Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is a
really awesome meme that you should be doing along with the rest of us
writers. Unless you truly are happy with your writing and don't feel the
need to vent about your insecurities because they don't exist for you. But, really.... Don't they?
IWSG is hosted by Captain Ninja Alex at his blog, Alex J. Cavanaugh.
IWSG is hosted by Captain Ninja Alex at his blog, Alex J. Cavanaugh.
Hey, everybody. I haven't blogged in a while (nearly 2 months now), but there has been a reason. That reason is related to my post today, which is to say that I haven't been blogging lately because I don't know what to blog about!
Here I am, writing my Young Adult vampire novel, trying to get the first draft finished and unable to think of what topics to blog about over here. I might be struggling because I'm not thinking about my blog. I'm thinking about my novel! So, there really is nothing for me to say here except, "I wrote 1,000 words today," or "I thought of a really cool idea for my book's cover."
I would end up saying this just about every day or every week that it would get boring real quick. So, how do you other bloggers that write novels do it? What do you write about and how to do you think of these topics?
I struggle mostly because my passion for blogging has waned so much, even though I want to get some of it back. Maybe not so much that it infringes upon my writing time (which, thankfully, is A LOT). If anyone has any suggestions from blog-land, I would LOVE to hear them!
I would rarely blog if I had to think up topics for my blog often. That's why I do theme days, so to speak (IWSG, Book Chat, Bookworm News, Writing Update). It helps me keep on track and gives me a reason to pre-schedule posts, sometimes weeks and months in advance.
ReplyDelete@Cherie: That does sound like it works. I might need to figure out some weekly themes to keep me blogging regularly. Although I hate copying others, so I'll have to make up my own.
DeleteIs there any way you could tie your blog posts into your novel? If you've done any research on vampires, could you write a post using some of that info? Or on your setting? The fact that you're making progress on your writing is awesome. Don't be too hard on yourself. :)
ReplyDelete@Madeline: I might be able to figure out how to blog about the things I'm researching in my novel. That's a good idea. Thanks for your encouragement!
DeleteHow do you research for a vampire novel?
ReplyDelete@worddreams: How do I research for a vampire novel? Well, I specifically have to research ancient Rome for my novel and I come up with my own origin story for my vampires. It's not really vampire research, technically.
DeleteI never run out of blog ideas, but then the style of my blog means there is always something happening and news to report.
ReplyDeleteKeep writing!
@Alex: I don't have your style blog because I'm not a hub for writer blog news. But, thanks anyway, Alex.
DeleteI've backed waaaaay off from my blogging for the same reason. I know blog once a month, on IWSG day. I blog, visit blogs, comment, and spend my day communicating with other writers. But then, I go back to my work in progress. After all, if I'm not writing, I'll never get it published. Nice to meet you. :D
ReplyDeleteSheesh. Should have read it before I published my comment! I meant, "I NOW blog once a month..."
Delete@Candilynn: That's okay! I know what you meant to write! I do pretty much the same things--keeping in touch with other bloggers and blog occasionally. If I spend all my time blogging, I'll never get any writing done.
DeleteI generally blog once a month too. Mostly because I feel overwhelmed now that I'm getting ready for Novel #3. Gads, this marketing-slash-writing-blogging is hard work! Probably good that nobody told me in advance.
ReplyDeleteHappy IWSG, Candilynn!
@Joylene: Yes, this is a hard thing to juggle with all the writing we need to do. I guess we just have to give ourselves permission to blog when we can because our main priority is writing our books!
DeleteNothing wrong with spacing it out if you need time to write. I went on hiatus recently and thinned my blogging schedule from twice- to once a week. Of course, that plan will go out the window during cover reveal and release day weeks. LOL
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of topics to blog about, and it doesn't need to take you tons of time. Lara Lacombe is a great example of someone who varies her content and keeps her posts short. Me, not so much. xD
Anyhow, welcome to the group. :)
IWSG #268 (until Alex culls the list again or I goof and get myself deleted. :P)
@Melissa: Thanks. I want to blog about what's relevant to my readers, which why I'm struggling to blog.
