Lots of food for thought in what you've said. I'm a bit of a sporadic blogger. Sometimes I have nothing to say (no new fanfic to post, nothing of interesting in my life worth writing about) and oftentimes life is too busy. I'm very hit-and-miss keeping up with my f-list. My problem: finding time.
When I think about some of the blogs & online comics I have followed in the past (mostly elsewhere, not on LJ), sometimes people would go on hiatus because of burn out or because of a major life change like college, a new over-demanding job, marriage, having a baby, or breaking up/divorce. I usually felt like the person wanted to continue but that they just needed to find the time and headspace to do so.
Then there were the political blogs I've followed by writers in Iraq. Lots of those blogs would have long hiatuses with no reason given. One just ended on day almost a year ago without any warning. I assume in those cases that the blogger didn't have internet access (or electricity) or that they didn't feel safe blogging anymore. D:
Yes, I have plenty of time issues myself. Seems like every time I think they'll get better, they just get worse, too. Ah well...
Those are all perfectly good reasons to go on hiatus, and I always appreciate it when a webmaster takes time out to do so (even when I really like the site in question). I hold no ill will towards people who need to get away from things, particularly when they give notice. I'll have a bit more sympathy for those who don't, though, now that I've thought more about where they might be coming from.
And I definitely have sympathy for anyone blogging from Iraq. Let alone those who vanish unexpectedly. (Yeesh, hope they're okay...)
You don't have to apologize for your infrequent generation of content. What you do post is interesting, and I love when you comment on my stories - but life happens, and I think most if not all of us can respect and understand that. Speaking for myself, you don't owe me an apology if you've been busy or if you've just forgotten to swing by LJ. It happens. It's not the end of the world.
Aye, aye. Like I've said before, this does seem to be one of the more understanding communities, and I know absenteeism isn't something I need to apologize for here. Still, the more time goes by, the more I feel compelled to do just that. Hooray for guilt complexes, I guess. :P
Thank you for the kind sentiments, though! And I really appreciate all your comments here, too (and how much commenting you seem to do in general, heh!).
I am, sadly, very, very guilty of sometimes going on hiatus without leaving a note. I usually try to leave a notice that I'll be busy with such-and-such when I know I won't be touching LJ for a while... but sometimes, I go through a phase where I swear to myself that I'll start replying to posts again and then I get caught up in other work and by he time it's time to put in a note on going into hiatus, I feel even more slackerly than before and thus put it off yet again--
It basically turns into a bitter cycle of procrastination that compounds upon itself, sadly. Add a bitter stew of guilt and insecurity that anyone would care to the mix and it turns into a big ol' mess quickly. Maybe that's what keeps people from sometimes dropping notes?
(But thanks to this post, I'm definitely putting a notice of hiatus up. And it's about time, frankly! :O)
First off - your case isn't one of the ones that annoyed me, actually. I did wonder what had happened to you now and then...but you've only been gone a month. That's nothing compared to the webcomic I discovered Wednesday that hadn't updated since 2003, or all the fansites I've run into that're even older than that. So you're "guilty" of nothing, as far as I'm concerned.
The procrastination cycle kind of happens to me, too, especially when it comes to journal entries. I've got four or five incomplete discussion posts saved on my hard drive, all of which I've been meaning to finish and post up "at some point". So yeah, that probably has to do with it as well.
Finally, rest assured that people do care about these things here on LJ. Hell, I'm happy just to hear from you again at all, even if it's only for a moment. Others feel the same way, I'm sure~
Hah, trust me, yours was just the foot in the tuckus I needed to get myself back into action once more. Though I have to admit... now that I've started posting again, I actually kind of want to keep posting! (God, so much for that notice of hiatus...)
I feel you on the cycle of procrastination though, I truly do. If someone hasn't done a psych study on it, they really ought to, considering how often people seem to experience it in social activities. It's sort of weird how people often get more ashamed of putting off social relations than avoiding them, huh? But even if it's a strangely relational thing, I'm very damn glad to hear from you as well!
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When I think about some of the blogs & online comics I have followed in the past (mostly elsewhere, not on LJ), sometimes people would go on hiatus because of burn out or because of a major life change like college, a new over-demanding job, marriage, having a baby, or breaking up/divorce. I usually felt like the person wanted to continue but that they just needed to find the time and headspace to do so.
Then there were the political blogs I've followed by writers in Iraq. Lots of those blogs would have long hiatuses with no reason given. One just ended on day almost a year ago without any warning. I assume in those cases that the blogger didn't have internet access (or electricity) or that they didn't feel safe blogging anymore. D:
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Those are all perfectly good reasons to go on hiatus, and I always appreciate it when a webmaster takes time out to do so (even when I really like the site in question). I hold no ill will towards people who need to get away from things, particularly when they give notice. I'll have a bit more sympathy for those who don't, though, now that I've thought more about where they might be coming from.
And I definitely have sympathy for anyone blogging from Iraq. Let alone those who vanish unexpectedly. (Yeesh, hope they're okay...)
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But I'm glad that you'll still be around. =)
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Thank you for the kind sentiments, though! And I really appreciate all your comments here, too (and how much commenting you seem to do in general, heh!).
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I am, sadly, very, very guilty of sometimes going on hiatus without leaving a note. I usually try to leave a notice that I'll be busy with such-and-such when I know I won't be touching LJ for a while... but sometimes, I go through a phase where I swear to myself that I'll start replying to posts again and then I get caught up in other work and by he time it's time to put in a note on going into hiatus, I feel even more slackerly than before and thus put it off yet again--
It basically turns into a bitter cycle of procrastination that compounds upon itself, sadly. Add a bitter stew of guilt and insecurity that anyone would care to the mix and it turns into a big ol' mess quickly. Maybe that's what keeps people from sometimes dropping notes?
(But thanks to this post, I'm definitely putting a notice of hiatus up. And it's about time, frankly! :O)
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First off - your case isn't one of the ones that annoyed me, actually. I did wonder what had happened to you now and then...but you've only been gone a month. That's nothing compared to the webcomic I discovered Wednesday that hadn't updated since 2003, or all the fansites I've run into that're even older than that. So you're "guilty" of nothing, as far as I'm concerned.
The procrastination cycle kind of happens to me, too, especially when it comes to journal entries. I've got four or five incomplete discussion posts saved on my hard drive, all of which I've been meaning to finish and post up "at some point". So yeah, that probably has to do with it as well.
Finally, rest assured that people do care about these things here on LJ. Hell, I'm happy just to hear from you again at all, even if it's only for a moment. Others feel the same way, I'm sure~
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I feel you on the cycle of procrastination though, I truly do. If someone hasn't done a psych study on it, they really ought to, considering how often people seem to experience it in social activities. It's sort of weird how people often get more ashamed of putting off social relations than avoiding them, huh? But even if it's a strangely relational thing, I'm very damn glad to hear from you as well!
Reply
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