7 Reasons to Quit Balking & Start Blogging

8. “What the heck would I say?” I write fantasy, not nonfiction. I have no idea what I could blog about that would be worth anyone’s time to read, or my time to write. I can think of some things I could write if i were published and already had readers, but until then, I feel like my time would be better spent actually writing my novel.

11 years ago tomorrow I began an online journal. We’d lost a baby and I was beside myself with grief. I had argued with God and found myself too furious to speak to Him. My best friend told me about her online journal. I needed to be nameless and vent and pour out what I couldn’t say to my other friends. My best friend understood. She’d lost 4 babies. FOUR!
So I started talking to the ether. That was 2000 entries and 11 years ago. I have made friends with many of the people on that blog/journal, but I have closed it off to only a handful of select readers. I’m protecting that special environment from whatever fray I jump into next. It’s almost like my inner circle that I need to keep me from losing my “before”.

I recently re-fired my Blogspot blog. I’ve even vlogged! It’s been quite fun getting more public about things and entering the writer’s world of blogs and “hey, here I am!”
I’m social by nature and it doesn’t faze me to hype myself. Some say I do it too well and too willingly.

Great post, Heather! And your findings about blogging closely parallel my own discoveries.

Blogging has helped me learn to present my message in very abbreviated form, cutting to the core message.

It has also helped me better focus my primary message. Yet, at the same time, I have learned to sprinkle a few lighter posts for every deep post. Sort of a mixture of variety that keeps coming back to the central theme.

And…it has proven to be fun!

#3 A blog is costly to me.

I’m not published and wonder if the time I spend blogging is productive.

It seems like I should be studying writing and actually working on my current WIP.

But I try to post twice a week and hope to bring a smile to my readers faces each time.

Thanks for encouraging us to keep blogging.

I’ve been writing for a few years now, but only just started to explore the daunting and frightening process of becoming a published author. I’ve spent the last few weeks browsing sites like this one, reading advice columns, and trying to figure out what my next steps(s) should be. Perhaps it’s because I’m still so new to this game, but I find it difficult to come up with anything worthwhile to blog about. What I have noticed, is that many of my peers seem to share the same doubts, fears, struggles that I am already being faced with.
Do you think a blog that details my many missteps, and tries to help the next person avoid them, would be valuable? There seems to be plenty of blogs from agents and established writers, but I’ve not seen one yet that says, “Here’s what my query said, and why the agent told me my plot looked flimsy. Next time I will do more than outline my premise; I need to show that my idea (plot) is fully developed.”
Othan than that, I have no idea what i could write about on a regular basis that would bring people back to “see” me over and over again. I’m a pretty boring guy

This week I’ve been celebrating my first year of blogging. On Tuesday, I posted an article listing ten lessons I’ve learned about blogging, and some of these coincide with articles that have appeared on Rachelle’s blog this week. For example, remembering that blogging is not my writing career–it can help my writing career, but the actual book-writing must come first (something Rachelle noted on Tuesday). Also, on the “transient blog” objection raised above, I’ve found that some articles are “hot flashes”–they get a lot of attention the day they go up, but interest wanes quickly after. Others, like book reviews, are “slow boilers”–they get little attention the day they go up, but even six months later they’re still getting daily hits.

Good article, Heather! I hope it encourages more writers to take that first step into blogging.

“Someone will say, ‘That’s just what I needed today!’”

That happened to me this week! 0.0 Since I am currently unpublished, I’m getting my feet wet by writing a blog for writers. While my following is still small, I’m getting into the practice of posting several times a week (hint: “schedule a post” is a magnificent feature). Sometimes, yes, I get the “talking to air” feeling – but then again, sometimes I get feedback on posts I never expected anyone to read, like “I’ve thought about writing a fantasy language, and I’m glad you posted on it, because I didn’t know where to start.”

It’s incredibly validating, it’s good practice, and it makes me be creative to find things to blog about. It also holds me accountable, and that makes me productive in other areas. It’s even given me ideas for what I want to put into my eventual author blog and website. And it’s improved me as a writer, because it makes me read writing-related articles for one of my regular features that end up helping me improve my own craft.

I started a blog last month and wondered if I would have enough to say to keep it going with twice weekly posts. Blogs that publish something every 2 or 3 months would have a difficult time keeping an audience, I imagine. I try to remember I am writing for readers, not writers for the most part; I don’t go into the craft of writing very much.

I try to imagine that as I write the blog I am talking to a friend or acquaintance who is interested in my books and the themes and issues that are in my books. That helps focus my post.

