Why do you Blog? Do you ever take blogging breaks? How does that work? I remember the days when I didn't care about whether or not I blogged on a schedule or what I actually blogged about. I blogged whenever I found something to write about. It was MY blog, right? Now, going on my third year of blogging more diligently, I find other bloggers talking about frustration with their blogs. Numbers aren't high enough, or it's too difficult to find something to blog about, or it takes up too much time, and the like. Why do you blog? Have you questioned whether or not it is time well spent, or just a waste of it? I think that, as with anything done regularly, we all question the why of what we are doing and whether we're doing it because we have to, or choose to. I understand blogging burn out. I've been there. It isn't fun. But neither is feeling cut off from my perceived communication with a larger world. I regularly participate in at least five blog hops. I do this because each of these offers me something I like having in my life (and schedules I can keep up with!). I feel that each blog hop speaks to different parts of me, who I am and what I'm interested in. Plus I'm always finding out new things and "meeting" new people. How about you? What's in it for you?This is my second post here on the A to Z blogging Challenge site and I appreciate the opportunity to participate. A huge thank you to all my teammates and their help in showing me the ropes. I hope to have something a bit more interesting to post in the months to come...
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18 comments:
Hi Lisa - it's interesting reading everyone's story .. once I got settled ... I blogged when I was able, and so would 'concoct' articles that interested me and would interest my elderlies .. my mother and my uncle - seemed to work ... and the lady I visit now - says well you've got something interesting and different to say ... trouble is .. she's not able to hear very well now .. so I'll to devise another regime for her ...
Keep blogging .. I love the community spirit and support come all weathers ... it's great you're on the A-Z team .. cheers Hilary
I love reading other people's blogs and that in turn keeps me blogging. But I do wonder at times what I'm doing it for cos so far I'm not reaching the audience I would like to reach - i.e. my music followers, and I'm not quite sure how to do that ... maybe I need to go back to writing for the audience I have and hope that the others will eventually come along.
I love seeing these posts since the A to Z challenge - you always make me think.
Best wishes
Fil
Fil’s Place - Old songs and Memories
Always the BIG question - why do we blog? Time gets in the way for me .. I love it when I do post something and the comments are always interesting and much appreciated.
Great post thanks Lisa.
I know exactly how Fil feels about not reaching your audience. It's the time of year when I'm starting to take stock of how this year has gone and think about how to do it better next year.
The biggest problem for bloggers, I think, is that to really engage with your audience you need to talk with them, not just to them. That means visiting their blogs in return. And there are only so many hours in a day to do that!
And now, back to my writing!
Hi Lisa - Your post was so spot-on for me. I'd just been thinking about how I could take a minor break, and was contemplating asking other bloggers to do a few guest posts for me. But, I don't want to give blogging up. It has been enjoyable and I love it when readers comment on my posts.
Why do I blog? Hmmm. At one point it was to just start writing and having a place I could post it and see it kind of "published" at least in the respect that others could see it. Seemed a good communications tool, too, as I was close to retiring. I joined some blog hops and some contests. And now, it seems I have a small community of friends out there around the world. The comments are nice, as I know someone is "listening", though they may not talk back. I also enjoy visiting others sites and letting them know I've "heard" them. There are some out there now that I know if I was in their geographic location, I could stop in for a cup of tea...and vice versa! How neat is that? I can't take a break, though I may not blog every day. I like keeping tabs on my friends lives and talking to them. Maybe if I were working every day I would not have the same need to stay connected with the world. I'm stopping now. This is a blog post at this point, not a comment!
Great "comment" Donna! I totally agree and love my blogging community. I don't feel so alone either!
Me too Diane! I always try to go to their blogs after as well. I could respond and tried to do that forever, then realized I really liked going to their blogs and commenting instead. Hosting guest posts are a great way to take a break!
Too right Jemima!
Thanks Susan. I guess we have a need to reach out and be seen...
The web is truly that I think, a web we're all trying to find our way around. How to reach music followers? How to reach readers? How to reach those who love to cook or sew? I guess there is no "magic" bullet for all bloggers, but we still keep posting!
Thanks Hilary! Perhaps a video or something for your friend?
I blog because I love it. I enjoy connecting with other bloggers, writers, authors, and people in general. I'm a bit of an introvert, and would never strike up conversation with a stranger face to face, but I feel empowered to do just that through blogging. The blogging community has become like a home to me. I feel comfortable here and get more encouragement than I do from my "real" friends. And it also kills the loneliness I feel from being a writer coped up at home all the time. I did initially start blogging to gain expose as a writer and build a platform. though, but I continue to do it for all the reasons I listed above. I don't think I will take a break...at least not for the foreseeable future. I plan out my blog posts years ahead of time, and I am going to blog three times a week next year, so it seems I'm doing the opposite from taking a break. Haha!
I blog because I enjoy the connections. I enjoy sharing fun entertainment stuff on my blog and getting involved in the community. If I take a break, it's short and usually just for a vacation.
I'm also committed to the A to Z Challenge and the IWSG.
I blog because I love it. It's fun writing about different topics, and reading other bloggers' posts is enjoyable too. You get to learn new and interesting things from one another. Taking a break from blogging did wonders for me as I was able to find the time to focus on the direction I want my blog to go, got some inspiration for future posts, and got some rest too. I like this article and do relate to it.
I blog because it is like talking to myself. I write what I am interested in. I learned a long time ago that you will attract whatever audience it is that happens to drop it. I'm not doing it for the numbers. It isn't my job. It is like writing in a journal. I love the visitors I get and I have developed a fondness for many that have become my blogging family. I can't imagine needing to take a break. My blogging is all about my life.
I blog because I'm a bit of a shy platform and my blog gives me a platform to speak from where I don't feel so self-conscious. I started out wanting to share my journey to have a child which hasn't been so smooth but it's progressed into a place where I talk about books, films I watch, things I've been up to and other things that interest me.
I follow a fairly rigid schedule that allows me to post (on average) eleven posts per week and I'm planning my first foray into having guest bloggers on my blog in December. I'm constantly trying to find new things to write about on my blog to keep it feeling fresh and interesting for me, hopefully if it's fresh and interesting for me, it'll be fresh and interesting for my readers.
I try to stay at least a week ahead of myself in my regular posts, and sometimes I'm ahead of myself by a month or so on others (like my Wordless Wednesday posts), which means if I'm feeling a wee bit burnt out, I can take a break without my blog posts suffering.
I initially started blogging because I wanted a place where I could let my muse wander around without worrying about being censored. 6 years later, I now blog because that's all the time I'm able to carve out for my writing, which of course is suffering due to just enough real world obligations that prevent me from carving out the block of time that I really need for writing.
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