Battling Blogger Burnout
You would think that the fact that I have *counts* six different blogs across as many different categories (and as many different platforms) would mean I never have to worry about getting burnt out and then not blogging on any of them, but that's where I'm at right now. I've got a serious universal case of Blogger Burnout, and I'm trying to dig myself out of it. (As you can see, I mentioned weekly aggregation posts on this blog. Has that happened yet? Of course it hasn't. I haven't had any posts to aggregate.)
What Is Blogger Burnout?
Blogger Burnout is a term I first heard about in the nail polish blogging community, and in a nutshell is when blogging becomes more of a chore than a fun thing and it gets pushed back until you're not blogging anymore. I also add that the longer you put blogging off the harder it gets to start up again. (I equate it to cleaning house: if you keep up on it, it's easy, but the longer you go without cleaning, the harder it gets to get up and going and the dirtier your place gets. Yeah, it's kinda like that.)
How To Fix Blogger Burnout?
Honestly, I haven't quite figured it out myself, clearly. A lot of people say taking a break fixes it, and sometimes for me it can help (cause for me, I tend to get Blogger Burnout because I focus on one blog at a time, and my interests wax and wane. Right now my interest is mainly in cross stitch, so The Cross Stitch Geek is getting a lot of love. At the first of the year, it was reading so I was all about Pass the Bookmark.)
Writing prompts can help a lot, too. I love Writer's Block here on LiveJournal, because I have a guaranteed post if I can't think of anything else. I also love the themed challenges that the polish blogging community came up with (there's one going on right now that I could jump into at any time, and I'm trying to come up with one of my own). They also help for the same reason.
A media change can also help. Though I was still stitching, I was loathe to scan my work and write a post, so even The Cross Stitch Geek was suffering. I joined the YouTube cross stitch community (Flosstube) and started posting videos, also going ahead and throwing them on the blog. It helped.
In Conclusion
Blogger Burnout sucks, and can be tough to get out of. I don't consider myself an expert on overcoming it (or even relatively good at it. I only really know the basics), but I hope what little tips I could offer help. If even one person gets back in the swing of blogging based on my tips, then I've succeeded with this post.
What Is Blogger Burnout?
Blogger Burnout is a term I first heard about in the nail polish blogging community, and in a nutshell is when blogging becomes more of a chore than a fun thing and it gets pushed back until you're not blogging anymore. I also add that the longer you put blogging off the harder it gets to start up again. (I equate it to cleaning house: if you keep up on it, it's easy, but the longer you go without cleaning, the harder it gets to get up and going and the dirtier your place gets. Yeah, it's kinda like that.)
How To Fix Blogger Burnout?
Honestly, I haven't quite figured it out myself, clearly. A lot of people say taking a break fixes it, and sometimes for me it can help (cause for me, I tend to get Blogger Burnout because I focus on one blog at a time, and my interests wax and wane. Right now my interest is mainly in cross stitch, so The Cross Stitch Geek is getting a lot of love. At the first of the year, it was reading so I was all about Pass the Bookmark.)
Writing prompts can help a lot, too. I love Writer's Block here on LiveJournal, because I have a guaranteed post if I can't think of anything else. I also love the themed challenges that the polish blogging community came up with (there's one going on right now that I could jump into at any time, and I'm trying to come up with one of my own). They also help for the same reason.
A media change can also help. Though I was still stitching, I was loathe to scan my work and write a post, so even The Cross Stitch Geek was suffering. I joined the YouTube cross stitch community (Flosstube) and started posting videos, also going ahead and throwing them on the blog. It helped.
In Conclusion
Blogger Burnout sucks, and can be tough to get out of. I don't consider myself an expert on overcoming it (or even relatively good at it. I only really know the basics), but I hope what little tips I could offer help. If even one person gets back in the swing of blogging based on my tips, then I've succeeded with this post.