What’s Going On When Nothing’s Going On
What drives a blog is, of course, its writer/photographer/artist/owner, and the content created by that writer/photographer/artist/owner. As a novice blogger, I consider very accomplished bloggers, or accomplished individuals or organizations with successful blogs, mentors in my blogging adventure, apart from inspirations in my life adventures. However, by following fellow novice and developing bloggers like myself, I’m also continuing to learn from and be inspired by their trials and errors, and gaining (as well as offering) support while I work through my errors and toward success.
Between all of these people, my professional and personal experiences, and my reflective, dreamy soul, it should be simple to produce something worth reading all the time (I think). But much of the time my writing ends up as Drafts, deleted, or it stays in my notebook surrounded by little colorful drawings of flowers and random squiggles. So every now and then, my blog lies dormant because what I think are good posts-in-the-making turn out to be disappointments [to me]. When dormancy occurs, this doesn’t mean that I’m not obsessing over my blog or thinking about what to write; just the opposite is occurring, in fact, so since the momentum I require to feel good about a post is presenting itself now, I will let you in on what goes on behind the scenes of my blog when nothing is going on.
Brainstorming about what I’m going to post about next. The idea-flow runneth over. Sometimes it gets a little distracting and all-consuming, but I’ve been over this already (remember Drafts, deleted, stays in my notebook?).
Online shopping. Sometimes I’ll take a break from writing and do a little at-home shopping. It could be for books, random Etsy creations, clothes, or home décor. Presently, I’m purchasing a jacket from L.L.Bean because they are having an excellent online sale.
Watching television. This is a habit I am desperately trying to quit. As productive as I want to be when I’m watching my favorite shows, it never really works out.
More brainstorming.
Trying to get published. This has been a frustrating endeavor, but I’m determined to share my stories in a literary journal or magazine.
Reading. Even when I am maintaining a regular post schedule on my blog I am reading; books, magazines, other blogs, book reviews, publishing news, and so on.
Thinking of domain names. This has been on my mind a lot lately, because *spoiler* my blog is long overdue for a proper redirect. I don’t like lugging around “Maine” at the end of the title, and I want to move to my own site, while keeping WordPress as my host. I’ve thought of a few new names, and have narrowed it down to two – my one year anniversary with WordPress is on April 2nd, so maybe that will be the time to cross over.
Tweeting. Twitter gives me more opportunity to connect with other bloggers, and, share industry news, literary info, and images that don’t need a whole blog post.
Instagramming. I love taking pictures of my books, and I love looking at other people’s images of their books. That is all.
Obsessing over blog stats. I do this too much, but I can’t help it. Seeing how people are directed to my blog and which posts they find interesting are helpful factors in what I decide to write about in the future. And actually seeing that people are reading my blog can give me the push I need to get that momentum rolling again.
So there it is, most of the activities that go on while nothing goes on here at my blog (in addition to working a full time job). Hey fellow bloggers, what goes on with you? Share your experiences, and thanks for reading.
-K.
