So I’ve been plugging away for almost four months now on this blog. I’ve really had a blast doing it and have enjoyed the interactions with other bloggers. All in all, it’s been a worthwhile endeavor and a fun experiment of sorts. However, along the way I’ve faced challenges with blogging and I thought that, in itself, might merit a post. So without further ado, here are some of the challenges, issues and questions I’ve had while blogging the last few months.
Finding Time to Blog: At first, this really wasn’t an issue. I wasn’t actively playing an MMO when I started this blog, so in the evenings I had a fair amount of free time to read everyone else’s blog, comment, read the news sites, and still formulate one or two postings per evening. However, now that I’m back into playing an MMO on a regular basis, I’m finding evening blogging to be a real challenge. Unfortunately, it’s my best option. I can’t blog from work, and getting up at 6 a.m. to do so isn’t viable either. What I’m finding is that I’ve had to cut down on the number of other blogs I read (in detail), and I just skim and scan more. I also have cut down on the number of news sites in my RSS feed, and tend to scan news items much more quickly. Essentially, I’ve had to try and do in one hour what I used to take an entire evening to do at a more leisurely pace, just to ensure that I can game for a couple of hours afterward. I know others have a more flexible schedule and can blog at various times during the day. But for those who must blog at night, how do you juggle it with other things?
Staying Consistent: When I first started, I heard that if you could make it to the three month mark you were probably on a good track to continue in your blogging. So off I went, posting one or two things per day for six days out of the week. My main goal was to get something up every day just to stay consistent and not fall off the wagon. It didn’t have to be earth shattering, but it did need to be something I felt was important or interesting. I’m glad to say that I really haven’t had a huge problem staying consistent. My normal routine now is to blog M-F and generally take the weekends off (unless something really interesting strikes my fancy). I have noticed that, due to the time constraints noted above, that I’ve had to miss a day or two here and there this past month. I like to think I have a sight where people can look forward to one or two new things every morning with their coffee and RSS feed going. I certainly appreciate sites that update regularly with new content, and I’m striving to do that as well.
Writer’s Block: At times it’s not hard to find things to blog about. It might be a pet topic, a soapbox, or something you suddenly find yourself passionate about. Often times I’ll also have my interest sparked by interviews, news articles, and other blog entries or comments. But at other times I’ve found it exceedinly difficult to maintain consistency and have anything to really write about. Maybe it’s a quiet news week. Maybe every blog out there already seems to be saying the same things about the same stories. Maybe I just need a new soapbox heh. At times I’ve found it hard to say something unique or different that you feel you haven’t read 100 times in the last few months. So one of the things I’ll continue to experiment with is what I want to write about regarding MMOs, and I’m still very much trying to find my own particular voice I think.
Fighting the Tsunami: This relates to my first point about finding time to blog. A feed reader is a wonderful thing, but trying to keep up with everything that’s out there can be overwhelming. Some days it feels like I’m trying to keep up with too many other blogs, read them all, read 20 different news site feeds, etc. It can eat up a ton of time and can leave you with little time to actually get your own content written. So I’m still finding that balance between making sure I’m connected enough to what’s going on without it consuming all of my time. I have actually deleted a few sites off my reader in the last week or so in an attempt to focus and consolidate. Oftentimes the news sites will contain the same stories over and over, so there’s room to downsize there. With blogs it’s much harder as there are so many good and interesting blogs out there. I really want to see what people are writing about. So I’ll continue to surf the information wave here and try and make it manageable.
As I’ve said before, it’s been a lot of fun to blog but it’s not been without its challenges. I’m continually amazed by how other writers are able to post up 2-3 things per day, or even do a podcast in addition to their site, and still have time to game or do anything else. I continue to learn and look to others for advice and examples. I’d be interested in hearing if these are some of the same struggles and challenges you have faced in your own blogging, or if you have different mountains you’ve had to climb.
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November 26th, 2007 at 6:29 pm - Edit
Yeah…we all have those issues to be sure and I really feel your pain on this one. The way to get around this, and this is going to sound corny, is to really feel passionate about what you write. If you’re not passionate about it, don’t write about it. If the subject doesn’t get you angry, happy or make you cry then its not worth your time. Don’t feel pressure from readers to post as often and as early as possible..they’re not going anywhere unless you stop posting for weeks on end.
The MMO community is extremely diverse and really, since you are “new” there are lots of topics we haven’t heard about from you. Pick anything that really gets your goat and just talk about it and your audience will follow. You’ll get some people saying “hey, we already talked about it” and the answer to that is “well I haven’t”
I’ve found that all of those have hit me quite a bit this year because its been quite dry in terms of the MMO news that has come out….but its about to get a lot more interesting as we get into 2008.
So, best thing you can do is post when you can about what you like until the storm comes.
