Before I proceed any further with sharing what the blogging predicament is for most people, I want to point you towards the two people responsible for this post – Ryan Biddulph with his post, Should You Quit Blogging, and Shinjini with her podcast/post, Wondering If Your Art Is Relevant. Their posts sparked this off.
What Is The Blogging Predicament?
I think for most bloggers the predicament is: should I continue to blog? And to answer that I think we have to pose a lot of questions to ourselves.
Questions I Ask Myself about Blogging
How I answer them for myself is what really matters to me. How you answer these 10 questions, if you do, might make a difference to your blogging too. At least that’s what I hope.
- Should I start a blog? That is if you haven’t got one already. If you have one, the question might be: Should I start another blog?
- Why do I blog?
- Who are my readers?
- Will anyone care if I were to stop blogging tomorrow?
- How do I feel when I think about my blog/s?
- Am I always getting new ideas for my blog?
- Do I feel pressured to post? If so, by who or what?
- Am I as excited about my blog/s as when I first started it/them?
- Do I really see the uniqueness of my blog or do I always try to be like someone else?
- Am I spending more money than I can afford and not getting the returns (not necessarily monetary) I really want from my blog?
There could be a lot of other questions we can pose about our blogging community, the technology we use, how we get the word out on Social Media, etc. But I think those questions follow only after we’re clear that we still want to blog.
My Answer
For me the overall answer to this would be that I do want to continue blogging. It still excites me. I still see the relevance of each of my four blogs (yes, I’m crazy that way). And I’m always thinking up new ways that I can make them my posts more interesting to myself and to others.
I’m fed up of reading about algorithms, SEO, Alexa Ranks etc. No longer do I fear the things I’m not doing or the plugins/ software, I don’t have. I just want to blog because I enjoy it.
My passion for blogging overrides my fear that I’m not relevant or not connecting enough.
“We all know fear. But passion makes us fearless.”
– Paulo Coelho
Please feel free to share answers to these questions in the comments or email me – contact(at)everydaygyaan(dot)com.
#Write28Days
I’m undertaking the #Write28Days Challenge and will be posting every day in February. I will combine this with my regular features – #MondayMusings, #FiveMinuteFriday and #100WordsOnSaturday.
I hear you, Corinne! I’m fed up of SEO and Alexa and algorithms too. Social media was supposed to help us be social, but really, they’re businesses who help paying customers be more visible. Writing with an eye towards SEO and trends is rather off putting, I’d much rather write about the things that excite me – regardless of if that interests 1 other person or 100 or 1000.
Amen to that!
You’re a testament to doing pretty much what you please!
Corinne Rodrigues recently posted..7 Simple Things That Energize
Oh yes, Shinjini. I think you and I will find that when we follow our hearts that’s when we do best!
Corinne Rodrigues recently posted..An Argument To Delete Social Media Accounts?
Good for you, Corinne! That’s the best way to go about it, IMO. As a hobby blogger, I never did pay that much attention to what you’re “supposed” to do in terms of SEO, etc. etc. nor do I confine myself to a niche. That said, I often suffer from burnout, trying to keep up with those lovely bloggers who read my posts and leave me comments. The least I can do is reciprocate, but somehow that is harder than it should be. The blogging mojo ebbs and flows these days. It’s been over 10 years now, so some stagnation is inevitable.
Debbie D. recently posted..ADVENTURES IN DOGSITTING: CHAPTER TEN
I’m so sorry to get back to you so late, Debbie. I too struggle with responding to comments! I must learn to be better at this.
As you said, it’s hard to not to get stagnant and burnt out. I’m always looking for new ways to make sure that I don’t.
Corinne Rodrigues recently posted..Creativity and Well-Being
Corinne, you expressed what I feel with this whole SEO algorithm which is slowly taking away what blogging represents. Remember, how much fun we would have writing many moons back? The content and sharing of ideas, sadly been lost with Instagrammers. Passion should guide what writing is all about in my view.
You’re so right, Vishal. In many ways social media has taken away substance from our blogs while lending some wings to them!
Corinne Rodrigues recently posted..Listen To Your Life