5 Reasons I Forget to Blog

It seems every other week I’m publishing an excuse about why I was absent the week before. I’ve decided never to do that again; instead, here’s an open letter explaining why you can go days without hearing from me, even after I make my fifteenth promise never to slack off on blogging again.

1 – The Internet. It may be the reason my blog exists, but the Internet is also why my blog keeps dying. Connecting me with friends on Facebook or providing an endless scroll on Tumblr are ways the Internet prevents me from writing a blog post.

I scroll…and scroll…and scroll.

Then one of my blogging friends publishes a new post.

It reminds me I have a blog, too–and I need to update it. Oops.

2 – Writer’s Block. I’m really good at making up plot twists, tragedies, and sad endings for a story. However, my mind goes blank when it’s time to blog about my own life–or anything unrelated to the writing process. I can’t think of anything so interesting you guys would like to hear about it.

Perhaps that’s just me being my own critic, but how many word count updates could interest a reader? What you want is the book, not the update!

(I hope, anyway! :P)

3 – Reading. Seriously–reading.

Books are necessary for my improvement as a writer and blogger, so I read as much as I can–and often don’t do anything else. I grab book after book, forgetting to review or even mark them on Goodreads.

I forget my blog is about books, because I’m busy reading books.

4 – Procrastination. I confess that sometimes I know I should blog. Instead of blogging, I keep finding tasks to shake that responsibility.

Hey, don’t look at me like that–we’ve all done it! Be it homework or writing or blogging, there’s always something we really need to do, perhaps even like doing, but put off. We don’t want to sit down and make the effort.

For me, that thing is usually blogging…but more often, it’s novel writing.

5 – Writing. Because of Reason #4, I can’t make writing Reason #1.

I procrastinate writing a lot. I like to see my word count grow, but sitting to stare at a blank document? Counting the minutes until my Muse shows up? It’s not something that makes me bounce in excitement. It’s a thought I actually dread.

Once I’m writing and in the zone, things change. I become so focused on my draft and word count, this blog slips from my mind.

I forget to chronicle my life as a writer because I’m busy writing.

So there you go–five excuses. Sometimes I check my visitor count and feel really bad—either because there’s been a spike in page views, or the visitor count has gone down to zero. That’s when I put away what I’m reading and sit to write guilty blog posts like this one.

I hope my readers will forgive me…but if you’re a blogger, I’m sure you can relate to some of these excuses, too!

Filed under: Journal Tagged: blogging, procrastination, reading, writing