Seriously.
Ya know, it was so much easier when no one read my blog but my mom. Don’t get me wrong, I truly appreciate anyone who chooses to spend a few moments of their day reading what I post. It’s kinda amazing, really. I never knew that anyone who didn’t know me personally would give a flying flip about what I had to say. But, now that I know there are a precious few out there who not only read my blog, but seem to actually get something from it I have fears. Call it performance anxiety. I can pee in public, but I can’t churn out blog content that I feel is worth your time. Well, I can’t churn it out on a schedule, that is (I’ll cut myself some slack).
For a while now I’ve made it a point to publish a new blog post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I thought I needed the structure, and I do. I am wildly unstructured. You should see my hair. But, I also have a moral code. I will not post anything that I feel is complete and utter crap (excluding this post, for obvious reasons). So, do I stick to my schedule, or do I follow my code?
Dilemma.
And that’s where I currently find myself. Now you are here as well. Don’t ask how you got sucked in, just go with it.
So, I will make you a deal. I will abandon my rigid schedule, but I will make sure that what I do post is of the utmost quality. Okay? Is this acceptable?
I’m going to assume that you answered “yes” to that question. If you said “no” please feel free to leave me a comment that I will probably delete out of spite. It’s my blog, I can do that type of thing.
I will leave you with a warning: Do not try to make sangria with a glass of Pinot and an orange Pixy Stix. It doesn’t work.
Until next time, take care of yourself and each other. Thank you.
I think I like your tags most of all on this one.
But, seriously – you keep writing, I’ll keep reading. Three days a week or one, it is always funny and amazing.
I can never think of useful tags. My posts are so random, so just tag them with whatever comes to mind first. If I find someone who has used the same tags then that would be weird.
Thank you! I love that you are reading.
Hey, I love your blog. Ever since you subscribed to mine, I’ve been getting email subscriptions. I’m glad you’re making a structure! ahaha Be sure to check out my personal blog, mbn202life.com
I know exactly what you’re going through Amy. When I first started blogging a year ago I tried to set myself the task of writing 3 posts a week. Most of my posts take on average 2-3 hours to write and add bells and whistles. The posts I did on Doyle and Houdini for Halloween took me around 4-5 hours a piece, just because of the amount of research and detail I put into them.
Personally I write for my own pleasure, like you I get a kick out of people reading and commenting on my work but it’s not the main reason for writing. I go weeks with hardly an idea in my head, and then all of a sudden I will get an idea for 4 posts all at once.
Don’t be so hard on yourself, I would rather read one or two really good post from you instead of 4 rushed ones.
Keep up the GREAT WORK!!
Bob
It does take me quite a while to write a post because I am so critical of my writing and I edit endlessly. write for myself, but I am my own worst critic. Not a good combo.
Thank you for the nice comments!
Sometimes things flow better if we only do things when we feel like it. A schedule stifles creativity at times, I think. I’ll read what you post when you post it. Ok, maybe not right when because I get behind in my reading. But I always catch up because there are blogs I really enjoy reading. Yours is one of them. And no pressure. At least for me I have no high expectations that I expect from you in order to keep me as your reader. Your “Me” page is what made me decide that I’d be coming back here regularly. I like what you have to say because YOU say it. You let your personality show in your writing and it’s not polished, prim and proper. It’s free-form and sarcastic which is really my favorite.
I try to write how I talk because I want my blog to sound “conversational.” I would hate for someone to be intimidated by what they read and think I am a snob or something. That you like what I say and how I say it means a lot because it is a direct reflection of me.
Thank you!
I will only agree to you abandoning your schedule if you promise to do something with your hair.
Agreed. Static is attempting a takeover, but I will try to take the upper hand.
…and lose the pixy stix.
That was a one-time deal.
“I am wildly unstructured. You should see my hair.”
I love this line.
Thank you, but it is true. It just does what it wants to do. Luckily it is straight, but there’s a lot of it.
That’s kind of what I started doing but without all the ‘quality control’ stuff. I have been posting once a week with a decent one about every other week. I’m just trying to write a book and get some stuff done before I have to go back to the real world.
SO yea, it’s totally cool with me!
I think all your posts are quality, so much so that I could swear that you post more often than once a week. One of your posts could equal two or three of mine. It is a time commitment.
Good luck with the book!
Yes, sometimes it’s good to take a little break. For example, I have not built any cathedrals since I helped Christopher Wren direct the building of St. Paul’s in 1680. Have not done any editing for authors since 1382, when I helped Chaucer with syntax for the Canterbury Tales(still trying to get mileage out of that one and yeah there was snow), and have not worked on machinery since I helped Robert Fulton with his steam-powered riverboat in 1807. But the next two months of celebration and preparation and all the other things that go with it will stimulate a creative mind such as yours to the point that you will have enough material to put up 5 posts a day.
Wow, you sound down-right lazy, Carl.
And yes, Christmas tends to make me loquacious, but not in a good way.
Nope! That will not do. Structure is needed so just get to it!
Ok, I’m just kidding, I’m the last person to talk about structure, if I was one of the 3 little pigs, my ‘structure’ would have been made of straw and I’d be wolf meat about now.
Just relax and have fun. I personaly do anywhere between 1 – 3 posts a week. I enjoy reading your stuff, life’s too short to worry about a tight schedule on something that normally brings you joy.
