Add New Post
This is the third blog post I have started in as many days. I often put these starter posts in my “draft” folder when my energy fizzles out or my focus changes so that I can come back to them. I have a lot of posts as drafts right now. Not all are salvageable.
I had a good post last week that just flowed out and was really easy. A few re-reads, a few words changed, and it was done. Bingo, bango, bongo. It felt good.
This week I wrote, re-wrote, re-wrote, abandoned, retrieved and re-wrote a post. I got sidetracked and changed it to focus on something else and then went back to my original idea. I added some thoughts and then somehow made it seem like two really different posts with no congruence. I started to write about running and that had nothing to do with anything in the post.
I feel out of ideas, or at least ideas that I can muster into something. I got a few more followers this week and suddenly feel pressured to perform. I have half-cocked thoughts that I scribble through and let my husband read. “What was this supposed to be about?” he asks me. Not a good sign.
I’ve been doing more reading of blog posts the last few days. I either need to read faster or pare down the blogs I follow. It’s good to read and generate some ideas. But it seems that from lack of time, to likes and self-love, to writing, to accents, to advice columns, to complacency waiting, to being Bumble Pressed all the topics have been covered. And those are just the ones off the top of my head; there were more. My ideas bucket is not feeling heavy.
I’m not all backed-up with writer’s constipation, I just am trying to write on demand. I am trying to write on the demands of time and schedules I have set for myself. I know everyone gets this way once in a while, and re-posting is a good way to fill the gap. But I don’t want to. I’d rather just leave that day blank.
I’m not going to ask you to bear with me, or excuse why some of my post-days* may be void. This is just how things are. I’m writing this here for myself as personal encouragement.
It’s not filler, it’s a bridge. I will now publish “add new post.”
*post-days: days that I post. Like work-days, except usually my involvement is more creative and inspired.
46 Responses to “Add New Post”
Have at it! This box is for you.
Then I met you
Tania, I go many days with no posts, if I need to. This is precisely why I do not commit to a schedule. I have one in my mind for myself. If I can’t put a post out, I just brush it off. There’s always tomorrow. Sometimes it’s good to let a post fester, take hold. If you think about all there is to read here, no one is sweating it. I’m not sure I’m going with Bumble’s Pressed. I’ll probably change it! – Amy
Amy,
Thanks for your thoughts. I’m sorry if I jumped the gun (or the shark) with commenting on Bumble’s Pressed. Of course you will change it and develop it so that it is truly yours.
I think that what I feel is that the post last week was so easy, I was on a rush of wanting to get more out. It’s like the denouement after being FP. You realize it will all be coasting downhill for a while til you build up steam again.
Thanks for being encouraging, it’s good to let things fester a bit!
Tania
You are way ahead of the game girl!! You have drafts???? You rock.
Oh, drafts are much like having leftovers. After a certain point you realize you can no longer re-heat them and the rest are well and truly past due.
Sometimes the more you make the more leftovers there will be. Not always a productive approach.
I take it the writers block party didn’t help…
This seems to be the popular trend right now. I’m feeling the same self imposed pressure right now as you. It’s hard to keep up with everyone else’s stuff and write at the same time + have a life.
Yet, despite all that said, it’s kind of ridiculous when you think about it isn’t it? If we’re on here to write when we feel like writing, then we should do just that, rather than sweat about it.
When all else fails: stream of consciousness.
The block party was a great way to see you get off the throne. That was encouraging.
It’s silly to think that I am stressing about something that I choose to do and don’t get paid to do. There are no deadlines.
Of course the answer is stream of consciousness. A cleanse and purge for my creativity. Thanks man!
No problem chick. Can I make a request to you? Maybe it will help you flow..
Definitely. Can you send it by email? irunibreathe@gmail.com
Ok, sent it. Let me know if you got it. I’m on a tablet, and I’m not sure if my email works on here or not.
Got it. Thanks. The wires from your tablet to the interweb are invisible, but they still work.
Typing out an answer now.
I applaud your honesty…it is tempting to drivel for the sake of not having a blank day; I set myself up with a (ridiculously) heavy post-on-demand schedule the first 90mdays – a way to avoid lazy excuses, but it wore me out! I’m on the quality-over-quantity diet now, it’s filling without being fattening. Good luck finding your balance, you’ll know when it’s right!
Nick,
I think the quantity over quality is always better in the long run. And then you don’t have to do as many junk piles/drivel posts to work off the excess.
I know when it feels harder than normal, so even being aware of this means a balance can’t be too far off to reach.
Thanks for your comments.
I’ve never been one to set up a schedule or demand for myself. I just don’t work that way. Deadlines, even self-imposed, tend to cut me off from my ability to write altogether, it’s been that way for me since school.
But then it’s rare that I’m not writing. Journals, emails, letters, even comments on posts, to me those all count.
Just write for you, what you’re comfortable writing, even if it is a bridge. Without bridges, how would we get from one side to the other?
We’ll walk along with you, if you like, and be there when you reach the other side.
Sage advice, Ruby. No pressures or deadlines and it all counts. Thanks.
Will there be tea and cake at the other side of the bridge?
Of course! I make wonderful cake. Not much to look at, but it tastes like heaven. And I have a million lovely teapots (okay, three or four) — the one shaped like an elephant is eager to do the honors!
I am less about aesthetics and more about taste. Your cake sound like it would suit me just fine. An elephant teapot sounds even finer.
I know just what you mean! I have many times like that. The trick is just not putting ourselves under pressure to write something when it really doesn’t have to…:)
Ken,
As a blogger I sometimes forget that I am writing for myself. I am not paid, there are no deadlines. No one will suffer if one day is blank. To take a break is better than to post for the sake of posting.
