I have discovered dealing with blogging fatigue is a very real thing. Over the past several months I used to pump out two or three posts every month. Upon occasion it’s been as high as five. Lately I struggle to get an article out ever five or six weeks. In this post I address the underlying causes of, and my remedies for, blogging fatigue.
So What Happened?
Simply put, over the past couple of months I began to feel I had run out of things to say. I’ve written about everything on which I believe I could provide value to my readers, related, of course, to my novel in progress.
I’ve read that most writers dread the blank page when trying to write fiction. I found myself dreading the upcoming deadline for a blog article. This is a serious problem for an indie author as most of what I’ve seen on the web stresses three things:
- First, you must blog.
- Second, you must blog consistently.
- Third, you must blog content valuable to your readers.
Lately I have been doing none of those things.
So why not?
Causes of Blogging Fatigue
Running out of things to say.
I’ve been blogging for about five years and have covered a lot of ground. I felt that I had exhausted the store of topics on which I can provide value to my readers. Moreover, I felt that I had insufficient knowledge to comment upon topics that interested me and were related to my genre.
A related problem is one of self-doubt. What could I possibly have to say on a topic that has not already been said by other, far more experienced and successful author/bloggers?
Running out of time
Life happens, and it can be hard enough to find time to work on your book — your know, thing that you are supposed to blog in support of? — let alone publish a quality blog post every week. I’m employed full time, have a relationship to maintain, and execute several time consuming activities during the week. None of these are optional.
It’s a challenge to come up with new content every week, even it’s only a 750 word blog post, in addition to writing my novel. Something had to give, and in my case, that something was blogging.
Your interests do not support your novel
I’ve read several web articles from authors I respect who say you should blog on your book — its themes, ideas, historical period (in my case), etc. Rachel Thompson of Bad RedHead Media says:
This is a bit of a problem for me, because I’m not particularly interested in writing non-fiction posts about things like dominant women, flintlock weapons technology, or the intricacies of of a matriarchal society. I’d rather write about those things in my novels.
Ok, I wouldn’t mind writing about the whole dominant-women-in-leather-carrying-whips thing, but this isn’t a BDSM-oriented blog.
What I really like to write non-fiction about is graphics, marketing, animation, and similar topics. If I take Rachel’s advice to heart, I’m in trouble, because Lady Merreth’s world doesn’t have any of those things.
Of course, this situation cannot be allowed to continue if I am serious about writing and publishing. So what to do?
Addressing Blogging Fatigue
Jettison the guilt
Guilt does nothing but consume mental energy. This energy is better put towards solving the problem. So if you are struggling like I am, give yourself permission to blog intermittently for a while. Yes, you will probably see some fall off in your site visits, and it does violate commonly-held beliefs about blogging frequency, but feeling guilt about it accomplishes nothing.
Lifting the burden of guilt allows you to better focus on the next task, which is finding the motivation to again blog frequently and consistently.
Connect your interests
Take what you are interested in and connect it to your novel concepts, themes, and issues. This may take some creative thinking, but if you like writing about a topic, connecting it to your novel in some fashion will help re-kindle your enthusiasm. To some extent I have already done this with topics such as book trailers — where I use Western Watch as an example.
Broaden your topics
There’s no rule that says you need to post exclusively about your novel themes. If part of the reason for writing a blog is to allow your readers to connect with you, it makes sense to occasionally post on other topics. I tend to lose sight of this and tie myself in knots trying to come up with new novel-related topics that don’t make me sound like my novel is ALL I ever post on.
Borrow inspiration
Look around at other author-blogs, particularly those in your genre. What are they posting about? Find inspiration in their posts. For example, I recently read Jael McHenry’s post on Dealing with Promotion Fatigue, which gave me the idea for this post.
So there you have it, my experience with blogging fatigue and four strategies I am going to employ in order to get out of the rut.
Do you suffer from blogging fatigue? If so, what strategies have you employed to deal with it? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for reading, and I will see you again next time.
