Hey, book dragons. *coughs* Okay, so no, I’m not Sophia nor Lupe. I’m Clo, I have a blog some of you may have heard of (Cuppa Clo) and Sophia kidnapped me. Kind of, haha – basically I’m a contributor to this lovely blog here. So you may end up seeing me pop up, every now and then.
Anyway, most people know I LOVE a good discussion and today I decided to ramble… well DISCUSS why you know, it’s totally fine to disappear off the blogosphere for a while. As we bloggers know, whatever our niche happens to be, blogging is like having a job. Only it’s unpaid, and often we may be screaming, as we can’t write anything. Or we have this idea, possibly several drafts yet WHERE IS OUR MOTIVATION oh that…that’s left you in the dust now. *cries*
On my own blog I’ve not posted like, a typical post outside of my Weekly Wrap Ups since maybe some time in June? And you know, I’ve felt hella guilty about that because like it’s not like I have writers block. It’s more I’ve just lost this motivation to edit, format and what with wanting to redesign my blog…I had an excuse. Still do have an excuse as I try and tidy my blog up *chuckles*
Writers Block
This is a thing that actually happens. It’s not you just having a bad week, although it could also be that. I’m a writer, not just of my blog, I write stories, poems and lyrics. I get writers block, I write through it typically though, didn’t used to because everywhere I looked they all said to just step back. Take a break. I disagree, I think particularly when I get writers block with stories, it’s because I have this alternative route. This route’s taken hold of me and unless I write it, get it out of my system, we’ll be stuck going round and round. Me not progressing with the story, still stuck and not able to do anything, and this alternative route still on my mind.
Finding this content for your blog – is hard okay? Don’t go thinking it’s easy even if you seem to get ideas like *snaps fingers* Cause I get a lot of ideas – not all of them turn into posts, some are thrown away and those that are. It took blood, sweat… and tears of others to get them there. For book bloggers other than book reviews, discussion posts are the next hardest content type to write I think – both the topic and what do you talk about? But for me, they’re draining, as I try and pour my heart, soul and what remains of my emotions out onto a document for you.
Writers block is normal – all you need to do is breathe, go read, blog hop and come back. Don’t leave it for days unless you know that’s what works for you.
Motivation
Oof so this is the main issue I’ve been having: motivation. I just, lost it gradually and now I’m just posting Weekly Wrap Ups, to update anyone interested in what’s been happening in my week. Motivation is probably the worst thing for me, cause there’s no magical way to get it back when it leaves.
It just takes time for it to come back, doesn’t stop me feeling guilty for not posting anything which you know is ridiculous right? Blogging is a hobby, a way for us to escape and just connect with people like us. Yet…I think a lot of us feel guilty for not posting. Not because we HAVE to because it’s nice to post regularly, it’s how you grow your blog, gain an audience. It’s also how to make new friends, discover new bloggers in your niche. So when we don’t post, it can make us feel crappy.
Are We Magicians?
I mean…maybe? Some of us may disappear from ALL their blog socials and their blog, whilst they figure out stuff. Others like myself, may just not produce ‘original’ content and just settle with a meme, but are still active everywhere else.
My point here is, we have lives – each and every one us has a life outside of our blog. We are more than just bookdragons and writers – a lot of us have jobs, bills to pay, families and kids. It’s not like we don’t have a ton of stuff to do. It’s okay to just vanish for a while with no explanation if something comes up in your life. It’s alright to not post for a month and then reappear or even several months.
At the end of the day, our life, our blog… we know what we got to do in our lives. Sometimes blogging just has to step aside for the real world, no matter how much that sucks.
Sometimes, we need to take a hiatus/break from the blogging life and recharge, remember that it’s not a job. That it’s for fun, and the only schedule we have to hold ourselves to, the only person we have to answer to (provided you’re not a co-blogger) is yourself.
Clo is a 20-something book dragon from the UK, England primarily found on her own blog, Cuppa Clo. She studied Graphic and Digital Design. Sarcasm is her default, and she's addicted to tea. Oh, and she'd rather you didn't save her from a dragon.
