Why writing a blog is (sometimes) more difficult than writing a novel

Yeah, you read that right. Sometimes writing a blog is more difficult than finishing a novel. And now you think I’ve gone from slightly loco to completely bonkers. While I may admit to being slightly loco at times and often even bonkers, I’m trying to be serious here. On Sunday afternoon, I was staring at my blank computer screen and wondering what in the world I was going to blog about now! I may have been getting just the teensy weensy bit annoyed. Why oh why does writing a blog article seem like so much work? Oh wait – maybe this is a good blog idea. I put my thinking cap on and came up with three reasons why I struggle with blog writing:

Brevity. Blog articles need to be short. I always aim for around 500 words. Seems easy, right? Wrong! Because the blogs are brief, they need to be able to capture readers’ attention quickly. Otherwise, readers are just going to move onto the next blog or newsletter or social media website. This translates into trying to write a catchy introductory paragraph for Every. Single. Blog. If I wrote my novels in this manner, I’d never get past the first page. Can you say pressure?
Time. Another pressure point. One of the most effective manners to gain readers for my books is to have a popular blog. Unfortunately, a blog in which there is no content is never popular. One of my writing goals for 2016 is to write two blog articles a week. I normally don’t give myself deadlines for my novels. I just write and write until I’m nearly finished. Then, I decide on a deadline and start going balls to the walls. In my case, blog writing is can be more stressful on a day-to-day basis.
Time (again!). Because of the time pressure, there’s no time for beta readers or editing. Logically, I understand that most readers accept mistakes in blogs more quickly than in a novel. I have to admit, though, if I read a blog from a writer which contains a ton of mistakes, I’m not going to read their novels. I end up reading and re-reading my blog articles until my eyes are blurry. And I still miss mistakes! Which, in turn, stresses me out.

Luckily, not all days are like yesterday. I have a lot of days in which the words for a blog article flow so quickly from my mind that my fingers simply can’t keep up.