Jun 11, 2015 / Advanced

Beat Back the Blogging Blues

There’s writer’s block, and then there’s blogging ennui. Before you call it quits, try one of these six ways to rediscover your enthusiasm for blogging.

The blogging wells run dry for us all from time to time. There’s regular ol’ “I can’t think of anything to say” writer’s block, when you want to blog but can’t — we’ve written about that before. And then there’s a deeper sense of blogging ennui, when you don’t even want to log in and wonder if it’s time to throw in the blogging towel.

It might be the right time to call it quits; there’s no rule that blogs have to be eternal or that you always need to blog in the same place, and it might be time to close one chapter and start something else. But it might just be the kind of lull we all experience in long-term projects; in all things, from work to parenting to creative pursuits to our favorite TV shows, our enthusiasm waxes and wanes.

Here are six ways to push through the wane and get yourself back in top form:

Give yourself a break (but keep the lights on)

Guest blogger bonus: guest posters might bring in some new fans, and the new posts and readers can help stoke the fires of inspiration.

You take vacations to recharge so you can be the best parent/fireman/student/banker/caretaker/elephant farmer you can be, right? So take a break from your blog to be the best blogger you can be; inspiration and creativity also recharge during time off. If you don’t want to turn the lights out completely, schedule a few posts from your archives to re-run periodically, or line up a few guest bloggers to post while you’re away.

Give yourself a break (and turn the lights out)

Of course, you can turn the lights out, too. If you don’t want to worry about coordinating posts (or don’t think you can stay away from your comments and stats), just walk away. Because when I say away, I mean away: if you have an idea for the blog, jot it down in a notebook; don’t log in. You wouldn’t log in to your work email while on a vacation from the office (I hope!), so don’t do it during your blog vacation.

Whichever “break” option you choose, you can tell your readers you’re taking a break, but don’t feel that you have to; a short absence won’t decimate your readership, and most of your fans will get a notification or see your new posts in the Reader when you return.

And speaking of your return, set an alert in your computer or phone to remind you — maybe more than one. It can be too easy to let a few weeks’ break lapse into a few months, and then into permanent hiatus.

And now for something completely different…

Worried about alienating your readers with new kinds of content? Here’s why I don’t think that’s much of a concern.

If you want to keep to your blogging routine, try a few posts that are radically different from what you usually share. Write a poem. Post photos taken on your afternoon walk. Share a recipe. Pen a rant. Write a letter to a lost loved one. Whatever you normally do, don’t. Shaking up your routine and perspective can breath new life into your blogging.

Give yourself a pep talk

No, really. It’s easy to get wrapped up in your stats (or lack thereof), or to look at other bloggers’ big followings or robust comment sections or beautiful designs and feel inadequate; that can be enough to put us off blogging. At the risk of going Full Smalley, it can be helpful to remind yourself of a few things: why you started blogging. How much you get from it. The personal connections you’ve made. That every blogger was once where you were. That lots of us put our best selves forward online, but our lives (and blogs) have the same ups and downs as anyone else. Ah, perspective!

Tidy up

The Doldrums are in the west, just south of the Mountains of Ignorance. Beware!

The Doldrums are in the west, just south of the Mountains of Ignorance. Beware!

Changing your clothes can change your mood, and it works for blogs, too. Have you had the same theme and header since you started? Give your site a little makeover and see if it doesn’t energize you a bit.  We’ve published some great posts lately on quick design updates, how to assess your blog’s look, creating free custom headers, and how to give your blog clarity and focus through design — start there.  A fresh coat of paint might be all you need to get out of the doldrums.

Get some new perspective — physically

We all have blogging habits. I nearly always write — whether for The Daily Post, or my own blog — from the same overstuffed armchair in the corner of the living room, with my laptop balanced on a pillow and a big glass of icy cold seltzer on the windowsill next to me. Usually, that setup tells my brain, “Time for writing!”

Problem is, sometimes it doesn’t — I get burnt out on the sameness. When that happens, I physically move. I stay away from the chair. I try different places in my apartment, where I have different vantage points. I leave, and go to a cafe, or a library, or a park. The acts of physically moving your body around and of looking up from the screen to see something different are powerful winds that can blow the dust of ennui away.

It still might be time to pull the curtain on your blog; only you know for sure what’s best for you. But give one of these a try first — you might find a way to breathe new life into your blogging, or discover how you want to change it.

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  2. I’ve been on hiatus from my blogs for nearly a month. No for the lack of topics, but due to distracting disturbances. Today, I started a post on Wicked Good HR.

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  5. This is right in line with the reasons why I took a hiatus for about 8-9 weeks recently. I’ve published two new posts since resuming the blog. It’s not like I had stopped working on the blog, but I couldn’t do certain things to revamp the design AND create new posts. Glad I took the break and I’m even more glad that your article validates taking breaks from time to time.

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  6. Perfect. Timely! It’s only been less than a month since I published my last post but I feel like I’ve left blogging for soooo long. I mean, I miss writing something more “ME”, and not just posting giveaways or events to fill the blog. The past weeks I’ve had some interesting things in mind I wanted to write but can’t seem to begin with the first line nor think about a good title. Gets pretty frustrating, really. Anyway, so glad to read this. I’ll try to do some of these. Hmmm maybe all I need is just a few days off the screen and go out swimming. We’ll see. 🙂 Thanks!

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  8. Maybe even just changing the background colour might help for some bloggers. (I’ve never tried it yet for blogging motivation.)

    Interesting thought about blogging habits and what we do to cozy up for inspiration. I need to be at home to do it. I have great admiration for bloggers who travel and blog about what they are seeing. I can’t do that during a travel trip. Too distracting. I can only focus on photo-shooting. I need to absorb the trip afterwards and draw threads of essence from the experience in order to write a blog post or 2 that I like.

    The idea of occasionally offering a poem or just a café menu of a favourite bistro that you visited is a nice switch for readers. AFter all, they don’t always have time to read every single word in a blog post.

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  9. My motivation is:
    *share with my family, closest friends what I see and experience….they live thousands of kms. away!! I don’t share via Facebook since some don’t use it. Besides blogging gives me more flexibility to write better and compose a nice looking post with several photos to draw their attention.

    *I am writing for an international audience. What I see everyday as a Canadian, someone else in another country doesn’t have at ….all. Like bison, squirrels, salmon fish, etc. Relook at your everyday world and ask yourself: what if I was forced to move to another country, what would I miss seeing where I live now.

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  12. Thanks for this! As a new blogger, I can use this type of advice and motivation. I really liked the one about changing locations. My alternate spot is a local coffee house not far from home.

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  13. I rarely leave a response, however after reading some of the comments on Beat Back the Blogging Blues . I do have a couple of questions for you if it’s allright. Is it just me or do a few of the responses come across like they are left by brain dead visitors? 😛 And, if you are posting at other social sites, I’d like to follow you. Would you post a list of the complete urls of your social pages like your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?

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  16. Thanks 4 the tips they’ll really come in handy.Can relate to the well being dry and a little inspiration and new perspective goes a long way into remeding the situation

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