This post is slightly more personal and long-ish. I just wanted to get my thoughts out there because all of you are always so supportive and give great advice!
If you don’t know already from all the other times I’ve mentioned this: I am in a slump. Not a normal slump, a great big, gigantic, massive, really reallllllllly long slump. I don’t know if it even qualifies as a slump anymore because it feels more like I just lost interest in a hobby.
* gasp * – but let me explain!
I haven’t been blogging as much. I haven’t been reading as much (I’m lucky if I get one book a month). I haven’t been on bookstagram as much. And I haven’t blog hopped as much.
I don’t know what happened several months ago, I just suddenly…stopped.
However, I’ve spent the last week or so looking back on the previous months and questioning where I want to go with everything. I just felt like sharing my thoughts here.
My realizations
Blogging started to feel like a job for me. I have no issue with spending time blogging, I enjoy that aspect. It was more of the content that felt like a job. I always felt like I wasn’t writing about the “right” things. Which resulted in a feeling of guilt because I wasn’t talking about some of the important issues like other people were. I also felt like some of the topics I was writing about just weren’t interesting to me anymore.
I felt bogged down by the community. That doesn’t mean you, personally. In fact, it doesn’t mean anyone or people in general. What I mean is that there is just so much to keep up with. I had Instagram, Twitter, blog hopping, Goodreads – I even started a Litsy for about a week. Then there was actually needing to read and watch movies/tv and play video games (just so I can review them). Then there was actually keeping in touch with the friends I’ve made on here. Then there was real life. Frankly, it’s a lot. I applaud any of you who can keep it all together, but for me, it added to that job feeling. I felt like I spread too thin.
Those two things combined caused a loss of interest in blogging. It felt like I wasn’t doing enough and that if I changed anything, I would still be doing something wrong.
But that’s not right. I finally took the time to respond to two weeks worth of comments, blog hop, and just think about my blog.
This is how I’m going to fix it
I like blogging. No, I really love blogging. I started this blog because I didn’t have any friends in real life that read the same books or watched the same show as me. Then I found this huge online community of girls that liked all the same things as me, all from different walks of life, and all so darn sweet, how couldn’t I love it?
I just need to not be afraid of change.
I’m going to be reeling in on the blog help posts. I know you guys love these. I usually get so many views and comments on them, but honestly, I’ve lost a bit of interest. There are only so many topics I can cover that are unique, helpful, and that don’t overlap with topics I’ve already covered. In other words, I’m running out of ideas. However, I will take suggestions! I don’t know what you guys need help with, so sometimes I don’t know what to cover. Let me know if there is anything and I will 100% try my best to help!
I’m going to be improving on my reviews. I realized I’m not very critical with my reviews. I’m fairly easy to please and I throw out 5 stars like confetti. Yet months will go by and I’ll look back at a book I gave 5 stars to and think “I didn’t even like it that much, I can’t even remember the story or characters”. I also rarely notice things that may be problematic or upsetting to others, which isn’t fair to my readers. So, I’m going to greatly improve in this department. It may take time to get out of my old reading and review habits, but gosh darn, I’m going to try.
I’m going to talk about subjects that I was avoiding before. I never get too serious on my blog. Mainly because I don’t feel qualified to discuss certain topics. However, there are some things that I would love to discuss with you guys. Things like chronic illness in YA, female roles and tropes, friendship, biases, personal topics, and more.
Diversify the shelves. This is like a “mini-feature” that I came up with for myself. It’s an all-encompassing motto in a way. Basically, it’s a challenge for me to diversify my bookshelf, movie shelf, tv shelf, etc. I want to read more genres, watch more complex films and tv (aka, not only watch things about teen angst, romance and monsters), read more formats (ex: graphic novels), read more self-published and small press authors, read more books with various cultures, disabilities, & books that address key issues.
Hopefully, this slump will end.
I know that I’ve discussed things like this before with you, but this time felt different. This felt like I really needed to examine what I was doing and evaluate where I wanted to go – not just hope the slump ends soon. Thanks for listening!