I am your audience. Just wanted to throw that out there. So excited to read your book, Heather!

I worried about blogging being a time suck. But I’m careful about that and I don’t let it eat too much of my energy. I’ve also found it fuels my creativity far more than I originally thought it would.

~ Wendy

I started blogging in 2005 and my problem is that I loved it so much I set up a couple of blogs to serve different audiences. But that got to be too hard. One or the other of the blogs was always flourishing, while the other was neglected. I haven’t yet come up with a good way to integrate all of my interests into one blog. I suspect I’ll have to take my spiritual blog and rewrite the posts so they are aimed at younger readers, and then I can put them all on one blog that will be aimed at teens.

If I ever get a contract from a traditional publisher or if I decide to self-publish, I’ll revamp my website and organize and integrate everything.

But I love blogging. I love blabbing with whoever decides to stop by.

This is awesome Heather! Like you, I struggled with blogging, but finally took the plunge. For me, it was the time commitment to blog every week that held me back. How can I concentrate on my book when I need to come up with a fresh idea each week? However, I’m so glad I did it. I love when I hear comments like “How did you know this was exactly what I needed to hear today?”!!! And yes, when we blog something personal, it’s hard, but our readers love it when we put ourselves out there. It makes us real.

I not only have finished my book, but have had a great start on building my platform by blogging. Good for you for doing the same.

Thanks for this post!
Darlene

Congrats on your first guest post. Well done — and I like you own blog, too.

Love your post, Heather. I’m blogging with reluctance. Consistency and finding my niche are my struggles, but I’m getting through them one post at a time. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and congrats again on your book deal!

Heather – you hit every AHA point I’ve struggled with since I started this blogging journey . . . I am also writing a memoir, and thought blogging would only get in the way . . . but instead it has been a sweet addition, and I’ve “met” so many wonderful encouragers and faithful readers to keep me going!

I blog because I love to write.
I blog because I, like most humans, want to know and be known. I began blogging in 2006 while searching what desire God had placed in my heart to be working on for the rest of my life. I had just finished a bachelor’s degree and was therefore in the swing of writing and ready to write something other than boring textbooks, yet I wanted to be helpful and write truth. My DIL was blogging and hosting a Bible study through her blog. Several of the blogs she followed were young mothers in their early 20s. I saw by the frankness of their comments and questions that perhaps here was a place I could be of encouragement and sage advice and maybe give back for the wonderful mentors I experienced in MOPS when I was a young mom.
And so, I wrote – randomly as to subject or length. I wrote blissfully, with no criticism (at the time I was also writing for the High Timber Times and chafing under the editor’s sharp pen). And I wrote – and still do – with total disregard as to audience. I figured if I thought it or felt it, there were others out there who thought or felt the same. I simply put out the bait to try and find my soul mates; but I want to do it in as excellent a way as possible. In 2009 I began hearing that platform was important, so I embarked on the chore of focusing and rearranging the site a bit. After all, my degree IS in organizational management.

I read this title on my blogroll as “7 reasons to quit baking and start blogging.” I was intrigued, because I just blogged while a peanut butter sheet cake bakes in the oven.

And now we see where multi-tasking gets a girl.

#7 is one of my fears. What if no one reads it or worse yet what if my family reads it and makes some really really really awful comments. The ‘aha’ moments actually make me want to pursue a blog.

I can relate to feeling over-exposed and insecure. Weird thing is, the only cure for the insecurity is to write and be over-exposed. At least for me, that’s how it is. Wish I could wiggle out of this one somehow, but it helps to know you and other bloggers sometimes feel the same way. Thanks, Heather. Great first guest post!

Thanks, Heather. I started my blog on Sunday and I’m having a lot of fun with it already. I realized, after some quick math, that I’ve been working on my novel for over 1,000 days now. I’m blogging about my experiences. Thanks. again.

Heather you hit several nails on the head! I don’t blog yet, even though I’ve finished a memoir about teaching in an urban middle school and the toll that took on my soul. Even though I know every agent I submit to will want me to have a platform, publishing on the internet makes me feel so exposed, vulnerable, transparent, and insecure, especially when I don’t even know who my readers are. I spilled my guts in my memoir,but even shopping that is intimidating for the same reason. I felt compelled to write what I experienced and how it changed me as if God made me the guardian of a story he wanted to tell. But it’s still scary to to put your sore spots out in public. I guess I just have to trust that God really does use our weaknesses and see what happens. Even writing this is a big step. Yikes.