She was also a Co-Founder of Bookend Events, a quarterly event with the aim to bring the bookish community, closer together.
I have heard a lot of people suggest taking a break when we get a writer’s block but most published and well-known authors say the opposite: writer’s block happens because there’s something wrong with your story and it won’t go away until you solve the problem. As for blogging–yes, I totally agree. In fact I think it’s important to back off sometimes because when life intervenes it’s normal that our priorities change. I think that’s when we lose our motivation to blog: because deep down we know there are more important things we should be focusing on.
Yeah when I was looking for writing advice on tackling my writers block, so many places were saying to take a break but it didn’t work. It’s only several years down the line, I’ve learned to just keep writing, get it out and keep working on it until it’s fixed (sometimes only temporarily, as I’ll go back and delete what I’d written and put it in deleted scenes). Blogging is a whole other ball game, cause you can’t really make yourself write through it, at least I can’t, if I have no motivation. If I did, the post just comes out…weird and not as good as it could be. Thanks for reading <3
Oh gosh, I think motivation is the biggest for me. I get ideas but sometimes I just don’t feel motivated to write them…or they are written and I just need to get it posted, figure out images, etc. It’s always more than just WRITING the post after all. I think it’s okay to take breaks too or not post every day or switch up your normal schedule. Whatever works for you and makes it easier/more enjoyable for you to blog. However, I DO like when I can get posts scheduled ahead because it’s less stressful and I hope to get back into doing that more regularly!!
-Lauren
Ah I totally agree with you Lauren! Sure writing is the core part to most posts, but without formatting, images etc it’s not complete. I think a lot of us forget we wear many hats from being bloggers, which is excluding that we also have our own lives haha. Schedules are great, but it’s always important to remember that the schedule you make for yourself isn’t set in stone haha.
Yasssss I love having a stack of scheduled posts ready, the pressure just seems to fade when you already have stuff prepared 🙂
This is another perfect post! Sometimes we just get tired and need to unplug, or as you mentioned, the ideas aren’t coming. It’s fun to post and interact, but I agree – sometimes we just need to take a mini-vacation and come back refreshed. Hugs…RO
haha thanks <3 yeah mini vacations are important, both to let us charge our creative batteries but also so we can live life. Like the life that's actually our reality xD
Great post! My biggest issue is motivation. Sometimes I am super motivated (like this week I have posted 3 reviews!) and other times I will go days without posting! 🙂
Thanks <3 Yeah for me it's been not having any motivation which is really frustrating, mainly because you still have the ideas and reviews to write but you just don't have the motivation to do it. But woooo for having a super motivated week!
I run out of motivation all the time and don’t return to things until weeks, months, years later, but it’s still there. I think the most important thing to remember is why you first did the thing in the first place, what you want to say. Whether in a blog post or story or anything creative. That special reason is the best way to keep going.
I hear ya, it was why I originally had several WIP’s going at once, because I could switch between them and not lose motivation. (somehow I managed to not get them confused, dunno how haha) Agreed Dani – it’s always important to remember why you started in the first place. Often the fire that you originally had, will return when you remember your reason/s for starting.
Totally agree. I used to fight through it but now I roll with it when I feel I need a break. I always come back refreshed. Staying in a constant state of burnout would lead me to quit blogging eventually.
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
I agree. Sometimes, we just need to take a break. Blogging is for fun; it’s not our work 🙂 I’ve had to take breaks in the past because of burn out.
Hear, hear! It’s so important to take care of ourselves. I see so many bloggers stressing on Twitter over creating posts just to keep up with their schedule… Blogging should be fun! <3 Great post!
I can relate to this so much. Lately, I’ve been joining in with a few memes but I haven’t had the motivation to sit down and write reviews and discussion posts. I totally agree with you that it’s fine to step back sometimes. If blogging is becoming a chore and you’re feeling burnt out, it’s definitely best to have a break and return when you feel up to it.