16 Comments
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. I’ve been feeling like this for a long time. Mine started with not being able to read in the beginning stages of my pregnancy due to morning sickness. I’m in my third trimester and still haven’t regained the desire to read. I made some (fairly major) changes to my blog and that helped me get back into blogging at least. Blogging should be fun. I hope you’re taking the time to care for yourself and not stressing about the blog too much. Your mental health is important. That being said, I’m very excited about the review improvement. I feel like too many bloggers these days are trying to please the author of the book by gushing and not being honest about their feelings. Most authors don’t even read their own reviews. I love to read honest reviews because then I know whether to pick up the book or not. Those topics sound great and I can’t wait to read your thoughts. Keep up the great work, Molly!
That’s good! I think a lot of bloggers, especially if they’ve been around for a while, are afraid to change things. I am at least. I already have people who come to my blog for specific reasons, so if I change that, I’m afraid of losing them. But if I do, oh well. That’s okay. I definitely give my honest opinion about the books I read, but I just think I’m too lenient. Like, I’ll love the book while reading it & then a month later just not be into it as much and probably wouldn’t even recommend it. Or, I’ll not even notice some of the problematic things in books, or that maybe the story is SUPER similar to other ones. IDK. I’m just too easy to please hahah
I can relate to most everything you mentioned! There are so many days when I don’y know why I bother but then I remember the community and I just continue. Its okay to feel tired of it all as long as you find a way forward.
Exactly! It’s the community. And that’s where I lost myself a little bit. I wasn’t on OTHER blogs and talking to people as much. So, I’m definitely trying to remedy that 🙂
Are you sure you aren’t reading my mind? Haha. I’m feeling the same way honestly. This morning I found my very first bullet journal from 2014 (I made a whole tour on IG Stories) and it clearly shows how blogging replacedmy passions: my journal was all about Tolkien notes and geeky stuff at the beginning, then, in 2015, it switched to notes from webinars, workshops and social media strategies. After graduating, I’ve spent 3/4 months at home waiting to start my MA degree in September and I’ve spent all my free time reading about blogs and social media. So, yeah, my blog became a (fake) job and I was obsessed with Buffer and scheduling all my tweets and IG photos and constantly pinning stuff on my boards. It was crazy!
I’m currently trying to blog only when I feel like it (I even got rid of my editorial calendar archiving the board on Trello), same thing with Instagram (even if it’s my favorite, so I check it multiple times a day), but I decided to stop scheduling multiple updates on Twitter, it runs so fast that it’s impossible for me to keep up with it, so I’m trying some detox from the app right now, checking it only once a day. Finally, I’m not going to update my Goodreads for now, because it makes me feel bad if I don’t read as much as other people and it makes me compare to others, which is not good.
So, yeah, I totally get what you mean! <3
haha THAT WAS ME. I was SO into it when I first started and for about a year and a half. Then half way through last year I was like “meh” about it all. I still have a calendar, but it’s more of a guideline. If I don’t post, oh well. Mainly, I just want to connect with the community again. When I’m not talking to YOU and other bloggers, I feel like I’m doing this for no reason at all.
OH GIRL. Goodreads. God yes. I’ve only read 1 book this year. ONE. and we’re 26 days in. I’ve been avoiding Goodreads, I don’t want to see >.< haha
At the end of last year I felt like I was falling into a blogging slump because some of the same reasons you posted here. I wanted to do it all and couldn’t make the time for it. I had all these rules for myself on how often i had to post certain topics and such and only after admitting I couldn’t do it and just go with what I can I’ve felt happier about blogging again. I actually set a goal for myself this year to keep blogging fun. I am reading like a lot lately, so if I have a week with only reviews that’s okay.
