I’ve been blogging since 2004. But if you count those years when “blogs†were still unheard of and personal sites with journals were the “in†thing to do, I would say it would go as far back as 1996. I still have an offline record of those entries, but I prefer to keep it there in order to protect my reputation haha.
I started blogging in a “dear diary†fashion, and I’m happy to say that it has somehow evolved into a more focused blog which emphasizes the frustrated philosopher in me. One thing never changed though: I still get those bouts of “bad blogging mood swings.â€
I’ve written more than once already about creativity blocks as a designer, and I think this is the first time I’ll write one as a blogger.
I haven’t really encountered a moment when I totally, and I do mean totally, can’t design. It’s kind of like a psychological block just waiting to be blasted away. A moment of relaxation would be enough to conquer that block. But in blogging, it’s a bit different. For one, there is no nagging fear of getting penalized for an unfulfilled design contract. Although I try as much as possible to be consistent in the frequency of my entries in order to keep the flow of traffic and inbound links, the “obligation†of publishing a blog entry at least every two to four days isn’t as stringent as that of submitting a design for a client within three business days.
I guess I’ve always been lax when it comes to blogging. After all, it isn’t my primary source of income—design is. So when I get a severe attack of laziness, I get really, really lazy. If I wasn’t in the mood to blog, I really won’t be able to think of anything to blog about—nor would I want to. As I said, it’s a psychological thing. If it was something like, say, a sponsored post with a time limit for submission, I’d probably haul my arse off the bed and blog whatever comes to mind.
I still haven’t gotten to the point of needing to be bribed in order to blog (ie. My husband), but I do get those “bad blog days.†Kind of like having that monthly female thing, you know? Once a month we get really pissy due to a hormonal thing—bad blog days are just like that. They just happen.
I suppose I’d have the same amount of self-discipline in blogging if I was writing for a blog network that requires a certain number of posts a month. But at this point, I still see blogging as fun. Not work/fun like design is.
By the 20th of May, Marc would be unshackled from the corporate rat race. I’m really beginning to feel the pressure now (I’m not used to having both of us be “technically unemployedâ€), and I know one of these days I’ll have to put the same effort on blogging in order for us to get by. Marc’s resignation will definitely allow us to take in more projects than before, but it’s good to have at least some “blog money†for leisure time.
The past few days have been bad blog days for me. I just couldn’t blog. I was so not in the mood to. But the thought of a rotting blog scared me of the possibility of losing extra cash from blogging. So yeah. It was pressure that “helped†me get over these bad blog days. Relaxation wouldn’t do—I would just get lazier.
Kind of funny, don’t think? Blogging is supposed to be fun for me, and fear had to be the one to get me out of my funk. Ah, the irony of life.
Have you encountered a bad blog day yet? If so, what did you do to get out of it?
Oh yes, sometimes I ask my girls what topic is a great theme to blog. Then when I sit down to write about it, I am stumped. Usually my best entries are burning desires .
I think every single one of us has encountered bad blogging days. Mine even stretched as far as weeks, and there came a time when I didn’t blog for about 2 months — just because I didn’t feel like it.
The pressure of blogging (for money, for traffic, for fear, for visitors, etc) can be a great driving force in coming up with something. Maybe not as creative or as articulate as you would have normally written, but still, there’s the fact that you published a post.
I don’t really know how to gain back the blojo, or how to get out of bad blog days, but heck, you can be sure that no matter how long you’d be gone, there are still a lot of people waiting for you to come back. 😉
I almost ALWAYS seem to have that “bad blog days” when things get so hectic in the office. What I do to get past that is to sribble, draw, make doodles on a post-it, and then i get that funk to blog again. I guess scribbling takes off pressure and brings in creativity.
Welcome to the club, my brain has been uncooperative with my blog lately. Not to mention I’ve been ill this past weekend. Talk about ups and downs.
I encountered “bad blog day” a lot of times and just for the sake of posting I post one-liners like “why am I feeling this way…”
Oh I get a lot of these. So what I do is on a good blog day, I try to write as many entries as I can, saving them as drafts. You know, for the rainy blog days.