Or maybe that should be ‘the trouble with ME blogging’…
I have the ability to just sit down at the computer and write. If I know what I’m doing and the circumstances are right, I can just sit and type and an hour or so later I have a finished piece. A perfect article to publish as a blog post- complete with an idea of where to grab a suitable photo from, a title, and which links and tags to use 🙂
I also have the ability to struggle. To have the desire to sit and write a post, maybe even with a title in mind… only to then sit and stare at the computer for a couple of hours- half writing, half daydreaming, and all the time wasting precious time I could be using on other things…
There is no outside pressure on me to produce perfect, or even any blog posts- no contract, no boss telling me to perform, indeed there is no direct monetary incentive of any kind. I write to help my little sewing business. Since reading up on ways to improve the SEO of my website and discovering that sites with an active blog are seen more favourably by Google and the other search engines, I write to help Little Dolly Clothes Shop win favour and be seen more easily by potential customers.
But I do also write because I enjoy it- usually. If my brain is in the right mood, and I have an idea in mind which seems to be working, I love to just sit and type. Maybe I should have been a writer instead of a maker of dolls clothes! It’s funny because in school, way back when there were only 10 computers in the entire building (!) I turned down the opportunity to take computer lessons as an O’ level, having passed the compulsory computer competency test with flying colours- much to my disgust! I wasn’t allowed to take typing (it being a CSE and therefore ‘beneath’ anyone who had the ability to pass the higher level exams) which I thought I might have enjoyed, so perhaps a little stubbornly refused to learn anything about computers instead!
These days, perhaps because of that, I love typing- I even love the admin side of the website, even though it can become a little tedious when things ‘have’ to be done… Maybe after so many years of doing thankless housework and running around after little children it’s because it feels like I’m actually achieving something when I write a blog post, a new page for the website or fill in the paperwork for a new outfit. Not that I ever didn’t enjoy simply being a housewife and mum, but when I’ve been sitting at the computer and typing for an hour there’s something immediate to show for it- unlike doing washing that always seems to reproduce quicker than anyone wears it, or when I used to spend my day clearing up toys from the floor that just ended up back there as soon as I turned around and looked away…
So why is it then, that as soon as I finally get on top of this blog- by writing a post or two for a couple of months, my brain then seems to go on strike? I can even see the results of having made the effort in not only the interaction with Dolly Clothes Diaries itself, but in the number of visitors to my website- sales really do improve if I have a current and popular blog post which people are reading and ‘liking’ daily! 😀
But it’s almost as if my brain has a ‘stubborn’ feature and, having written three or four articles easily it switches to this mode, and no matter how hard I try I just can’t get another piece written easily. I can have a sudden idea of a topic that would be great to write (and to read), so I’ll sit down, type the title, write a paragraph or two… and then get stuck. At other times I’ll consult my page of half written ideas and potential titles, find one I think will work at that particular time, start writing… and again get stuck only a few sentences in.
Or another trick my brain has is to lure me into a false sense of security- it’s like, ‘hey come on- I’m in the mood to write today’. So I’ll sit at the computer with an idea of a topic in mind and start to type, and type, and type… Many hours and several pages later, and with no idea of how I’m going to finish the post off I’ll stop and read it through. Only to find that it has taken a sharp turn off topic, several times, and that the nearly completed article bears no resemblance to the piece I set out to write in the first place… not to mention the fact that no one would sit and read such a long post anyway!
It’s just so frustrating, because when I sit down to write and it works- it just works 🙂
Of course some of the time over this last eighteen months or so, there have also been outside influences that have stopped me from writing. When the pandemic suddenly took our lives over and the country entered its first Lockdown for example, I just simply couldn’t get into the right frame of mind to even think about blogging. I was in the middle of trying to build my new website and change the company it was with at that time too, and so I simply didn’t have enough brain energy to write as well.
I’ve just about managed to stay on top of everyday life during these strange times but, probably like most other people the world over, I have struggled at times. Days that feel like years, days when hibernating seems like the best option, days when you wonder if life will ever get back to normal… and all them most definitely days that were NOT made for blogging! Having Little Blondie sitting opposite me at the dining table, doing her online schooling for several months at a time wasn’t really conducive to easy writing either- much as she needed no help or time from me, just having her there in the room with me completely put paid to any creative streak I may have had!
Maybe it’s just that I put too much pressure on myself to blog when I’m not really in the right frame of mind? Maybe I should, as I’m sure I’ve said before, just relax into it and accept that there are times when I can churn out several posts in one go, and other times when it will take weeks to come up with the next big piece? Except that life, and more specifically search engines, doesn’t work like that- if I don’t have the hits on the blog, then I don’t get them on the website either…
Maybe I DO need to just relax into a bit though. I’ve tried before with keeping a list on the computer of possible topics, writing a paragraph maybe of something I’ve thought of that I know I could come back to at a later date and write an article about. But somehow it never seems to work when I actually try to do it. So perhaps I need to find another approach, or find a topic to write about every couple of months- ‘an update on’ or something, similar to my ‘monthly round ups’ I tried once before.
But whatever I do, one thing is certain- blogging may at times seem to be more trouble than its worth, and it may sometimes make my brain hurt and take up more time than it really should, but I’m NOT giving up on it until I really don’t enjoy it anymore. For once I’m in complete agreement with Google- it’s definitely worth persevering for the sake of my little business!! 🙂
* As if to prove the point, this post took just over two hours to complete- from first (and sudden) thought, to finished and ready-to-be-published article!! ❤