Thanks for your comments.
Tania
True words Tania
Tania,
Rich had written an insightful post a few months ago, on writer’s block, and blogging in general (http://brainsnorts.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/what-to-write-about/) which you might have read. I’d have to agree with you… If you do not have anything to write about, or if it’s simply not coming out, let the day blank, and come back tomorrow. We’ll be here.
Eric
Eric,
I remember Rich’s post as I read it twice when it first came out. Perhaps now it is time to read it again.
Well timed.
Thanks,
Tania
For all the above reasons I stopped writing in an ‘every day’ diary when I was about 11 or so………if I look back through my any-day-I can-be-bothered journals I can see that the biggish gaps are when I had nothing interesting to write about or when I just wasn’t interested enough in anything to bother writing……ditto for WP daily posts, weekly posts etc! If 10 bloggers sat around a table having a conversation they wouldn’t just say something for the sake of it, they’d contribute (hopefully) when they had something worthwhile to say. Some people are particularly chatty and prolific writers, some of us just work differently, sporadically and spend longer thinking about it before we commit to that ‘publish’ button. And sometimes, I think it really helps to just do some more reading in between writing sessions
P.S I love the draft folder idea, a poet called Jaiya Savage once gave a lecture on my poetry course about all the scraps that he keeps in a folder on his computer; lines, verses, random words that never made it to a full poem but might come in useful for a new project at some point.
Hi Nanna,
It’s true that blogging is something that has to fit each of our personality types. When we are not feeling verbose and chatty, our words will probably not flow as easily.
I like the draft folder because sometimes I can pick and choose what I want to use in future posts. Sometimes I can come back to a post and feel well and truly done with it and move it along to trash. That sense of cleaning out is rejuvenating in its own way.
Thanks for your comments.
I think many of us have posts we start and then abandon or posts we start in our heads but never make it into our computer. You expressed it well. Thank you for giving a voice to something many of us go through.
I get my best ideas in the shower and can create entire posts with such lovely language. Then when I am finally sitting in front of the computer it has all evaporated like the steam on the mirror.
I suppose this comes with practice…
I’ve been trying to be okay with the blank days too, and it seems like I’ve been having more of them lately. I feel you on this post.
Blank days seem to be a theme. I wish I could just publish a blank post some days and have everyone like and comment on that.
Hey, I may be on to something.
The draft folder is the graveyard for many of my less inspired attempts. Eventually something plops into my little head that works. Doesn’t always translate well or resonate with readers, but that’s life in the blogosphere. The unknown is half the fun. The other half is buying and drinking a bottle of wine when I only get a couple of likes and no comments. Win-win. I look forward to your next post!
Denmother,
Such kind words, and such a stoic way of coping! It’s hard to know what resonates for readers, but if we are only writing for ‘likes’ we create a bit of a monster. We are trying to please an audience we know very little about. I have been there, and realized that eventually I would create an audience where I could write what I felt/liked/wanted and those still reading felt that way as well.
Thanks for your comments. You made me feel much better.
I only post once or twice a week, so I can usually find something to write about. I don’t know how some bloggers are able to publish a post every day. Kudos to them, but I’d burn out quickly if I tried that.
I was amazed at some of the stuff that came out on NaBloPoMo. I thought about attempting it, but after a few seconds of that thought realized there was no way. I just don’t have it in me to write that often -and to write something even passable- and I’d burn out as well. Best to pace ourselves and get more quality.
Regardless of schedule, I generally enjoy reading your stuff when it comes up.
Keep going for as long as you enjoy writing.
We’ll be around when you turn up…
Thanks Guapo. General enjoyment is a good thing. I still really enjoy writing. I’m still blogging. I’m just pausing to gather my strength at the aid station.
We all go through this, Tania. I’m having some of it myself right now, in fact. It’s great that you’re keeping those writing muscles moving but you don’t have to keep them going all the time if you’re not feeling it and there’s nothing there. I don’t know about you but I find that some of my best ideas come all of a sudden, and not from trying actively to come up with stuff. In any case, I’m still following you!
Dearest Weebs,
That last sentence is all I needed to hear. (The rest of it was nice too.)
Thanks for the reminder as well that we don’t always have to force and make things up. Sometimes the ideas just come.
xx
“I’m not going to ask you to bear with me, or excuse why some of my post-days may be void. This is just how things are.”
WORD. I will start writing on demand when I’m getting paid for it. And since I will likely never get paid for it, this blogging thing is for me. I’m with Weebs; I will keep following you come hell or high water!
Aw, Emily. This is great comment. You feel like such a pal. Thanks!
Bingo, bango bongo.
Ha ha, it’s funnier when you say it!
I’d play bingo if it was called that!
I pay to hear you call that out.
I go through days (and weeks) like that all the time. Even this week, I’ve been posting, but my posts have felt sort of disjointed to me. It’s a process. Some times are more creative than others. Just know your voice matters and we’ll be here when you do feel like you have something to say.
Hi Ashley,
I’ve really enjoyed reading your recent posts. Change is in the air! Perhaps they don’t feel quite solid to you, but I didn’t notice.
Thanks for your encouragement and support. So nice to hear. Right back at you too!
I do not envy you, having writers block can suck. Good luck and whatever you do just make the next blog post awesome. Thanks for linking to my blog post too.
Maximum,
Thanks for your comments. Now no pressure for the next post, right?
No.. NO pressure whatsoever… Don’t screw it up!