(photo credit: Carol Cole Photography)
Anyway, my intent with this post was actually to discuss this blog a bit. You may have noticed I've been a little quiet this month. In part, I haven't been plowing through the books as quickly as I was for awhile. However, even for those I've read, I admit that I haven't been feeling too inspired to write any reviews. I even recently read a wonderful book that totally surprised me in terms of how much I liked it, but I just haven't mustered up the desire to actually write and post the review. I started to set up the post in my usual review format, but it's still sitting in draft, waiting for me to write the actual review. A little voice in my head keeps hinting that maybe I'm getting burned out on blogging again, but gosh darn it, I hate to think that is what is happening! I want this blog to thrive and be a resource/hangout for those who love to read.
That said, perhaps it's time for me to step back a little bit and perhaps recharge my blogging batteries. I enjoy participating in Teaser Tuesdays and Saturday Snapshot, so I will probably continue to try to write posts for those memes. And of course, I will still try to post reviews regularly, as well, though I may take a break from posting reviews for every single book I read. (I had told myself and even mentioned it here that I was not going to pressure myself to write reviews, but I guess old habits are hard to break!) And frankly, I feel like reviews can get stale. I feel like I'm always using the same talking points, just applying them to different books. I'd like to do something to freshen up the content of this blog, but I'm just not sure yet what that would be.
So that leads me to ask you, dear readers, is there anything new and different you'd like to see here at Melissa's Bookshelf? I may try to work in some general ramblings and musing posts like today's, which I'm tentatively labeling as Thursday Thoughts. (This is mainly due to my OCD side -- I like having my posts on a bit of a schedule, I guess!) But I see other bloggers doing some interesting posts out there -- cover reveals, new release posts, among other ideas, and it makes me wonder if I should branch out more. Then again, if other bloggers are already doing these things, I'm not sure how much I would add to the "discussion." But all thoughts, advice, and suggestions are most welcome and will be taken into consideration.
Thanks for following along with my ramblings today! :-)
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Beautiful dress! I'm with you on blogging burn out. I hate it! But my reviews have been stale for a while and I just don't have a solution. Hopefully you can take a bit of a break and find your joy again. I love rambly posts (though I never seem to write them...) so more of those are good with me.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Melissa! :-) I wish I knew the answer to freshening up reviews! I tried to change my approach awhile back but nothing really stuck. Basically I'm either in love with a book, "meh" about it, or dislike it, and there's just only so much you can say about that. I'm glad to know I'm not the only out there who feels this way about their reviews, though! I do think I'll see if I can get into some regular rambly posts to change things up around here, though. It'll probably take me awhile to get into that habit... Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
DeleteI love that photo! Happy Anniversary! I understand all your 'burn-out' points, I've been there too. I used to be a blog that would post new releases/covers/GPs/giveaways and tidbits about upcoming books, but then everyone else did too.
ReplyDeleteAnd the one thing I DID NOT want to do was be like everyone else. Which is where the whole burn out thing comes in.
Plus, if we just stick to reviews and we don't get comments, we feel like we haven't reached anyone, so what's the point? *that's where I am now*
Regardless of the fact we can see that there is traffic to the blog, but if they don't comment, are we REALLY doing anything productive? Yes, the idea is that we are supposed to blog for fun and for us... but how often does that TRULY 100% occur - especially for those of us who are nailed to the review schedule which is killing me with a capital K.
The typical answer is do what you feel like doing. But maybe you do need to set a goal, what is IT that you really want your blog to represent? And then, how much do you want to spend on it (my primary issue).
(psst I sent you an email earlier, let me know if you did not get it).
how much TIME do you want to spend on it =)
DeleteThanks Marie! You always bring up so many good points that I totally agree with! Blogging, for better or worse, does take a considerable amount of time, and sometimes I wonder if that time would be better spent doing other things. But I try never to let it take away from family time, etc. And then at times I feel like I'm just not doing the blog justice, LOL.
DeleteAnd then that brings me to something else that I probably should have written in the post but forgot about at time time I was writing it (this is why I have a hard time with rambly/musing posts, haha)... By the time I've done everything I need to do on my blog, I feel like I have no time to go visit other blogs and leave comments. So really, I can't complain about no one commenting on my reviews when I am not very good about commenting on other bloggers' reviews, myself. Well, I CAN complain, but I'm just as much at fault for not commenting much, myself.
So, maybe by cutting down the amount of posting I do, I can choose to use that time to go connect on other blogs a little better. Maybe it will help me figure out some direction with this blog, too.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and prompting all of these extra rambles, Marie -- sorry my reply turned into my Thursday Thoughts Part 2!! :-)
I hear you!! I have found that I have much more fun commenting on groups on Goodreads, as many readers are just that: readers. There is no link to my blog did this kinda thing today, it's all about discovering books and talking about characters and camaraderie.. and sometimes blogging in general really fails me in that aspect. Plus, there are cliques out there that make me cringe.. eeek but I won't go THERE...
DeleteSo I feel like in the future, I'll be posting my reviews, and perhaps a bit of a personality will come out in my Sunday Memes post.. but my heart will be elsewhere, such as at group reads on Goodreads.
I know the burnout feeling. For me, it comes when I'm stressed over other things, or pulled too many directions by things to do. I haven't figured out how to maintain the blog at a reasonable level of activity without spending oodles of time on it -- time I could be spending reading, or doing other projects that I either want or need to do. (Not to mention actually working, which, since I freelance, goes in fits and starts.) I wish I had a solution! I'd say, just keep doing what you WANT to do. It's your blog, after all!
ReplyDeleteHey Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI wasn't sure where to put this but i've nominated you for a Liebster Blogging Award because I enjoy your blog :) Just follow this link - http://booksarethebest.com/2013/05/17/liebster-blogging-award/
Hannah
Happy Anniversary!
ReplyDelete