November 26th, 2007 at 7:18 pm - Edit
Sometimes I just ramble. That’s the key to always having something to say… just ramble about anything.
I sometimes have to remind myself that “hey, this is my blog and if I feel like posting nothing but a pile of gibberish then god bless me it’s my right to do so!”.
So far you’ve been a success in your blogging regardless of the difficulties you have faced (they’re normal btw). I read every blog on my blogroll and yours is one of them. Keep up the good writing.
November 27th, 2007 at 8:50 am - Edit
The real pain is when you think you want to write about something, then you get halfway through the blog and realize the point you were making is wrong or the article just doesn’t make sense for some other reason. So then you’ve wasted all that time that you could have spent on another blog. I’ve gotten frustrated and put off writing for most of a day because I didn’t think something through before I started writing and ended up deleting a half-written article.
Reading a lot of other blogs takes a good bit of time, but I’ve found that it’s the best inspiration for my own articles. One of the things I love about the blogosphere is that separate blogs end up being two parts of a discussion. I’ll write about something related to this article, then someone writes about something related to that article, and so on. Eventually, you have to smash a topic with a hammer to prevent it from being picked up again.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:10 am - Edit
Writers block can be hard. Dont try to write earth shattering articles each time I just start writing about my adventures in games when I am stumped, like I have been all through November. Actually that is making blogging more fun. I am not out to write ground breaking views and ideas for MMO’s but I do want people to see they can be fun.
November 27th, 2007 at 10:48 am - Edit
It’s your blog:) You are under no pressure to write for others:) Write for yourself, when you feel like it and when the mood hits you:)
November 27th, 2007 at 10:51 am - Edit
Happy four month anniversary!
Thanks for all the effort you put into your blog. It has become one of my favorite.
November 27th, 2007 at 11:47 am - Edit
I have faced those same issues on various levels. Everyone is different, some people can crank out multiple posts everyday and only invest a few hours in the process. I envy them, I am not that person. I struggle my writing, my thoughts are usually disjointed and I tend to do lots of reparing before a rough draft surfaces.
If you are becoming stressed with your writing, I’d take a break. I’m the king of taking breaks. I’m content with knowing I won’t ever see 2000 + hits a day on plaguelands and guys like Tobold will see 2k+ for the effort they put in.
Are you sure you are having Writers Block? At first, that’s where I placed the blame, but honestly, sometimes I have nothing to add or say about at topic being bandied about by fellow bloggers. That’s fine. If you aren’t playing any MMOGs it can be difficult to write about them. When you are playing them it can be hard to write about because you are busy playing and have a full plate of real-life.
If you are trying to save time I would definitely only read the blogs you want to read. You don’t have to keep up on everything — and to be honest there are very few blogs out there providing original content. The majority just repost news blurbs interjected with their own opinion. (I’m guilty).
Another tip that may help is by grouping blogs into a folder in your RSS Reader may help you pour through feeds much quicker and help keep perspectives fresh. Sometimes when reading an individual blog my mind glazes over and I burn out because not every post is worth reading and these aren’t Pulitzer Prize authors I’m reading. If the posts are mixed up from dozens of blog into one feed, it’s a lot easier to manage and parse through, keeping my sanity intact.
The last thing is if you are hardcore with your writing, don’t stress about it. Don’t read to much into your own writing and don’t nitpick it to pieces, because you can do that forever. You can rewrite the same post a dozen times over and still not be satisfied with the result. I also designate a certain amount of time to work on a post, this includes research. If I get distracted, I stop working on it. Sometimes it’s easier to write under your own deadlines.
I like this blog, no matter how much you post, I’ll keep reading. )
November 27th, 2007 at 1:03 pm - Edit
Thanks for the support and encouragement folks! Obviously I’m not the only person to have come up against these particular challenges, so that’s nice to know. Great advice from everyone and I do read every comment.
I’ll certainly take these suggestions to heart as I continue on with my blogging.
December 4th, 2007 at 11:01 pm - Edit
Nope…I fight that every day. I have a “one post per day M-F” policy, which I only think I’ve messed up once or twice so far. But you’re right about one thing…I was just thinking today that I have no idea how I would get my blogging done if I were currently in an MMO full-time.
A tip of the hat to you on that one.
As far as “finding things to write about”…I’ve stopped worrying about whether or not someone has written about something already. It ultimately doesn’t matter, because I haven’t written about it yet. And LagORama is basically just typing out what I usually bitch to my wife about anyway, so I might as well share the love.
So to speak.
I understand your “blogging plan”…I have something similiar. You’re not just writing for yourself…otherwise, you could use a notebook.
However, don’t worry about what someone else is going to think about your blog…just enjoy it (as you obviously do), and the rest will take care of itself.
December 10th, 2007 at 10:28 am - Edit
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