DeleteWhy not post a poll somewhere and ask them?
DeleteHappy IWSG day!!! I think putting too much worry into my blogging almost killed my blogging spirit. If I had to be profound and writerly every time I logged on, I'd be done for. I think personal updates and thoughts are good things to blog about. I mean, it's about community right? Every conversation you have with a friend isn't about world peace, sometimes you talk about the weather. Or maybe I'm not blogging right. Doesn't matter...I'll do what I want ;)
ReplyDelete@Elizabeth: Good point! I suppose I need to lighten up and just blog about whatever I want to, even if it's not super meaningful to what few blog followers I even have. Thanks for the advice!
DeleteCongrats on working on your WIP, 1000-words in a day, and a cool cover idea!! I SO understand about the blog vs WIP situation. It's not really the blog posts that get me, it the fact I return the comments. I enjoy reading everyone's posts, but it can become a bit of a time suck. My tip is to feature guest blog posts or feature authors' books. That at least gets rid of thinking what to write about ... the commenting is still rough though. Good luck on your WIP!!!
ReplyDelete@Lexa: Guest posts and book features sounds like a great idea! Why didn't I think of that? But, that's why I blogged about this topic, so I could read someone really smart idea. Thanks so much, Lexa!
DeleteI sometimes struggle with post ideas for my blog as well. No one told me how hard it is to keep up with life, social media and be a writer at the same time. I used to write posts on the fly but now I've taken to jotting down notes and ideas for posts in a journal so that the next time I have to do a post I can just flip through the pages and ideas will jump out at me. It's a little easier to blog when I have books to review which I'm really glad about. Though I do find that as a blog reader the posts I most enjoy are the ones that aren't reviews or cover reveals but the ones about people's lives or about how their writing has been going. Maybe some writing updates and just tidbits about idea what you have during the week would be a fun way to update your blog without too much time spent thinking about what to post?
ReplyDelete@Lan: Maybe you're right, Lan. I do like the posts about the blogger's life and how their writing life is going. I guess I assume nobody will want to hear about that from me because I'm not special enough, or something. But, I suppose once or twice as a trial couldn't hurt.
DeleteThanks! This is why you're my writing partner.... ;)
I think we all struggle for post ideas. One day nothing and then I get busy, so busy I haven't time for the real important stuff like writing. I use my blog for promotion and helping to promote other writers. Maybe blog once a week or once every two weeks, or once a month. At least keep present so when your novel is released you'll have support.
ReplyDelete@Cathrina: Very good idea. I should try to blog regularly until my book is ready to be published, so I'll have that much needed support. Thanks!
DeleteSo far I have yet to run out of ideas, it helps when you can rant about just about anything, even nonsense lol over 2 years and a half without missing a day, on a roll
ReplyDelete@Pat: Sounds like you have this whole thing figured out!
DeleteIf you don't expect to blog every day, you should be fine. My blog is about books and if I'm not reviewing or interviewing or offering a guest post, I talk about what I'm currently reading or discovering or the research I'm doing for a story. And if all else fails, I look up "this day in history" and do a birthday meme.
ReplyDeleteMind you, I don't get anywhere near as many comments as you do! ;-) I mean, a short post saying you don't know what to post about and you get two dozen comments! So cheer up!
@Sue: You have some really great blog post ideas! I may have to implement some similar. I just need to have something to say that isn't completely ridiculous to my blog followers, and that's hard, for me at least.
DeleteI only post about once a week, not counting my Friday writing links, and I still find it hard to think up new things to write about. Every once in a while I'll go several weeks without blogging. It happens. Glad you're part of the IWSG.
ReplyDelete@Ken: Glad to know I'm not the only one finding this a tough issue!
DeleteI read and review or host authors and their book tours. And I write for memes. And I add the occassional random post. I never run out of posts, I run out of time!
ReplyDeleteshahwharton.com
@Shah: That's sounds so great! I will need to get more involved in book tours and memes other than IWSG. Thanks. :D
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