Tired and Out of Time? Balancing the Blogging Load

Creative Every Day Writing Rocket Fuel: Writing Contests

Tired and Out of Time? Balancing the Blogging Load

Perhaps it’s part of being an autobiography writing teacher, but I love reading blogs. I enjoy them as they are real: you can sense it when someone is genuinely sharing with you. The only thing that bothers me is how often I hear how burnt out bloggers feel. It worries me when I keep coming across post after post where bloggers are expressing how wrung dry of inspiration and physically exhausted they are. I read in profiles how bloggers work all day, come home and deal with family needs, then write until insane o’clock, as that is the only writing time they have. From an outsiders point of view, it leaves little mystery as to why writer’s block so often sets in. It’s fuelled by overwhelm and fatigue.

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It would be very easy for me to step into strict writing teacher mode and command “blog less often!” The issue is, if you’ve done your homework on how to blog, to satisfy the search engine rankings and build an audience, it is recommended you blog daily. If you don’t, there are dire predictions of failure and doom. It comes down to the settings of the search engine ranking robots: which care as much about the needs of flesh and blood humans beings as say, your toaster does. Recently one blogging Twitter feed, which I normally enjoy, started preaching down this path. Such was their fervour that you had to work yourself into the ground to succeed, I unfollowed them. The last thing anyone needs is the whip being cracked at them in an already ‘too-busy’ society.

So that leaves bloggers with a choice: Buy into “toaster mentality” and let your life be ruled by search engine logic and cyber peer pressure; or take care of yourself by posting less and taking the pressure off. I opt for the latter, but not just for myself, also because as a reader, I know I simply cannot keep up with every post that comes out that I really want to absorb and comment on. We are potentially overwhelming the supporters we want and need. Could that be why so many blogs have such low subscription and comment numbers?

http://www.ohgizmo.com/2007/02/19/pirate-toast/

What you do as a blogger is entirely up to you. Just as long as it’s right for you! From everything I have studied about writing, to write daily is a necessity for writers who are truly serious. May I suggest, that perhaps, as an alternative to blogging every day, keep a journal, or use some of your would-be posts as writing practice? There is a great sense of satisfaction to be had from just writing for YOU, experimenting and having fun for your eyes only. It is all about breaking away from the “toaster mentality” and doing what your creative heart is telling you to do.

If you write less often, it also means you are under less pressure to put forward a polished piece of work which ultimately becomes part of your writing portfolio. Write when you have something you really want to say and share. Plus be careful about how personal your posts are… When you are online, it is dangerously easy to forget just how open your most personal information and feelings are to anyone who finds you.

The bottom line is, take good care of yourself. If you look after yourself and allow yourself time and space to be open to new input, ideas will generate much more easily and you can recapture your enthusiasm. There are more ways of becoming a recgonised blogger than merely relying on search engine rankings and appearing in Twitter feeds en masse. If you would like support, use the #mywana tag on Twitter started by @KristenLambTX who supports bloggers. There are also blogging community web sites out there that may be helpful. Just beware of the toasters…

DISCLAIMER: To be true to my geeky heritage, I would like to state that the negative use of the word ‘toaster’ in this blog post in no way includes “After Dark’s” Flying Toasters, who were always the good guys. Particularly the baby ones. “When there’s a job to be done, the flying toasters will be there…” I wish they would bring that screensaver back.

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