Wednesday, August 22, 2012

To Blog, With Love

I think anyone who's blogged for a few years eventually stops and thinks: what the heck do I write about now? It's hard to come up with new, different, and engaging posts when you've already covered everything from writer's arse to a brain like noodles.

And lately, I must admit I'm kinda tired. I love blogging and all the wonderful people I've met -- and I'm nowhere near giving it up -- but I find myself gravitating more and more towards Twitter and Facebook, where the interactions are immediate and it's less labour-intensive to respond.

This summer, I experimented with posting twice a week, and I have to admit it's really increased my enjoyment of blogging! I can comment more proactively and get around to other blogs without feeling rushed. Blogging has actually been fun again.

To that end, I've decided that I'll maintain my twice-a-week schedule, posting on Mondays and Fridays (until my schedule of guest posters runs out in the autumn, and then I'll switch to Thursdays). With some major changes coming up in my life (eep!) along with lots of work I want to get finished before Christmas, I think this new schedule will work a bit better for me.

I hope you'll keep popping by and seeing what I'm up to! I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store for you, too.

Have you changed your blog schedule since starting your blog?  What works for you?

57 comments:

  1. That's why I only post three times a week. I never run out of topics and it doesn't burn me out.

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  2. Yes I started blogging daily, Talli,and now blog weekly - it takes the pressure off so I can enjoy it again. Best of luck with everyhting (eek!)

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  3. Yep, I've changed mine. I'm tired too, but definitely not ready to give it up. I comment rarely now. I just can't do everything anymore. But I try!

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  4. I don't really have a blog schedule, I only post when I have something to say! Luckily (or unluckily!) I usually have something to talk about lol!

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  5. 4 months in, and I'm down to just under weekly from 2/3 posts.I think if, like you Talli, one is trying to write/publicise, run a home...and the Big Arrival in Jan, it's hard to keep momentum. Don't know how you do it!

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  6. I've never blogged daily (other than the A-Z challenges) and that works for me. I'm not usually online much on the weekends...I might throw something up on my fb or twitter or instagram but nothing that requires much thinking or computer time. I have the HP which covers Tues/Wed so I really only have to be original on M/X : ) Well, I do make up the HP questions and that requires thought but I keep a running file of ideas so if I'm stuck I can grab from there.

    Did you want to know all this? : )
    Enjoy your day!

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  7. Talli I absolutely agree and I have myself noticed a subtle shift in how many people are both blogging and commenting. Facebook for example is so much easier for people to deal with, as they more at their fingertips. As I have mentioned before I firmly believe it is quality not quantity that is important and you are going to have important things to contend with in the real world soon as well!

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  8. I post once a week. It makes it so much easier to visit other people. :) I don't post about writing that much. I figure more knowledgeable (than me) people can do that...

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  9. I'm taking all of September for a blog break, and when I come back in October, I'm going to Monday and Friday, too. I love blogging, but I need that extra time to write.

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  10. I switched to twice a week and it feels so much more fun than my previous schedule. I just can't keep up with posting more than that.

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  11. I started out daily, then went to three days, now I blog Monday and Thursday. It seems to work for me. So, as you see, you're not the only one!

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  12. I've been so bad about blogging and commenting lately, but at most I blog 2x a week and at least I blog once every couple of weeks. It's all about working around real life! Hope this new schedule works out for you! <3

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  13. I've always blogged weekly, on a Sunday. That's the day when I have most free time. But I agree, Talli, if your schedule isn't working out for you, change it. If I ever run out of ideas, I shall switch to twice-monthly (although, having blogged this week about Toast, I don't think I'm going to run out of ideas any time soon...)

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  14. I'm sure your new blog schedule will work out better for you. I'm still amazed at all you do, and now you wiil be even busier with your bundle on the way! Julie

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  15. Talli, your new schedule sounds just the ticket! It's always a pleasure to read your posts and to hear all your news. I, for one, will definitely continue popping by :) x x

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  16. Ha, I just changed to a twice-a-week schedule, too. I'm hoping that will give me some more time to write and to think of fresh new things to blog about! Good luck!

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  17. oh, yes! Girl! Cutting my posts down to once a week made all the difference in my ability to enjoy both posting and visiting. I mean, we have to work, we have to write, we have to live. Definitely make your blog fit your life~ :o) <3

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  18. Aww, Talli, I'm with you all the way on the pressure side of things. Sometimes, blogging is great fun and at other times, I feel like a hamster. But that's just me. For what it's worth, I try to blog three times a week. On Mondays, I post Music Monday which is a fun, quick post with my song of the week. On Wednesday, I usually host a guest author on CentreStage. And on Fridays, I 'blog blog' either about myself, my book or antyhing else that is relevant. I can just about keep up with blogging, but it's the commenting that kills me. I love commenting, per se, but it takes so much time... especially as blogger hates me, apparently.

