I came up with the scale, and yet this burnout sort of snuck up on me too. By my reckoning, I was a couple of weeks away from going full Code Red. And the funny thing was, I actually had to read about someone else's burnout (and institutionalization) in a back issue of How magazine to see the signs that were clearly in front of my face.
I am sure some of you also noticed a few slight changes over the past month or so. You know, the later postings, the shorter entries etc.
Now usually I would take a week off, but I've noticed that whenever I do that, I tend to come back strong for a week or so and then I start going down the same path, and frankly that isn't healthy. So instead of repeating that pattern, I am going to try to work through this like an adult, and set some new ground rules for myself, rules which I must be vigilant in following.
1. I am not obligated to post every day. This one is huge for me. Last week when I didn't post on Monday and Friday, I felt bad, like I was letting everyone down. I have to stop thinking that way. Mainly I have to get off that road because when I post like that, well, the results are inevitably of a lesser quality than it should be. That's not good for me, and that is certainly not good for you, my readers. I guess that deep down, I am insecure and I feel like if I don't post every day, well, no one will be interested in reading my blog. But it would probably be better if I posted less, but when I did post, it was better stuff.
2. Post only when it is something interesting. Looking back to the origins of this blog, I've noticed that almost every one of my first 200 posts or so was qualitatively better than most of the work I've produced over the last year or so. Part of that is fatigue, part of that is related to the post above, but I think most of this comes down to me writing merely for the sake of posting, so I run with things that are less interesting sometimes because it ends up being a quicker post. I'm going to stop doing that. How can I write something that you would be interested in reading if I am going through the motions writing about it? That is day one in creative writing stuff there and I was neglecting that simple rule.
3. Don't compare myself to other bloggers. I do this one all the time. I constantly compare my own posting frequency and quality with that of other bloggers. That is not healthy. I know that, and I've always known that, but it hasn't stopped me from doing so. I look at some of my peers who post a huge number of quality posts daily and it always made me feel like I wasn't doing enough. Of course, this also translates to traffic, another one of those nebulous benchmarks that people judge the success of their blogs against because if you are chasing numbers, no matter what plateau you reach, it will never be enough to satisfy you. I am a numbers chaser at heart, and it is the wrong approach. It isn't a race, it isn't
4. A Better Comments policy. Once upon a time, I was really vigilant when it came to responding to comments on Culture Kills, but somewhere along the line, I sort of lost touch with that tradition, and started to let that slide as well, and for that I am sorry. I mean, I know there are at least 3 entries with comments on the front page or front-page adjacent that I've read and haven't written a response for. That would have never happened in 2006-2008. It was during those first few years that I also left a lot of comments at other blogs and I slowly got out of that healthy habit as well. So, I have to rehabilitate myself... especially since commenting and responding to comments is one of the first pieces of advice I give to new bloggers because it is a communal experience.
5. Open things up to some guest posts. I think out of 1500+ posts here, I've only had one guest post, which wouldn't be a problem, but I've been asking other people if I can get in on their own blogging action, which means I've also been a little hypocritical. I couldn't rightly expect others to open their doors to me if I wasn't willing to do the same here. So, I will indeed be a lot more open to that sort of thing in the future. And with the necessity of collaboration in the upcoming project, well, that would prove to be good practice.
Hopefully by doing those few things, I can head the burnout off at the pass and making my own blogging experience (and yours as readers) a little more enjoyable than it has been recently.
Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but I am going to have to look out for myself a little more carefully from now on. Hopefully I get everything back on track soon.
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11 comments:
Once upon a time, I was really vigilant when it came to responding to comments on Culture Kills, but somewhere along the line, I sort of lost touch with that tradition, and started to let that slide as well, and for that I am sorry. I mean, I know there are at least 3 entries with comments on the front page or front-page adjacent that I've read and haven't written a response for. That would have never happened in 2006-2008. It was during those first few years that I also left a lot of comments at other blogs and I slowly got out of that healthy habit as well. So, I have to rehabilitate myself... especially since commenting and responding to comments is one of the first pieces of advice I give to new bloggers because it is a communal experience.
This is excellent advice, and something that I expressed when I taught classes on blogging. Blogging is a communitarian activity. Don't expect anyone to read you if you don't read them and don't expect anyone to link to you if you don't link to them.
A while back I had about as much traffic as now, but a lot more comments. I would typically get about fifteen a day. So I was not in the habit of responding to each one. Then my content changed and I had a different, non-commenting readership. And it took me a while to get back into the habit of responding to each comment.
When I first started, I was usually topping 10 comments an entry with the same traffic. There are many factors that contributed to that success, one of which was my prolificity in responding to comments and generally networking with new commenters.
The sad thing is, I usually get awesome comments too, so I am depriving myself of quality blogger/reader interactions.
post when you want to, I'll always head over here when my feed shows up bold, if it is 5 times a week or (just) twice.
MC wrote:
There are many factors that contributed to that success, one of which was my prolificity in responding to comments and generally networking with new commenters.
It is quite a contributor. I've seen many writers who were successful in print publication fail at blogging because they didn't realize that they were starting over from scratch in terms of audience loyalty. They didn't understand that writer and reader were now on a more-or-less equal playing field.
Back in my days as a Christian blogger, I saw a few bishops get into the game. Only one ever started a blogroll, linked to anyone else, responded to comments, or read other blogs. The others just hobbled along with minimal traffic, and probably didn't understand why. I remember one bishop read a commenter who disagreed with him, and responded by deleting his entire blog.
Such top-down, non-interactive attitudes do not lead to success in blogging. And I love the blogosphere for it. I adore its egalitarian tendencies.
I like many others are going through blog burnout with you. It's widespread with many. Perhaps Spring Fever has us otherwise intwined?
I think all your points are cool and we loves ya no matter tha frequency of post. *hug*
I have been VERY lax about replying to comments lately. It's hard to keep up with because so many of my visitors don't work, or work from home, or are on the other side of the planet and by the time I get home at night and start to reply I'm typing a sentence (or less) to each of them and I feel silly. Like, who wants to come back and see nothing more than an "LOL"?
I like your rules.
Arjan: Now the question becomes to post or not to post.
John: I think it doesn't hurt that in the online sphere I am a little more fearless when it comes to interacting with people (and not in that anonymity gives me license to be an ass kind of way).
But I think the advice I've handed out the most regarding blogging is comment often, link often and be prepared for negative comments. I've been blessed as I don't receive to many of the latter.
Mayren: I think it is the fatigue of the long distance runner too. If you run long enough, sometimes you start running out of stamina, and you have to slow it down a bit to get your second win... though I wonder if there is a seasonal component to this too?
Megan: You have a unique problem though... you have so many comments that you could end up repeating yourself as well.
Well I think that it is important that you recognised it creeping up on you (well jumping you seems to be more the case here).
It's a balance I've struggled with over and over too and I would not even presume to give you advice because damned if I have it worked out myself.
I am available for guest posts though ;)
I think I will take you up on the guest post offer Lee.
Excellent! We'll discuss.
all righy then :)
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