Paige over at BlankPaige has been supposedly suffering a bout of Blogger’s Block. Although her posts are as hilarious as ever and to her readers’ eyes nothing would seem to be amiss. I do know what she’s talking about though. I’ve been feeling it myself of late; It’s that edge of panic when you realise you’ve not blogged in a couple of days and you can feel what readers you do have trickle away and still nothing is coming to mind. So you think to yourself you’ll just go through your blogroll and see if anything inspires you. Instead the quality of blogging only serves to fuel that inner-critic. The one that vetoes every single potential post that does make it’s way to your brain.
Another factor that I’ve discovered is that more and more people that I know in real life are coming on and reading my blog. I think my mother has taken to telling everyone she meets to come on over and take a look which is great (wave at cousin Lisa and auntie Helen) but it’s having the side-effect of making me really self-conscious. Now instead of just wondering if I shouldn’t post something because it might be a bit rubbish, I also have to think about whether or not it’s going to come back to bite me. It’s like the blogging version of stage-fright.
When I think of the blogs that I love to read, the ones that give me a little smile when I see that they’ve updated and I can’t wait to pull up my chair, grab a drink and enjoy the read, I realise a few things. Firstly I just don’t get excited by one of the most popular of Irish blog subjects: politics. Sure, many of the blogs I love talk about politics and current events but they do so in a way that makes it personal, funny or relevant. The same goes for tech blogs or gadget blogs or knitting blogs or any niche blog. It’s not the subject of the posts that draws me in it’s the voice behind them. Some bloggers could write a post about watching paint dry and it would still be interesting.
So this makes me think that perhaps it’s not what to write I should be worrying so much about, but rather how to write it and if I’m being honest and open. If people connect with you then they’ll stick it out through blogging thicks and thins.
You see now…there’s that voice, the one that’s saying “Ha ha, your brother just read that and is going to give you a right slagging about being all touchy-feely.” Well, I’m posting it anyway.
6 replies on “Blogger’s Block”
Oh god, I know this feeling so well..and the more people from “real” life that read the worse it gets! I think at the end of the day you have to write for yourself…and if you connect with people (which you do!) then they’ll come back…Most of the time I connect with the “voice” not the content…keep at it!
;P
Clare, no point in really saying it – but I know what you mean! In fact I love your eloquent description of my problem! I hadn’t stopped to consider the “family” factor – now you’ve gotten me worried as well as blog blocked!
Love what you are doing to get over the block.
Paige
That’s one of the great things about blogging – when you can;t think about what to write, write about the fact that you can’t think about what to write.
For this reason I would argue that there actually is no such thing as “Blogger’s Block”, even though I suffer from it all the time! I try to get over it by imposing deadlines on myself and using templates which I “must” fill in on given days. It keeps things ticking over, but still I would like to be able to just come on and ramble the odd time as well. Not my thing I guess.
A ‘knitting blog’?! Now I’ve heard it all!
You’ve absolutely hit the nail on the head. It’s all about the voice, not the content. As for family and friends tuning in, I figure if they like you well enough in real life to come read your blog, they probably won’t mind too much about the content of your posts.