Wolf meat – excellent!!
I know, this is supposed to be fun, dammit. I am trying to keep it that way.
Thank you!!
Amy I suggest you stop stressing about what to write. It’s your voice and the way you think that people are tuning in to. You could write about a tin of tuna and it would be a good read. You could even write about having nothing to write about. But you wouldn’t do that to us….would you?
I write about 4 posts a week and never know what I’m going to write about until the laptop swings open. Trust yourself. Your readers already do.
I think I’ve done the whole writing about having nothing to write about thing once, but it was a poem, so I think I got away with it (http://fixitordeal.wordpress.com/2007/08/15/portrait-of-the-artist-as-a-raving-looney/)
“You could write about a tin of tuna and it would be a good read.” That is an amazingly nice thing to say. Thank you. I say this about writers that I love, so hearing it from someone else is a wonderful compliment.
Ask my mom for a raise.
Writing is about being comfortable. When you start to think of it in terms of “what do I have to do now” then you lose the fun. We like what you write because it’s unforced, open and often amusing or insightful. Don’t think of it as something you have to do. Whether it’s days or weeks between posts your faithful will always be around. Don’t pressure yourself.
I don’t want blogging to turn into a chore because I know that will be directly reflected in the writing.
Thank you for the nice comment!
I read them all and get a chuckle with each and everyone…once a week, every day doesn’t matter to me…you keep writing and I will keep reading. Cheers!
Aw, thank you Kerri! I had no idea that you read my stuff. That’s awesome. Thank you!
Amy, I think it’s great that you’re abandoning your ridgid schedule. You’ll be much happier, and I bet you’ll end up actually blogging more, because you’re not looking at a deadline. Just a hunch!
I am hoping that without the pressure of a schedule ideas will come more freely.
Thank you!
Hey, you posted this, like, four days ago and haven’t posted anything since, so, uh, maybe I as wrong. Seriously, though, every time I tell myself I’m going to cut back, I end up blogging more.
I did it just to spite you.
Seriously, I really do need to take a break and have enjoyed it. I am gathering ideas and will be back stronger than evar!
Quality over quantity in all things in life. Less is more. Exquisite over excrement. Ok that was a little over the top. Write when you have something to write about, post it when it suits you. Just keep the style, the humor and the plugs about your awesome mother.
The style and the humor won’t change cause that’s just me. Whether the awesome plugs continue is entirely up to you . . .
Pinot and an orange pixy stick. At the risk of being permanently deleted, I gotta say that is desperate.
desperate times call for desperate measures (and I didn’t actually mix them, just chased the candy with the wine and thought that it tasted like white trash sangria)
No. I do not agree to the new schedule. Just kidding. =)
You should know that now I want to try to make sangria with a pixie stick.
Resist the urge! Or, at least just chase one with the other. Don’t mix them together for the love of God.
What is this “schedule” you speak of? I have heard of them. Are they not a means of time management? How I despise time management. If I managed time, I would get nothing done. I refuse to do so. Rather, I will simply spew an unspecified quantity of blather into the ether at random times. Yes… efficiency be damned!
We are just fooling ourselves if we think we can manage time. Time is a constant. We can only manage our actions within a certain parcel of time. My actions are sometimes unmanageable. I am only human.
I’m always worried one day I won’t be able to write anything funny at all, have no topics as my life is rather dull, I’m terrified of upsetting my readers, and I want an orange pixie stick.
You gotta let those feelings of inadequacy go. You can’t make everyone happy all the time and if your readers care about you as a person and not just as a fun interlude in their day, then they will want you to do what makes you happy. That’s what I try to keep in mind, anyway.
Advice and support I will give, but back off my pixie stick!
I hear you loud and clear. I thought when I first started out that I would have a million things to say about a million things. When I realized that people were reading, I started to worry. What should the content be? What should the direction of the blog be? I was driving myself crazy. I still do. I want to be on a schedule so people can look forward to seeing something say every Tuesday but, just like you, if I don’t feel it, I don’t write it. Now, I try to just do whatever comes whenever it comes. Today I write about laundry, tomorrow, maybe the pope. Who knows? Just have fun and be yourself. I know, I sound like your fifth grade teacher. Sorry. It’s something I just had to tell myself the other day
.
I have heard the same sentiment from many other bloggers. We all need to remember that if it isn’t fun, then don’t do it. I’ve been doing this for three years now. I think I am allowed to take a break every now and then.
Ok, you’ve had your week off. Whaddya got?
Okay, that’s just the type of pressure that I don’t need!
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (I love that phrase), do I have start a blog? Miss your snide and otherwise remarks in print. Of course I can call to hear them; however it isn’t the same. Take a break, refresh, we eagerly await your next gem.
WTF – whiskey, tango, foxtrot. Never figured out what it meant until just now when it seems it merely refers to a little drinkin and dancin. Right?
Puh-leeze. Your reading public may know only the “aw shucks” kinda girl, but I truly know you better than that.
Anyone who comes up with that recipe for sangria is a genius in my opinion. Seriously. Regardless of the outcome-the construction took creativity, determination, and a real ‘think outside the box’ mentality.
So glad I found your blog.
Thinking outside the box or inside the bottle? Thanks!
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