Hi there!
So, I haven't blogged in quite a while. I wish I could apologise and put it all down to working long hours or being out of the country a lot but it's neither of those things.
The fact is that lately I've been feeling somewhat ambivalent about writing anything in here. I enjoy blogging and I love reading about what other people have been up to, but to be honest I don't feel like I have much of a message right now. I'm finding it difficult to figure out where my voice fits in to an ever increasing community of people that have a hell of a lot to say: some of it really good, some of it bad and a large percentage of it truly ugly. I see people subjected to trolling comments and criticism of anything they wear right down to the company they keep or the way they write, yet in the same day I see people idolised and placed on pedestals for living what I deem to be a rather vacuous and insubstantial existence.
So where does this leave me?
I live in a small town in the Home Counties, we have very few independent restaurants, bars or clubs. I'm not complaining, I like where I live; but I'm just making the point that pretty much everyone knows the menu of Pizza Express off by heart so there's little point in me posting about going there for dinner.
I don't buy a lot of clothes or beauty products, certainly not enough to blog about on a regular basis. Plus I don't have a fancy camera or good lighting in my flat so I can't achieve the same level of photography as other bloggers I read, admire and would love to emulate.
I cook. A LOT. But mostly functional, quick meals that are healthy, taste good and rarely unusual. I don't have a lot of time to spend concocting fabulous meals from scratch to show off my cooking prowess, nor can I style my food to make it look beautiful and take good quality photographs of it.
I am happy with my life the way it is, I play a lot of sport which I enjoy, I have great friends and family and a wonderful boyfriend. So why do I get lifestyle envy when I read other people's blogs and feel like I have to spend loads of money or go out all the time in order to have something to write about in here?
I guess what I am trying to say is that I only plan to write about things that matter to me from now on and the emphasis will be on quality, not quantity. I work in Marketing and have good knowledge of social media, I know that in order to blog successfully you need to post often and accumulate lots of readers. But I don't want this blog to become all about filling empty pages with vapid photos and meaningless copy.
If you like what I write and we share similar interests then I hope you'll stick around, even if I don't post three or four times times a week. But I promise you it'll be honest, authentic and from the heart.
Until next time,
Lx
I completely understand where you're coming from. I go through these spells from time to time in which I wonder what the hell I'm blogging for as I don't really know what I want to talk about. I don't fit into into any catergory and feel like a total outsider. I've considered splitting my content into 2 blogs, one for clothes and superficial stuff and one with more depth. I look back at old posts and cringe as my writing and blogging style has changed so much and sometimes it seemed as though I was just blogging about any old thing just for the sake of posting. I've come to the same conclusion as you. Quality over quantity. I don't post as much but when I do it's always about something I'm passionate about. My posts don't get as many comments these days but that's fine as I'm not chasing followers or pandering to any particular group.
ReplyDeleteI think you've made some really valid points about the ugly side of blogging and the celebration of shallow, vacuous lifestyles. I really enjoyed reading this post and hope you find your niche as time goes on xxx
Hi Lucy, thanks so much for your support on this. I re-read this after I posted it and realised I was ranting a bit so I hope no one else who reads my blog thinks it's a dig at them (it's not, I value all of my followers and enjoy what they have to say) or thinks I'm being a tw*t!! I just can't be bothered to post for the sake of posting when the majority of the time I don't feel I have anything relevant to write about. I'm glad you only post about your passions, I have many but am never sure how to go about writing them down! I would like to use my voice for a better purpose, so many blogs that I read focus on ethical, sustainable living; politics; gender and body issues and our history as a nation. I love that those bloggers are brave enough to break the status quo and hope that one day soon I will join them in blogging about what really matters.
DeleteLisa xx
I think, firstly, if you don't enjoy it, then don't do it, no one is forcing you to blog. If you do enjoy it then look at what other people do and adapt it to your own blogging style.
ReplyDeleteDon't blog about things because other people are, you play lots of sport. Why not post about that instead and find your own voice and different followers there, instead of floundering around in a world of bloggers you're not actually interested in but think you should be.
Be inventive. Save up photos or news for a post, keep the images large and the text sparing. Your photos are always too small. Take lots of photos but only use the best. Try some more interesting camera angles. Use that huge fuck off Mac you own to edit them.
I live in the same area as you and earn less money and hardly go out, yet my blog is a success because I regularly interact with like minded people, follow the rules above, reinvent my look and know what my audience wants and occasionally give them something they don't expect. You have to go out of your way to get it read and to meet other people with similar interests.
If you don't have time for any of this, which I doubt you do, then perhaps you shouldn't bother because the reciprocal part of blogging takes up a shit load of time. People can be dicks, so delete anyone who doesn't interest or annoys you.
Thanks for your honest and frank comment and your advice. You're right in a lot of what you say. I never said I didn't enjoy though, I'm just trying to figure out how to adapt my blog so that it works for me and my lifestyle. I'm going to carry on blogging and love that I get to interact with other people through doing it, but you're right in saying that I need to focus more on my interests rather than what I think I should be writing about. And also fitting it in around when I have time to do it. I have made my photos the maximum size in my last few posts, are they still too small?! Maybe I need to work on angles and close up shots as you advised. Thanks :) xx
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