging, is it time to blog?
This past couple of weeks I haven’t felt much like blogging or podcasting. Not sure why. I spent a good chunk of time doing some web design, preparing for a WordPress course, helping Jane with her blog, and finishing up a project for an upcoming release at work.
With all that, my free time for blogging grew thinner and thinner. And the less you write, the less the muse speaks. After a while I wondered what I would even write about. I didn’t have much to say. Coming up with something original required too much effort. Then it was Pioneer day, and we went camping in the woods.
Up at Bear Lake, Utah with kids
Little comments continued to trickle in from random readers. One liners. Short feedback. No one I knew. Regular readers seemed to stop coming. And I stopped reading other blogs. I was about to slip into a blogging coma. Where was it going anyway?
My lack of desire to blog made me wonder about something I once heard Michael Arrington of Tech Crunch say. He said blogging was a terrible business model because you have to keep posting new content every day to draw readers. It’s like grabbing a handful of sand. Slowly the sand seeps through the cracks between your finders unless you reach down and grab more of it (by writing new posts). Blogging isn’t a web 2.0 activity in the sense that readers themselves continue to generate new content for you.
Blogging does require a lot of effort. Blogging daily is like filling a part-time job. I know why so few technical writers blog. It takes time, and effort, and the rewards aren’t always immediate or tangible.
But as people often say of writing, you know you’re a writer when you can’t stop writing. It’s not an activity I can simply give up (just as, I suppose, born-Badminton players can’t give up Badminton). So, I’m back. Not worrying too much about SEO and building an online empire anymore. Just …. writing.
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July 27th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Why, honey. I had no idea you ever had plans for world dominion. Too much Pinky and the Brain?
July 27th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Yes, honey, we were going to rule the world together. Virtually, anyway.
July 27th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
I like your analogy. I think that sometimes, when we ourselves lose interest in writing, it is because we don’t value our own thoughts for the moment…. and only the moment.
This post has inspired me to not worry so much about whether what I have to say is going to be terribly important to those reading, as much as it is important for me to say what I think and feel passionate about.
Bottom line… write what you love and it will be read.
tDMg
LdsNana
LdsNana-AskMormons last blog post..LDS Girls Who Know Who They Are - Know What They Want and Know How To Get It!
July 27th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
LdsNana,
Thanks for your comment. It’s intriguing what you say, that “we don’t value our own thoughts for the moment” and so we lose interest in writing. I think you’re right.
July 28th, 2008 at 6:56 am
It’s been a hard summer for me too. I’ve really enjoyed connecting with other writers online but it’s been difficult on my end because we haven’t been able to sort out the comments thing on our blog. I would feel much better when it’s easier for my fellow writers to comment.
Also, there’s been some word about my getting another blog – an individual one, so I can definitely feel the pressure. Mostly I want to keep writing but then trying to figure out if it’s a topic suitable for the documentation blog or better for my individual blog. And, I have to consider that when I blog it is on my company website, so it’s another thing to consider.
All in all, it does feel like it’s a lot more work now but I’m hoping to eventually get more of my team on board.
Either way, sometimes it’s good to break and sometimes it’s best to push through. We’ll see how we both hold up.
Maybe the sunshine of summer is affecting our brains too much.
Lindsey Robbinss last blog post..Meet the Team - Justin W.
July 28th, 2008 at 7:34 am
I find it tough to blog because I spend so much effort creating conceptual and procedural content for the paycheck, it’s tough to maintain the same quality of content, and more of it, for reasons with little payback.
Personally, I run into the problem where if I’m posting an idea or thought, I like to lay out the reasoning with some logical framework backing it up. That takes effort. Not that I don’t enjoy putting the effort forth, but it also takes time, which is in short supply.
As it were, it’s more fun watching your son run through the children’s museum screaming in delight than sitting at home making 2 or 3 finely crafted blog posts on the state of technical writing or otherwise. I can goof off a little bit at work, but not at home (don’t tell my boss!).
w0s last blog post..Firefox 3 adoption rate and the culture of the Internet
July 29th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Lindsey, you should ask Anne Gentle for her advice on balancing the company blog with the personal blog. She blogged for BMC for a long time and then went to work elsewhere.
