Yup. You read the title correctly.
I have been an absolute failure in blogging as of late.
I don't schedule my posts. I haven't been reviewing books as much as I'd like to.
In total, I've DNF'd five books in the past month.
I am way behind on my ARCs.
When I see one of my ARCs, I pretend it's not there and begin another book. (yay for procrastination!)
Not counting this post, I've only posted three times this month.
I am five books behind schedule on my Goodreads challenge.
*There is a lot more but for the sake of preventing boredom, I won't put ALL of them*
*There is a lot more but for the sake of preventing boredom, I won't put ALL of them*
I have never sucked this much at blogging. For the past month or so, I've been slacking not only in posting, but in reading. It's not that I don't feel motivated to read; it's that nothing has been holding my interest for very long.
So, is this a blogging slump, or am I starting to lose my flair?
I think part of the reason why I've been treating this blog so horribly is because I feel way too pressured. And if I feel pressured to do something that I treat as a hobby, I will cease doing it. I truly, sincerely hope this does not happen with the blog.
Why do I feel pressured? To me, what with all the review copies and the challenges and the goals to post more, blogging has sort of become a chore.
And this is the part where I'm being COMPLETELY honest: it all comes down to the fact that I don't feel like me or my blog are good enough. I see many bloggers posting daily and having flawless reviews and I...am nothing unique.
JUST TO BE CLEAR, I'm NOT doing this for pity or envy or anything. I swear it. This is just a matter of blog/self identity.
My question is, how do you awesome bloggers deal with this? Not only with slumps, but with low blog esteem?
Hey Summer, first of all, you have an amazing blog! It looks good, the content is good and it's filled with general goodness! I love reading what you have to say about books and you have no idea how happy I was when you commented on a recent post of mine. I'm just a mere amateur beginner blogger and you're blog - you are - something that I can only aspire to be!
ReplyDeleteNow that we have all the sentimental stuff out of the way we go onto the advice section of this comment... Nobody's perfect.
I'm sure that the blogs you see churning out daily reviews and posts have a whole team of bloggers behind them. As a lone blogger (even though I'm only just starting out) I understand how much time blogging takes up. But don't stress about it!! Take a break or lower your expectations for yourself. Don't try to be somebody you're not because I read your blog because I like the content how it is now!!
As for your reading slump, go back to an old favourite. I find that reading a light hearted book that you read and loved a while back really helps! Recently I reread the whole Gallagher Girl series and then after that I felt refreshed and ready to read something new again!
That's all I have to say and I really hope that this helps you out a little! Good luck for future blogging :)
xx Kat
Thanks SO much for the fab advice! I've visited your blog a few times and I actually really really like it. :D A fun series like the Gallagher girls sounds perfect right now (I still haven't started them..eek).
DeleteI know I have very unrealistic expectations for myself because I'm an idealist by nature, and I have to lower them, like you said.
Your comment put a huge smile on my face and for that I thank you a million. It didn't omly help a little, it helped A LOT. <33
Well, to be honest, I limit myself on requesting ARCs. I usually only have roughly 2-3, maybe more, but definitely no more than 5. Of course, sometimes it LOOKS like I've requested more, but usually I simply haven't had time to submit feedback yet.
ReplyDeleteBut most of my posts ARE done in HTML offline first so I just copy and paste, preview, make final changes and then schedule. I haven't had a slump yet, aside from gaming, and that resulted in deleting the blog in the end. Lately I'm slowly easing back in and expanding my own blog... :p
But your blog is unique, just like you as an individual person. I'm pretty sure you're not me right now and typing this right this second. Sophia Lin is typing this, not Summer. And if you are, oh dear. Where did you come from and how did you become me? O_O
If all blogs were the same, that's just dreadfully boring. Most of the time I join in blog tours - and they're almost 100% not reviews unless my schedule is open for it. I think that might be just me. o_o
~Sophia @ Bookwyrming Thoughts, who gets asked this question but is making a post series about balancing blogging and real life sometime in April. And personally thinks this comment is too long. O_O
LOL! Yeah, I probably need to learn some self-restraint, especially when it comes to ARCs. Don't worry, I don't think your comment is that long, haha.
DeleteHi Summer,
ReplyDeleteI can truly relate to this post, as you've probably guessed. I've only posted 8 times this YEAR. I have 40+ PHYSICAL books for review that I haven't read nor reviewed, and my love of reading and blogging have been affected because of it. I'm 6 books behind on my Goodreads reading challenge (which is 50 books; I've only read 3 so far) which is half of my reading goal for last year (which I failed too). All this stuff can snowball into a huge slab of lack of confidence.
It's true; it's hard to see all these other amazing blogs which post once or even twice a day; run giveaways; and still have time to handle everything else in life. It's fudging annoying. I wish I could blog like that, but I honestly don't think I have the ability to be as good a blogger as they are. I can identify with you there.
If there's one thing I can disagree with you is that your blog isn't unique. I get a spurt of excitement when one of your lastest posts pop up in my inbox, I love reading original, straight to the point reviews. To be very frank, sometimes I get sick of the 'I liked this, I didn't like that' style of reviewing, but your reviews aren't like that. It's very difficult for a review to be extremely entertaining to read, but I find that yours are, at least with me.
I've taken blogging at my own pace for the past few months. It honestly doesn't matter how little or how much you post, as long as you're enjoying your hobby. I've fallen out of love with reading and blogging many times, but that love has always come back, so I'm sure you'll rediscover it too.
Also, I DNF a lot of books too. There are some pretty crappy ones out there. :P
Really hope that comment didn't sound cheesy. Oh well. Good luck!
Hey Jack!
DeleteI agree with you; all this lack of confidence can really affect our love of books and blogging. I guess it depends on the blogger; some are just superheroes when it comes to posting but others that don't post as much might put more effort into their posts.
Thank you! I enjoy reading your reviews too ^_^
I really hope that I'll make it out of this slump. I don't think I've ever had it this bad but I think if I take your advice and blog because I WANT to, then hopefully I'll be fine.
Nope, it wasn't cheesy at all, it was extremely helpful. :D
I don't use blogging schedules. I feel like making one would be time consuming and would take away from the time I could be writing a review or reading. Don't feel about that! I'm behind on reviews too! I have to write at least 12 (I think). Getting behind happens a lot and it's okay to fall behind. I procrastinate on reading ARCs too. I'm hoping to read a lot more this summer to clear out my ARC collection on my Kindle. You are an amazing blogger and I love your blog! Don't feel like your not good enough because your blog is pretty darn awesome. I've felt the same way several times particularly during the summer last year. I don't have any advice on getting out of a blogging slump or reading slump. I just usually watch a lot of TV and then read during commercial and I find that helps with reading slumps. But I've never had a huge blogging slump before.
ReplyDeleteHaha, thanks Sarah! I guess I should just go with the flow and let the blogging slump die down on its own.
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