It’s been a while since I’ve posted, and I wanted to write an update about what’s been going on for me.
I’ve been struggling lately with the direction in which I want to take this blog. I’ve often felt like it’s disjointed, that it lacks a cohesive subject matter or at least a unifying voice. This makes it more difficult to come up with content, in addition to the blog being, I think, a less useful resource. And I get very frustrated when I write those fluffy, straightforward posts (10 tips for whatever, How to Reach Your Ultimate Potential.) It just feels unnatural to write, somehow inauthentic. . . I think maybe the positive, self-help sort of moralizing is not a good fit for me. I don’t even know why I do it. Is that what I think people want to hear? (Maybe they actually do, but you wouldn’t know it based on my number of blog subscribers! *waves*)
Many, many times I’ve thought about quitting blogging. Maybe it’s not for me, maybe I don’t understand how this works. Most of the blogs I find on WordPress are pretty formulaic and uninteresting, even the really popular ones. I especially hate the Creative Commons images that I continually put on each and every post because I’ve read over and over again that YOU MUST INCLUDE PICTURES ON YOUR POSTS. Seriously, who is clicking on my blog to see a generic picture of a latte and a laptop?!!? Thinking about it, it’s definitely possible that blogging is just not for me.
This coronavirus period has been a useful excuse to step back and reflect on my priorities, research new directions, and plan for the future. I’ve decided, for starters, that I’m not quite ready to quit this blog yet. Even though I haven’t found my niche. I think it’s a useful exercise to experiment with form, and it gives me a good reason to write regularly. I like having a digital home for my unpublished writing. And somewhere deep down I feel like this blog has the potential to be interesting, useful, and whole. Something that more accurately reflects who I am.
So that’s the goal, in a nutshell. I have no concrete plans for where I’m going to take this yet. I just wanted to verbalize some things I’ve been thinking about.
Don’t feel pressured into finding a niche, or even a theme. If listicles feel inauthentic to you, just ask yourself what you’d enjoy reading the most and write more of that. I’m rooting for you to stay on here and find your true potential! Take care now.
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Thanks for the comment and the encouragement! I really appreciate it! : )
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Ha ha, I’ve written a few versions of this type of thing, which I always delete. I’ve gotten to the point that I shut the damned thing down out of frustration. I know WHY I blog and have no shortage of creative original ideas to write about that nobody hardly ever reads, absolutely original interesting and in my view brilliant content. about 185 posts since June 2017. Write for a reason, not to chase follows and likes, and yes it seems futile, but you get better at writing each post. Maybe inform us about some research you’ve done on something that seems interesting and under-covered. I have been using Adobe Photoshop to illustrate my posts. If you want to take a look at my stuff, to see if I’m full of crap, leave a comment and I’ll take down the force field for a day to let you and whatever few other people who have no lives take a peek. Also, I have no social life outside of the stupid blog. Blech,
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Hey, thanks for the comment! It’s actually really great to hear from someone who’s in the same boat. My condolences, though! I feel for you. And it’s a good point: writing for writing’s sake is really more my wheelhouse anyway. If the practice makes me a better writer, it’s worth it. I’d love to take a look at your blog, if you want to let down that forcefield! (Really impressed you do your own illustrations too.)
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well then, I am bored, I shall reopen the blog for 24 hours, mmpmagicmodernizationproject.com look at the illustration for https://mmpmagicmodernizationproject.com/nekkos-game-part-1-nameless-and-the-black-goddess/
I have no artistic talent, so used images stolen from the Internet, but modified with great care using Photoshop. Now I am researching the illustration for https://mmpmagicmodernizationproject.com/ten-ways-to-lose-your-mind-2/
Which will be a kind of Geisha holding a floating moon-shaped balloon in one hand and the hair of the poor androgynous lover, kicking and screaming, in the other. Or something.
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Not all blogs need to have a niche. Just write what you like. 🌼
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