For the past month I have not been very active in regards to my blog. You might not have noticed too much of it since I prepared quite a few posts in advance, but ever since I came back I have to admit that I have been a bit out of the blogging “cycle”. I normally write all my posts during the weekends and that drive I just has not returned yet, which is why last week I did not have a Monday Question or a new “The Many Faces of…” post on Friday.
Now don’t worry, this isn’t one of those posts where I’m announcing that I will stop, but taking a break for such a long time you do notice that with slightly less blogging I’m also really enjoying my movie watching and don’t feel that compulsion to immediately start writing about something I have watched. I’m sure other bloggers can relate to that feeling as we all have times when you think about your blog and this is one of those moments for me. I am really thinking about things I could change or new things I could do to also keep challenging myself (I guess the 5 Obstructions blogathon is a good one to make sure I do). Anyway, enough of my rambling, my question this week is:
Do you sometimes feel like blogging has become “another task” to finish up and if so what do you do in order to keep it enjoyable?
Completely understandable, Nostra. And yeah, I get to that point from time to time myself. Breaks really do help.
I guess my break was too long, three weeks after it I still am not doing it with the same conviction as before my break….
I just took a week off from everything last week after doing a summer of Woody Allen films. Now I’m rested and just saw a couple of films and finished some reviews. I’m back in blogging mode.
I can imagine you would want a break after such a massive undertaking. Nice to see you are back in blogging mode…I still am not completely (as you can notice since it took almost a week to respond to comments)
I’m in exactly the same position Nostra. I watched about 6 movies last week and I’m choosing to write about 1 of them. That’s not like me, I normally try and review everything but my enthusiasm has wained slightly. I do think a break is good but it can also be hard to get back into the swing of things.
So how long have you been blogging for now Mark? Might be that after a few years it is normal to have something like that. I guess switching things up might also help. Currently I am trying to get back into that swing, but I’m not succeeding in it yet unfortunately.
I’ll have been blogging for 2 years in January, Nostra. I did rattle out over 200 reviews last year, though. So I think it’s taken it’s till on me.
I’m in that cycle now. Realistically I may have the Weekly Wednesday Funny and possibly one review up this week.
I think one of the reasons why I started the Funny was because it is easy and quick for me to do, and then I will at least have something new every week.
My issue with blogging the reviews is there are some films/docs I am excited about writing, and then there are others I am not. Since this isn’t a paid job I do find writing about the films I have no interest in a chore and not a pleasure.
Recently I have been debating limiting my blog writing in order to free up time for other interests I have not been able to make time for. I was able to complete a script with a co-writer and now we are in the process of shopping it around. But truth be told the script was more his baby than mine and the push for it was more him than me. I have had an idea in my head for a few years now on a script of my own but have done nothing with it. This weekend I decided I have to make the time for it one way or the other. So I am in the process of prioritizing where I spend my free time and deciding where I want to focus.
Well, you do have another outlet for your writing, so in that respect you still have a possibility to write!
I only write about the movies I really want to write about. I watch more movies than I actually write a review for. Why write about something if it is a chore or you know you will not get enjoyment out of, that’s wasted time to me.
I think you should write less if that gives you time to spend on something else you were not able to do. You never know what you will get out of it if you do not try!
Sometimes I feel a bit out of focused when writing some reviews, which often ends up with shorter posts. I feel that happens when I write too much all at once, so I try to slow down the process.
Yeah, I have that issue sometimes as well. In advance I know what I will be writing, but when I actually sit down for it I got almost nothing to say…very frustrating. I guess slowing down is good advice, it might help focus more.
Nostra, I’m definitely in a similar phase where it’s not feeling so fresh these days. A lot of it is having a baby (our second child), so my time is more limited. My solution is just to post less frequently and try to ensure that whatever I put on the blog is still high quality. That’s the key part of it, I think.
Yeah, with three kids in the house I know how you feel about time being limited, I regularly struggle with that as well. Posting less frequently is a good tactic and I don’t think readers will mind it.
I still find blogging enjoyable, otherwise I wouldn’t have kept going. I’m planning to blog a bit less in the future though, just so I don’t get burned out and be able to pursue other interest in my life.
I do enjoy it too Ruth, but I just have a hard time focussing on it at the moment.
A terrific question, Nostra. Like most, I too have struggled with the “daily grind” of blogging, but most of the time I have returned refreshed after a short break. Because I plan so far in advance with my site, if needed I can take a week or two off from blogging and go and do other things, and nobody need know.
That said, what I often find is that if i don’t write about a film soon after I’ve watched it, I tend to find I forget a lot about it – or the witty, smartass things I want to say get lost along the way. Usually I review a film within 24-48 hours of viewing it, which does put the pressure on a but but I find the quality of my thoughts is clearer and sharper than they would be a week after the fact.
I always try and give myself a week or two of non-film watching every six months or so just to clear out the lack of motivation, I find a couple of weeks is enough to have me chomping at the bit to get back into it again. Might differ for others, but that’s why we can schedule posts to go up in our absence. Spend a few days getting ahead and allow yourself some leeway with regular posting, and you’ll find the pressure comes right off….
Like I said before to you…I wish I had so much content up for the coming weeks…reality is that I have not as I generate it usually on Sunday for the rest of that week.
I try to write my reviews soon as well, especially with the amount I watch, else you will forget details or mix them up.
Will try to schedule more and see if that helps!
To answer your question: YES!! 🙂
Breaks are the way to go. Funnily enough when WordPress wouldnt work for us in the UK recently, it made me want to write more. Now its working again, Im writing more than I was. Simple things 🙂
I had a break, but it seems to have done more harm than it did good 😉
With many of my blogs in the past, I’ve got bored and it’s felt like a chore. I’m really involved with this new site, even down to the coding, so it feels more like a passion project.
If I’m not in the mood for writing a review, I write an opinion piece instead as it’s easier and more fun to do.
I’m afraid it will become a chore so that’s why I’m not forcing myself at the moment to have an article up each day. It may mean I do not have had a couple of new installments of “The Many Faces of…” posts, but that way I hope I will get back into normal blogging mode.