Before you answer, read this blog by L.L. Barkat - It’s Time for (many) Experienced Writers to Stop Blogging.
What do you think?
I blog for my own reasons, not to necessarily promote my books, certainly not because I want to tell you how to write, how to succeed, how to get published, signed, sell, erect a platform… Had to get that word erect in there.
Call me crazy but I love reading about the lives of others - recipes, funny stories, sad stories, intimate stories, animal stories. I enjoy laughter, love and learning.
Seriously - What do you think?
Call me slow, or call me Steph, which ever, but I’m just beginning to watch the Big Bang Theory. But then again, I just went to my first movie in a theater since the 1980′s thanks to my RWA associates. Well, maybe associates is the wrong word. It makes them sound like they work at Walmart. Shutter. The point I’m trying to make is that I’m not very tech savvy, but you knew that.
But Stephanie - Will you keep blogging? Inquiring minds want to know.
I’ve met so many really good people blogging. It would be hard to break those ties.
Didn’t you mean build a platform?
Sort of, Tim. Sheldon says - “Erect.” Kidding around. Yes, I have met some wonderful people blogging.
I love everybody else’s blogs and I love the extended communities blogs build. However I feel burdened blogging once a week. I don’t know how you do it.
I hope you don’t stop blogging Julia, but I’d understand if you did. I’ve got blog burnout! And I agree, I’ve met some awesome people blogging with you being my number one, favorite
<3
I read the article, and it didn’t convince me. At least not yet. Right now I really like meeting new people and sharing ideas, and in the process recording memories to be printed out and enjoyed later for the grandkids.
And along the way I’ve also actually written more, written it better, and actually so more articles and stories (separate from the blog entirely). There’s something about making a deadline every week for 94 weeks. The brain works better and hum along better than it did before. And since I write about the effects of Alzheimer’s and dementia, that’s a very good thing.
When the humming brain says enough, then I’ll quit.
I’m not convinced either, Marylin, although I was very willing and eager to cut down on things like Facebook and Goodreads. I don’t ever want you to quit blogging.
Thanks, Casey! I don’t intend to stop. I do think if you have blog burnout it’s not a bad idea to take a break.
I think it’s fun, Kat. You, on the other hand, are working your little butt off writing stories!
I enjoy reading about others and getting to know them through blogs. I enjoy doing it once or twice a week. I give you credit for how much you do it.
Marylin brings up a point that too many “how-to” or “must-do” blogging advocates rarely mention and which many “don’t waste your time” advocates dismiss. Blogging can be its own reward.
Build a platform, build a platform, build a platform-I get so sick of hearing that. (a platform is just something to stand on-what really matters is what you’re doing on it)
How about: Teach yourself some discipline? The person who sets a goal of writing one or two or seven articles a week then strives to meet that goal is training herself to meet deadlines and fostering creativity and rising to challenges.
What about accepting the challenge of exploring a theme or a subject? The only thing that makes writers better writers is writing. What if you tell yourself that every week for a year you will write an article on a specific subject or theme. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as it’s something that affects you. It could be about “pet food.” Look at what you require of yourself. You have to write, you will have to do some research, you’ll have to get creative, explore, examine, try some new things. You’ll have to come up with different slants and angles and figure out ways to present your subject. You’ll have to write even when you don’t feel like it. You’ll have to learn how to inspire yourself. Do this for a year and I guarantee you’ll be a better writer.
Subscribers and comments will come when YOU’RE ready for them. Blogging can teach you how to connect with an audience. It can teach you how to please, tease, rouse and satisfy a body of readers. Some bloggers grow strong communities they never would have found if not for blogging. If you’re passionate and open, you will attract others who share your passions and you will learn from them.
At the same time, nobody HAS to blog. If it’s stressful, boring, frustrating, a time-suck that fills you with resentment, then for Pete’s sake, stop!
I think people should do what they enjoy, what helps them grow, what suits their temperament.
I have no plans to write fiction but I like to write about it.
I do not play well with others so blogging suits me. There is very little collaboration, which in most cases I have found to be a force of wills. I also like meeting people at a distance. I am a homebody.
I am pretty sure it is going to be hard to make a buck at blogging, but I try to without whoring the blog out. My goal is to provide as much original content as I can seven days a week. Add to this some promo for peeps and giveaways and you get my blog. But, I want to have a professional blog with integrity.
But, I am doing the blog thing for different reasons than a writer would.
Jaye - don’t know what I’d do without you! Your comment is its own wonderful blog. Marylin sticks to one topic and once a week is perfect. I’m scattered, write whatever is on my mind. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy to post a daily blog. Yes, it is it’s own reward. Oh, I too hate the phrase building a platform, which is why I had to stick Sheldon in there!
I do too, Amber. It’s the best part about reading blogs. However if a writer finds that writing a blog is difficult, unpleasant, irritating, a time drain, then by all means quit.
And you do it well, Steph. I read your blog everyday. I think your particular blog is a great way to connect with other readers.
I’ve read various articles on - time to stop blogging. For me, blogging started out being about building a platform. Now, it’s more personal, something between a soapbox and a diary. I also find blogging improves my writing skills. It’s almost like thinking on your feet when you’re speaking publicly. As I’m working on fiction and memoir right now, I keep my blogging to about once a week at most.
So, am I going to give up? Not anytime soon. And I love yours, Julia. Very natural and from the heart.
Yours as well, Diana. You are actually one of the nicest people I’ve met in the blogging world. You have a kind, open heart.
I blog because I have something to say-even if it’s only to myself. If someone else is touched by that common chord, then that’s also wonderful. Writing is a solitary profession that allows little interaction, except through the written word. Social media does not fill that gap…at least for me. I find the act of blogging, choosing a topic, choosing an illustration, all those steps help me to focus on what I want to say. If I have nothing to say, I usually don’t blog that day.
Profound, Anny.