One problem with merging your personal and corporate blog is that when you leave, you’re back to ground zero more or less. You can’t exactly take your posts with you. And it takes a long time to build up readers, so it’s something to consider. I certainly wouldn’t want to start over every time I started a new job.
The comments thing is a big deal. I hope you guys can sort it out. Definitely want that 2-way dialogue going.
If you do start a new blog, please send me the URL.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:47 am
w0, I can certainly emphathize. For me, my blog is an escape. It’s where writing becomes fun. As much as I like technical writing, it leaves a little to be desired for creative fulfillment.
Blogging does compete with family time, though. No doubt about that. I bet my kids would be excited if their mommy and daddy threw the computer in the trash. But I doubt that’s going to happen. The alternative is that we’ve made blogging a family activity. Here’s my daughter’s blog: The Ordinary Princess. I have to fix our second computer so that she has more time to write. My wife’s interest in blogging has created a new layer of continual discussion in our relationship. If neither of us valued blogging, it would be a strain.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Well said, Tom. And welcome back! I really do enjoy your posts. Please keep it up.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Tom, it’s funny you mention developing readership. It’s a funny concept for me to think about because when I started blogging I never really thought I personally would develop a readership. To me, it’s more about developing the Blackbaud Documentation team and getting more involved in our work community and the tech comm community. Also, I’m really hoping I never have to switch jobs but that may be unrealistic of me.
You do bring up good points. And thanks for the recommendation to speak with Anne. I’ll try to do that soon. Hopefully in the meantime we can get this comments thing sorted out.
Lindsey Robbinss last blog post..Jumpcut - Online Video Editing Tool
July 30th, 2008 at 3:01 am
[...] he’d “love to write about something tangible for a change.” Tom Johnson has also weighed in on this (sort [...]
July 30th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I’ve been in that same kind of rut lately. I feel like it takes forever to complete a blog post. I find that I write so slowly sometimes. That goes for both my personal blog and my Nashville blog project - rutabagas.wordpress.com. Any ideas on how to just do it, and do it quickly? I get bogged down so easily.
laura jeanettes last blog post..Back Where I Come From … You Don’t Have to Worry About Getting Stuck on the Side of the Road
July 31st, 2008 at 3:13 pm
I derive comfort from everything you said, Tom, and everything that w0 said in a previous comment. I know it’s not just me.
I have no trouble writing for a blog I maintain for an animal rescue. When the well is dry on every other topic, it’s full for that blog. Ditto for a food blog I work on with a friend. But when you’re a tech writer for 40-60 hours a week, it’s hard to come home and talk about it some more…particularly in a way that makes your thoughts and posts stand out from the crowd. Perhaps I should take all this as a larger cue from The Universe that my attention should be elsewhere.
If you don’t blog, the muse doesn’t show up. But if you blog when you don’t want to blog, there’s a high probability that the final product will suffer for reasons of relevance, presentation, thought process…something.
“Just … writing” is good. When you’re not writing with an ever-present concern about SEO, empire building, or trying to pull in a potential new client with every post you publish, the writing becomes more honest, relatable, relevant, and thought provoking.
August 12th, 2008 at 9:32 am
There is no time for blogging whether you feel like blogging or not.Blogging is just like whenever you feel something in your mind just write it and start blogging
_________________
Naruto Ninja
Narutos last blog post..Naruto Shippuden 70
August 13th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Sometimes the muse works in overtime! That’s when I am SO thankful that Wordpress.com blogs have a ‘post date’ feature.
If I’m feeling low, or uninspired, or just downright lazy, I know that a blog post will be there - bright and shiny and new every day. I think I’m about 6 to 8 weeks ahead of today, so I could not write anything for a few weeks before I felt compelled to write again. But that’s my professional blog…
On my personal bog, it’s a different story. I now write when the muse takes me and not at any other time. I try and post once a week on the personal blog, but I don’t have any inner demons driving me to do so. Sometimes life is just routine and boring and comfortable, and you’re living it. You don’t really need to write about it then. IMHO.
Rhondas last blog post..Making faces
August 17th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
I usually write some articles at 1 day after date posting in with different time stamp^^. If I write 1 article per day. it would be boring