Avoiding blogger burnout
"about blogs, the way I see it is this. Blogs are online 'columns'. The big issue is that since we are not subject to editors or newspapers/magazines, we have no given 'subject' to work on. Entertainment columnists work the gossip, critics-food, movies, etc. Politics, etc. either we give ourselves a topic and slavishly stick to it, or we hit ennui as the posts get more and more vague. Finally we stop, wondering why we're posting in the first place..."
Many of my colleagues as well as I are encountering the dreaded 'blogger burnout'. What to write about? If there is no definitive point to be made every week, why would you type unless you like the look of your own words (which is usually enough for some people). There are some who write what happens to their day-to-day lives. I guess that hits the voyeurism aspects of some people, but when you're writing it, you encounter the 'what about my life is so interesting to other people?' question. This blog started as a film industry blog. I was working on a reality show and thought the daily struggles involved in putting it together and dealing with the politics would serve as good fodder. As I went along, I realized a lot of it wasn't interesting even to me. Why relive it by blogging it again? Also, there was the issue of the politics being, well political.
So I changed the focus. It went from "Film Editing in LA" to "Surreal LA". I'd document the strangeness I saw in this patchwork of a town. It went ok for a while, but the photoblog aspect collapsed under it's own weight (and a crappy camera phone), and again the experience of not finding enough to write about.
It really comes down to two factors: the setting of a bar that's unable or unwilling to be kept; and the constant vigilance needed to contribute. When you start a blog, you're making a promise to deliver, day in and day out. It's great practice for writing as that is what you'll be doing. You're required to deliver witty prose at least once per week or else your readership will decline. With the advent of Sitemeter, Blogshares and other such services (see the side bar), blogging took on the aspects of a competitive sport. Who has the most hits?
Blogging is a job. Plain and simple. And for 90% of us, it's an unpaid job that fights for the author's mindshare alongside his real job, life and family. So maybe Sugar & Splice needs another reinvention. A redefinition of what it's purpose is. We'll see as the days develop.
Blogging. Try it sometime.
Many of my colleagues as well as I are encountering the dreaded 'blogger burnout'. What to write about? If there is no definitive point to be made every week, why would you type unless you like the look of your own words (which is usually enough for some people). There are some who write what happens to their day-to-day lives. I guess that hits the voyeurism aspects of some people, but when you're writing it, you encounter the 'what about my life is so interesting to other people?' question. This blog started as a film industry blog. I was working on a reality show and thought the daily struggles involved in putting it together and dealing with the politics would serve as good fodder. As I went along, I realized a lot of it wasn't interesting even to me. Why relive it by blogging it again? Also, there was the issue of the politics being, well political.
So I changed the focus. It went from "Film Editing in LA" to "Surreal LA". I'd document the strangeness I saw in this patchwork of a town. It went ok for a while, but the photoblog aspect collapsed under it's own weight (and a crappy camera phone), and again the experience of not finding enough to write about.
It really comes down to two factors: the setting of a bar that's unable or unwilling to be kept; and the constant vigilance needed to contribute. When you start a blog, you're making a promise to deliver, day in and day out. It's great practice for writing as that is what you'll be doing. You're required to deliver witty prose at least once per week or else your readership will decline. With the advent of Sitemeter, Blogshares and other such services (see the side bar), blogging took on the aspects of a competitive sport. Who has the most hits?
Blogging is a job. Plain and simple. And for 90% of us, it's an unpaid job that fights for the author's mindshare alongside his real job, life and family. So maybe Sugar & Splice needs another reinvention. A redefinition of what it's purpose is. We'll see as the days develop.
Blogging. Try it sometime.
Technorati Tags: burnout
posted by DLoyd76 at 6/17/2005 09:59:00 AM
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