    Anyhoo, see, getting carried away here. Good luck with your new schedule and please know we're all always here. Give yourself plenty of time and space once your new arrival is there (although it'll give you a whole new stream of blogging subjects, hehee!). Take care!

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  19. Glad that you are happy with your blogging schedule. It is hard to find the right balance. I have cut back to three times and week unless something special comes along. It seems to be working for now.

    Siv Maria's blog, Been there, done that...

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  20. What blog schedule? LOL.

    I post when I get the time to do so. For me it keeps it fresher. Thankfully now I can do more posts since my schedule has freed up some.

    I hope to post at least twice a week. Like you, I want more time to catch up with blogger friends and see what new exciting projects they are working on.

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  21. I think you're wise, Talli, particularly with all you have (and will have!) to do. I enjoy blogging but have not blogged nearly as much this year. I can't post every day now - it's too time-consuming and becomes frustrating. I feel I must respond to every commenter and that takes such a long time - and besides I end up spending even more time reading their blogs and blogs they visit which is lovely but there aren't enough hours . . . So, yes, I have to cut down, too:-)

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  22. Good for you. I am down to once a week, and still get lovely comments. I love my blog more as it is no longer a chore. Facebook and Twitter are my active areas now.

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  23. This post is so well said, Talli! I really don't have a blog schedule in the summer. I do have a blog schedule during the Fall, Winter and Spring because I'm busier then.

    I don't have a Twitter and Facebook account so I rely on blogging more than anything. I love blogging but it's starting to catch up to me: I have to think of more ideas that aren't the same and repeated.

    I comment on other blogs more than actual I do blogging. It's amazing how much time I run around the Blogosphere acting like a chicken with my head cut off commenting. In that meantime of commenting, I discover new blogs and perhaps, follow those blogs.

    I have more time to comment in the summer than any other season. So I do take advantage of it whenever I can.

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  24. I had the same reaction and came to the same conclusion, Talli! Ever since I've gone down to two days a week, everything seems so much more manageable!
    I don't know how anyone finds time for Twitter though. How do you keep up with all the followers/following???

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  25. A great idea, Talli - I have 3 blogs and partly neglect two of them and now husband wants me to start a travel blog with him. Time to rethink mine - I try and post about twice a week on my main blog and that works fine. No wonder you need to get organised - time will fly now until your life is not your own!

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  26. I cut back to once a week over a year and a half ago for the same reasons. Of course, lately I've been behind on that too, but sometimes that happens.

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  27. I don't have a schedule, and I never did. I've been at this for about 15 years (I started before blogs even existed) and I have always just blogged when I had something to say. That said, I find myself blogging less and less these days and I'm even thinking of giving up on one of my two blogs. I guess I've about said all I have to say.

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  28. I'm always monkeying with it! You totally have to do what works for YOU to stay in it for the long haul. Hang in there!

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  29. I've never had a set in stone schedule but I try for three times a week. Sometimes though I only post twice and sometimes I sneak in a fourth.
    Your life is going to get even more busy soon.

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  30. Hence I now only post once a week! LOL!!

    Take care
    x

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  31. I post once a week and that seems to work out fine. Sometimes I think of a post during the week and I'll schedule it for later, so that my posts are evenly spaced. I did post more often when I started out, but with the day job and everything else in life (as well as just thinking of subjects!) I couldn't keep it up. Plus I have to make some time for that writing thing ;-)

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  32. Good on you for trying to keep to schedule. I need to look into it.

    All the best!
    Nas

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  33. Yeppers, I've gone from 3 posts a week to 1, at most 2. Much better. More time for slow reads of other's posts and thoughtful commenting.
    Anyway Talli, in a few months all you'll have to do is post baby pics and everyone will be rapt! Then you can start work on your Bringing Up Baby manual, lol!

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  34. I've cut back on posts, too. Once or twice a week feels right. I have something to say or show and have time to visit other folks. I love Twitter for the short, quick chats and the way we can be on top of what's new.

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  35. I had a schedule of every weekend, but after about 18 months basically ran out of material. :D So I cut it to twice a month. The first weekend of the month is the links roundup post I was doing anyway, to interesting stuff I'd seen over the month. (Those are pretty popular. They started out as just a boring list of links, but I started adding in a bit of about what the link was to and a short quote from it. Then people really started liking that post!)

    And then in the middle of the month I do a post about whatever I fancy writing about. It could be an opinion piece, or something about writing or publishing. I'm trying to expand the range of subjects I post about, becasue who needs yet another "what not to do in your query letter" post?

    Of course I'll post out of schedule if I have some big news or have a new release.

