Yeah, I was thinking about quitting. Or at least taking a hiatus.
For the past couple months, I’ve had trouble coming up with blog topics. I started wondering if I had already covered every writing topic I was qualified to write about. I’ve been falling behind in reading blogs, too. My Feedly list is kinda long.
And I was a little bit grumpy this weekend because the latest chapter in my WIP was falling flat. I didn’t know exactly what was wrong with it — just that what should have been an exciting chapter had turned out trite and remote. As if the the MC was keeping his distance from the reader.
In an effort to avoid the problem, I opened Feedly … aaaand there was that long list of neglected posts waiting for me. Too much guilt! My cursor hovered over the Mark All As Read button. Then I spotted Marcy Hatch’s post Building Better Characters. I thought, why not?
Marcy’s post on finding a third level of emotion showed me what was wrong with my chapter and what I need to do to fix it. Blogging wins again!
Together as writers we have a wealth of information, strategies, and insights. Giving up blogging just because I’m struggling a little for post topics right now would be silly. Today, one of my best blogging friends gave me two things I needed: an insight into what was wrong with my chapter — and a blog post.
Go read Marcy’s post.
While you’re at it, buy her book!
Glad you found Marcy’s post so helpful and decided to continue blogging. I get tired of blogging sometimes too, but I always come back to it. It’s a great community of author friends.
I’m glad you found that character building exercise helpful 🙂
I read her post and it was awesome! I’ll use it for my next story.
There is a wealth of information we share through blogging.
Probably not on my blog, though – I’m just here to amuse.
I’ve not had any blog ideas for a while now. I keep thinking I should change it from being a “blog” section and more of an “updates” section, so that I’d only have to write when I had something new to share. For now, it’s just getting neglected. Poor, sad blog. And I definitely know what you mean about there being too many blogging friends for me to really keep up with them. I’ve found that I just can’t follow those people that post every day or three times a week, etc. It’s like the people who post every three minutes on Twitter. For my own sanity, I have to block or unfollow them. I don’t like hearing from the same person fifty times a day. For what it’s worth, I do love your blog 🙂
I admit I’ve been very busy lately and I tend to remember at the last minute that I’m supposed to post to my blog. I don’t want to stop blogging though. I love talking to other writers on our blogs.
What a good reason to keep blogging! Finding out what other people think about writing (and other things) always keeps me coming back. And I know I’m definitely glad you’re still around.
How very perfect! Go Marcy! Go you! But I hear you about blogging. Whenever I think about quitting, I always come back to all the people I’ve met (and whom I love) through blogs. I just can’t let go just yet. I still need all of you too much. (So thank you for not quitting). 🙂
Hi Dianne – blogging opens some wonderful doors … with lots of opportunity – and I hear what you say – but I couldn’t easily leave off. It’s adapting isn’t it … I’m just glad I left my blog open-ended so I can write what I want to … makes life easier – yes then I overdose with posting – but that’s life … I’d hate to leave it though. Cheers – Hilary
I’ve gone through this myself. It passes as life gets more exciting. 🙂
Anna from Elements of Writing
Yay! So happy you found the answer you needed, and who better than Marcy? I hear you about blogging. The social media arena has changed so much over the past year. It’s tough to know how to adjust best. I’m glad you’re here, though.
What would we do without this epic community? I’m glad you’re moving again. I had a moment not too long ago where I got hung up on a chapter and lost an entire two weeks trying to get past it. MISERY.
I’m always surprised where I find the nugget I need to keep going. Glad you stumbled on this. There is a plan out there, all we have to do is bumble around until we trip over it. Congratulations.
I looked at my list of ideas this morning and realized it’s shorter than it’s ever been. I do worry that I’ll run out, but I get inspired by reading other people’s blogs. If we feel uninspired, we just need to read more!
Hi Dianne!
I “met” you on Stephanie Faris’s blog. 🙂
I can really relate to this post – both the wanting to quit blogging and the guilt associated with a backlog of unread posts. A couple of things have really helped me, so I thought they were worth sharing.
One thing that has completely turned my blog around is that I started blogging for potential readers of my work, not writers. (I realize this is tougher to do when you’re a middle-grade author.) Writers are still my primary audience, I find, but at least I’m writing about things that interest me instead of struggling to come up with yet another uplifting advice post. And I’ve sold a few books too!
As for commenting, I have a program that turns my to-do list into a roleplaying game (Habitica.com if you’d like to check it out – it’s awesome!) and I’ve put “Comment on a blog” on my daily to-do list. Sometimes I visit more than one, but I find if I do at least one a day, it doesn’t take much time and it’s a lot more manageable than visiting 20 at once.
Hope this helps! Nice to “meet” you.
Blogging (and returning comments) can definitely be a time suck, but the staunchest and most supportive group of writers are your blogging buddies and mine! I may get tired, but I get a wealth of info and encouragement too. Keep blogging, Dianne! 🙂
I try to generate a blog post at least once a week, but here lately while I’ve been trying to finish my latest, I’ve failed at even that. The book is finished now and I’m determined to claw my way back, because this community is special and drifting away from it would be unforgivable.
I’ve tried to post at least once a week just to keep some sort of presence while I work on my latest book, but I’ve failed. The book is finished now (first draft) and I’m determined to claw my way back because this community to special to drift away from. That would be unforgivable!
I often think about not blogging because I feel like I’m saying the same stuff over and over again. Half the time I have to check my previous entries just to make sure I haven’t covered something already when I’m about to write an entry. >_< But it's always good to see that there's someone or something out there that can help keep this going. Interesting article on that page, too – I'm going to have to keep that in mind, because sometimes I don't delve into my characters' thoughts as much as I should.