Original Photo from Pixabay One of the number one tips people give beginning bloggers is to be consistent with their blog posts. I me...

Thoughtful Thursdays: I Have No Idea What I’m Doing

16 Comments

One of the number one tips people give beginning bloggers is to be consistent with their blog posts. I mean, I’ve probably said it. If you want to build a big audience and be one of those “top bloggers,” it’s a necessity. Your people, or your prospective people, should know what to expect from you when; plus, the more posts you have out there, the more leads you have for people to come back and find you. And if they find one post they like, then discover that you’re posting every Monday, Thursday, Saturday, or what-have-you, they’re way more likely to hit that follow button and eagerly await your next piece.

Unfortunately though, even with all that in its favor, consistency is about to go out the window for me.

As I was saying last week, one of the most important things you’ll ever decide about your creative journey--whether that’s blogging, writing, art, whatever--is what your focus is, what you actually want to be doing. I want to write... but books, not just a blog. I mean, I love blogging. Actually, I adoreit. Like, this is so nerdy, but I have the most fantastic thrill getting a great post idea, knowing that I polished the concept well, finally discovering that perfect picture to go along with what I think is a brilliant post (true, there’s sometimes pain in the process, but once I get it posted, it’s almost always a great feeling). What’s more, at this point in my life, I’m not even stressed about blogging. Right now, it’s some of the most fun for me that it’s ever been and I don’t want to give that up... but I recently realized that if I want to actually make time for my manuscripts (and an editing business I want to start), I have to subtract time from something and blogging is one of the few things that isn’t a necessity for me.

Now this isn’t to say that I won’t be around--I will--or even that I’m taking another break--I’m not. All I’m dropping is what I mentioned at the beginning of the post: consistency. Whenever I can, I’ll still get posts up; I’ll still be doing book reviews on Verbosity, and I’ll definitely still be around to comment on all of your blogs. I’m just no longer sticking to a schedule of Mondays and Thursdays on Summer Snowflakes and, more than likely, I won’t be getting up more than one post a week (not including POTW on Saturdays; that’ll still happen).

To be perfectly clear, I don’t subscribe to the view that every word written on your blog is one taken away from your manuscript. But. For me, blogging, and all that comes with it, has been eating up my time as of late. And if I’d decided to switch focus and become a blogger rather than an author, that would be 100% okay. But because I want to be an author, I’ve decided to step back, take some time, and focus on my actual book-writing.

To all of you who’ve been reading for a while, I’m sorry that my blog kinda keeps changing. I guess, referring back to the title, it’s because I really don’t know. What I’m doing with this blog and online stuff, I mean. Maybe it’s because I’m 18 and I’m still trying to “find myself,” maybe it’s just the sort of person I am, maybe it’s a part of the creative process and figuring out where you fit... I don’t know. But anyways, I thought it only fair to let you all know that posts may be somewhat infrequent in the future, but I love this blog way too much to drop it completely. I love you all, you guys are awesome, you’ve been amazingly supportive throughout, well, me being me, and I hope to see you next time. :)


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16 comments:

  1. I totally understand. I'll miss you, though. :( I wouldn't have started blogging if it wasn't for you. Thanks. :) <3

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    1. Aw, thank you! I'm so glad I could inspire you! :D <3 And like I said, I will totally still be around, just posting slightly less than I used to. :)

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  2. Neither do I, Alexa, neither do I. But this is okay! I guess I don't want to be a blogger or an author. I kind of want to be everything. I want to be *more* than anything. But good luck with your other endeavours, and I'm of course excited to see all your blogging (when you can)

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  3. It's kind of the same for me except I need to do more of both. I need to write A LOT MORE of my manuscript, man. And also need to be less lazy.

    I'll definitely miss you if you're less consistent. I haven't known you for that long... :( But it's okay if you're happy.

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    1. Haha, I can understand that.

      Thank you so much! Like I said, I do hope to stick around so hopefully you won't miss me too much. :) Thank you!

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  4. I've hit a similar point with my blogging, too. I now post only about twice a week, but even that isn't easy. I agree that it's good to take time to work on your books and other projects; there will be more content (books) for us to enjoy when you finish them, that way. :) And blogging without a consistent schedule is still better than a hiatus, I think.

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    1. Yeah, I've definitely found that it isn't easy to balance it all. And thank you! I agree.:)

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  5. Aww, it'll be sad to see you blogging less. :( But I totally understand because it is difficult to balance book-writing and blogging and I have needed to cut back as well, so I will just be content with the posts you do post whenever you post them. *nods8 And also, the best part of blogging is not knowing what you're doing because then you have the chance to figure it out. :) I'm glad that you've been really enjoying blogging lately. :) Sorry I haven't been active commenting. I've missed being more active in the blogosphere.

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    1. Thanks! And haha, yeah, that's a good way to look at it. :)

      And it's totally fine! Obviously, I understand having difficulty balancing it all and having to take a step back. :)

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  6. I personally love your blog, and I change mine up. Probably more than you. So no problem here.

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  7. Well said, lovely Alexa! I completely support what you're doing! All the best with your writing endeavours (other than blogging ;) )... you have a special talent! <3

    Koko

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  8. I totally understand. I'm not in the midst of writing any manuscripts right now, but when I did, blogging was seriously hard to do at the same time. It probably would have been good for me to sacrifice a blogging day at the time (but I didn't, because I never do stuff like that). Still, I'm glad you know that you're doing something that's best for you, and I hope that working on your manuscript without this added responsibility leads you to great places!

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