I used to be a better writer...
Only those of you who have been with me from the beginning know what I mean by my title. You don't have to agree with me in the comments. I know you know and I know you know I know.
Writer's block kicked my butt this year
I read ad nauseam about blogging do's and don'ts, how to engage your audience, how to get traffic from this social media outlet or that one.
Last week I finally read a post that resonated with me.
Stop Worrying About Whether Anyone Reads Your Blog
The author The JackB writes that:
"Social media is fun" [...] "But that doesn't necessarily sync with my goal."
aha!
I've found myself coming to this space more to see how I can make it more attractive than I've come here to write. I've sat here with my fingers at the keyboard begging for my mind to release something entertaining so that someone will read it, love it, comment on it and share it.
I've had a blog for four years now and this past year has been the one where I lost interest.
I had writer's block. Again. I didn't want to shut my site down, but while I was forcing myself to post anything once a week, and striving to keep my connections, I realized I had completely lost focus on the reason I started a blog in the first place. I've started worrying way too much about who reads my blog.
While social media is fun, and I've met some wonderful people, all of this "blogging" was starting to feel superficial and not necessarily syncing with MY goal.
When you worry about readers you start to forget about the importance of telling stories. - Jack B.
I used to be a better writer. I want to be a better writer again.
So I let Jack's post marinate for a few days, then on Sunday, I wrote a stream of consciousness post to Dear Sunday. I turned the comments off because I didn't want to know if anyone had read it. It felt really good to disconnect, so I thought, I'm not going to blog on Sundays. I'll just write - shoot the breeze with the keyboard. Just me and the keys. I liked the way that kind of writing felt and I couldn't wait another Sunday to do it again.
On Tuesday I wrote another stream of consciousness post to Dear Tuesday and shared it. Today I wrote one to Dear Thursday. Then I said, "Wait. You don't want to blog EVERY day. Who is going to read it?" Myself turned to Me and responded saying, "See that's your problem. You're not blogging, you're writing. Don't worry about who reads it."
aha!
So Me has written Myself and I a prescription to write 400 words a day.
A post a day keeps writer's block away.
I will continue to blog here, but I will be scratching my niche on another page.
I think I'm going to be a better writer when I stop worrying about who reads my blog.