    I think writers - as oppsed to dedicated bloggers - tend to get overly anbitiopus when they first start a blog, sure that as a writer of course they'll be able to come up with something to say every day! Then by the end of the week they are posting pictures of their cats out of desperation. (I don't even have cats! I'd be in big trouble!)

    I post more often on my Live Journal, but that's much more informal than on my "official" blog.

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  36. Hi Talli .. I'm a pretty irregular blogger always have been and thankfully it doesn't seem to have deterred anyone .. I quite see your need to cut down.

    At the moment I'm posting quite a few different takes on the Olympics that others might not realise .. so I'll keep doing that til it and I fizzle out, then I'll revert back to normal - however I have Scotland and will have Cornwall to do .. so could be a few more than usual in the pipe line ..

    Cheers and good luck with the next few months - lots of afternoon zizzes called for - they won't be very forthcoming next year?! Happy days Hilary

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  37. Yep. When I started blogging, I wrote 7 days a week, but in my final year at university, I toned down to weekdays. That's where it stays.

    I have to admit though, it's been hard lately, because I have a lot less time to sit and think about what I want to write. Played around with scheduling ahead, but it felt like my blog lost some personality then. :-/

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  38. Good idea! I've never had a schedule... I just blog when I have an idea. Probably should decide on a sched one day :)

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  39. I hear ya! I've made changes and will probably make some more eventually.


    Lee
    Wrote By Rote

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  40. Oh heavens, yes. Keep that twice-a-week schedule. Anything more is overkill, IMO. I was posting once a week, and found that was plenty of interaction, and it gave me more time to visit other blogs. And then lately I changed it to twice a month; I may switch back after I'm not so insanely busy...but maybe not. I think you're right about Twitter and FB being more immediately interactive. Though I still like to connect blog-wise; it's a somewhat different crowd at times. :)

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  41. I see lots of writers doing the same thing, realizing we can cut back and it's okay. I've cut back to once a week, which allows me to visit more blogs on the other days and work more on my writing! :)

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  42. When I first started, I tried posting every day or even multiple times per day. Now I post 3 times a week, max, usually more like 2.

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  43. Hi Talli - this is bizarre. I was sitting on my blog wondering what I should post about. When I started blogging I had loads of ideas and felt really lost this morning. I ended up thinking about my writing and finally posted a 'writing inventory' of what's happening in my writing world. :-)

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  44. I've had to cut back on both blogging and social networking in order to do any writing at all, Talli!

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  45. I'm totally with you! I only blog once or twice a week now, too. Definitely on Twitter more frequently.

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  47. I can relate Talli. I have been blogging for years and recently dropped to a 3 posts per week schedule (MWF). Family and job stuff just does not allow me to visit as many blogs as I want to--important for me to support and write.

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  48. I'm still a newbie blogger, only been at it since November. I started off with one post weekly until I did the Blogging from A to Z Challenge - all the planning it took for me to post 26 blogs in the month of April inspired me to branch out into two posts a week. I find I do better when I plan or plot things out, though I'm still trying to figure out how to blog twice a week, keep up with the bloggers I follow, AND write, when I've got a full-time job...I expect I'll get there eventually! :-)
    Some Dark Romantic

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  49. I feel much the same! I love the blog, and I have no intention of abandoning it, but I find I enjoy being on Twitter more. And with a baby, and writing, it's hard to find the time to fit things in. I'm even thinking of dropping down to posting once a week, unless I have exciting news to share: I think that will make those posts that much better. I don't want to end up being half-hearted.

    I think your schedule works, Talli! Though I do miss Ten for Tuesday :-)

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  50. Sounds like a good plan Talli. I enjoy blogging too, but my problem is feeling I'm devoting too much time to it or not enough. Cutting down the posting schedule certainly helps with that.

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  51. It sounds like we've been going through the exact same mind games regarding blogging & posting. I'm not quite as organized as you though. I've been posting only once or twice a week (random days) and it's working much better for me.

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  52. For the most part, when things are more settled for me, I tend to blog three times a week, four on rare weeks. It gives me the time to go about doing other things as well.

    And you're going to be very busy soon enough!

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  53. I went from three times a week to twice a week to once a week. Next, I'll probably go down to half a time a week.

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  54. I think we're all struggling with this lately! And I'm such a bad blogger... I just post when I think of something worth saying. I should probably follow a schedule like most people seem to do, but I'm afraid that will make it feel like a chore.

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  55. I've done the same. Twice a week is such a better balance for me. :)

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  56. Sounds awesome plan.

    All the best with future changes Talli!

    Riya

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  57. Good plan.
    I went through this battle many times with my blog. "This is Great Britain" was a thrill when I first moved over here, but after being here for almost 3 years, its become the everyday, and hard to keep it up. I've stopped it now, not sure if I will ever go back...it did the job for that time in my life, but its now a new chapter!

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Coffee and wine for all!