I think you’re going in the right direction with these things you listed here, focus on what you want to do and what you want to write about and hopefully blogging will feel less like a job ad more fun that way. I do think you’re right about blogging, it is a lot to keep up with and sometimes we just have to accept we can’t do it all. I am looking forward to see the changes on your blog you’re planning :). And never feel like you’re not qualified to talk about a topic, all your followers want is your opinion about things, as long as you can and want to write about a topic I think that’s all that matters.
Thank you so much <3 Especially that last sentence! It's always good to hear people will respect opinions of others. And like you said, it is hard to keep up with sometimes. I'm definitely still trying to teach myself that it's not possible to DO IT ALL – unfortunately. haha
I feel you. I’m not feeling this right now but I went through this phase too. I thing every blogger does.
I began feeling stressed, posting content I KNEW would bring in traffic, tried to hard to ‘fit in’, read books that other people did, and try and maker my life interesting enough so other people would read about it in my blog posts. I did certain things JUST for blogging (I’m not saying you shouldn’t be committed, of course, dedication is key) but I felt like it was TAKING over MY LIFE. I didn’t blog for a few weeks, I didn’t read for months, and I just generally felt so ‘not in the mood’. I don’t know exactly what I did (I’m sure making a post like this would have been VERY helpful) but I kind of starting looking at WHY i started blogging in the first place, and finding out WHAT I (not anyone else) wanted to do. I still take loads of advice and suggestions and I still participate and contribute to the blogging world, but I do with MY style! Good luck xx
P.S LOVE the signature!
That’s what I had to do – look at the WHY and WHERE I wanted to go with it from here. It’s easy to kind of get sucked in this vortex of “I have to do the right stuff so people like it” but 9 times out of 10 people will stick around because they like the BLOGGER rather than just the content. Thank you for the advice <3
Good to see you’re changing things up, Molly! I haven’t been following you for long, but I’m sure it’ll be great! ?? I definitely don’t mind you slowing down on blog help posts, even though they were really helpful! I think your Blog Help Post Round-Up is enough if they need help! Looking forward to these new features! ?
Thank you so much! I will keep doing them, just when a topic really hits me or someone asks for something specific. Otherwise, I don’t want to churn out one a week that is sort of half-assed, you know? That’s not fair to you guys 🙂
Instead of giving you advice (since everyone has different reasons for blogging and things that work for them), I’ll tell you how I blog/read. I think the reason I’m still finding blogging fun rather than stressful is because I’ve never worried about what was expected of me. I read the books that sound good to me, I write posts about the things I find entertaining or interesting, etc. No, my blog will never have 10,000 followers by reviewing self pub books, but I’m ok with that because I’m far happier reading the books I enjoy and getting less comments than reading a bunch of books I don’t like and getting more comments. Same for discussions and other posts—I post what I want (as long as it pertains to the general focus of my blog) without worrying if it’s what’s popular or “right.” If I wanna post something serious, I do. If I wanna ignore all the big issues and post something silly, then I do that. Surprisingly, a lot of the posts I thought would do well were what did the worst and the ones I thought no one would care about or agree with were the ones that got the most attention.
I don’t think anyone *expects* bloggers to discuss the big issues. If you just wanna post reviews and talk about positive things, I highly doubt anyone would hold that against you. But if you do wanna talk about certain issues, I highly doubt anyone would consider you unqualified. Everything we post is just our opinions! So anyway, good luck with making these changes and getting out of your slump 🙂
I love that! For the most part I kind of do write what I want, but then I shy away from things. Like, I don’t write things I DON’T want to write, but I skip a few topics here and there mainly out of fear. I appreciate your advice 🙂 I just need to get more comfortable with doing everything I want 😀
It’s great that you took time to stop and think about why you were in a slump. I am so impressed you didn’t give up! I know many other bloggers who have gotten burned out and walked away. The important thing is that you blog for you. We love your posts, and we will keep following. Just make certain your work is sustainable and brings you joy. 🙂
It’s hard not to! But I love blogging & chatting with everyone, so I’m going to keep trying until I’m REALLLLLLY burned out lol Also, thank you <333 That's so sweet 🙂