So I'm in a bit of a writers block right now. I don't know maybe because I'm on holidays at the moment, or its this time of the year when other bloggers are all over certain topics that are fitting i.e Christmas DIY's, healthy menu recipes, back to school shopping tips ... and I'm .... not. I've always just went with the flow with my blogging. I posted whenever and whatever naturally came to me. I did say I was going to be a little bit more organised this year though .... and when I get back from my holidays I'll be all over that, (do I sound like I'm trying to convince myself here?)
Anyways its moments like this when my thought process goes into tangents, that post ideas actually come to me. I was thinking about what to post about next, blogging, the pressure to come up with something interesting, first world bloggers problems and this post came to mind. Things only bloggers would understand ....
1. Writers block
Yep me right now. There could be days when you have nothing. Nothing really interesting to say, to write about. You're just at a blank. Sure little stuff comes to mind, you start a fresh new post but besides the title you've got nothing else.
2. Post ideas that come to you when you're trying to sleep
Or when you're trying to do something that actually requires your concentration, like driving or listening while someone is sharing their problems with you ... ok maybe that last part is me. But as a blogger post ideas do come to you all the time and occasionally at moments when you're not in front of your computer to write it down.
3. Thoughts of stopping and giving it all up
As a blogger you pour your heart and time into your little space, and there are days you question it all. 'Why do I bother?', 'Does anyone even read this?' And you think about throwing in the towel. 'I put in so much effort, and for what?' And we know some people don't understand (or respect) blogging, so its no wonder we doubt what we do at times.
4. You feel like all you do is spam people
You're all over social media tweeting, you're hash tagging, you've set up a Facies page and trying to build a community. You're linking up, you're reading other blogs and commenting, you're replying to comments, you're following, you're applying the tips and tricks you've googled to increase your stats, you're getting involved and basically trying to "sell" people your blog and build your followers any way you can.
5. You compare your blog to others
Another blogger covers a similar topic you have recently, and you can't help but compare posts. You're disheartened cause they articulate the topic better than you have, or you're looking for your name for any credit cause you swear they've copied you. You see a beautiful blog and have layout envy. You see blogs that you don't rate and think, 'my blog is at least 10 times better how come they have so many followers?' It's natural to compare.
6. You get press releases for products that have nothing to do with you
You know you're on some PR company's distribution email list and that's why you're getting all their spam .. I mean emails. They send you press releases for furniture, eye drops, jewellery ... products that are not appropriate or align with your blog's voice. You're still waiting for an email from the dream sponsor though so you can finally live off this blogging business.
7. Has an idol blogger and hopes to have the same success
We all have a blogger or two we just love. Whether its their success, how they write, their beautiful photos, their follower numbers or simply their layout, you want what they're having.
8. You're always looking at your stats
You try not to but you can't help it. You see how many page views your latest published post has gotten, how many likes your post has gotten or log into google analytics for your current states. You repeat this about five times a day.
9. You have at least a dozen draft posts
You just upload thoughts as they come to you so you won't forget. As a result you have so many unfinished and unpublished posts in your dashboard, some only have titles. You tell yourself you will add to them when you have time to sit and write the content properly, but sometimes that day never comes and you're too scared to delete it anyways.
10. Never satisfied with their 'About Me' section and or profile photo
We can write about personal experiences but a blogger is never really content with their "About Me" page, and or their profile photo. You'd think it would be the easiest section to put together, but oddly enough its not. You'd think a blogger, who usually takes lots of photo, wouldn't have trouble choosing a photo to share, but it is. Maybe its because you have to summarise your self when you're use to sharing, or use to uploading as many photos as you like, that makes these parts of our blog ... difficult.
I'm sure I haven't covered every predicament. What other first world problems do you think other bloggers would relate to?
