I am a bad story blogger
Before I dive too deep into this, I'd like to define what exactly I mean by "story blogger." There are book bloggers (who discuss bookish things like reviews) and writing bloggers (who discuss writerly things like editing), then there are story bloggers like me who write about whatever they want whenever they feel like it.
Cool, now that that's out of the way, I have a confession to make. I am a bad story blogger.
The more I read other people's blogs, the more I realise that maybe I don't belong on this thing called the Internet. There are bloggers out there who read 600 books a year. They have funny and interesting reviews about them. Other bloggers write 500,000 words in a month. Other people have interesting thoughts on the writing process, and their posts and funny and deep and relevant. Sometimes one person does all of this.
Hahaha, yeah. I don't even know how many books I read each year. Probably a lot less than 600. I don't write nearly as much as other people. I don't read the right books, I hear about new books really late and I don't read many of the popular books. Some people have published books. Others have self-published books. For goodness sakes, I've only just hopped aboard the bolding-the-questions-at-the-end bandwagon AND my blog topic is so random that I need three descriptors, all of which are wide themselves (travel, stories and random. How's that for a wide topic? You know all that blogging advice that says you should only focus on one subject? HAHAHAHA).
AAAAHHH.
But the more I freak out, the more I realise that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that I can't keep up because there will always be someone who has read more, written more, gets more comments, writes better posts, etc. etc. I'm sure there's someone out there who thinks I'm doing better than they are, and I know I look at other people and think they're doing way better than me.
The fact of the matter is that even if I read 10,000 books in a year, it still won't be enough. I've had to learn to be happy with what I'm doing, and to not get hung up on how I haven't read every single book out there or written a million words a year or have the most successful blog in Middle Earth (err, on the Internet). I have a suspicious feeling that at one point or another, we all feel like bad bloggers/writers/readers/students/workers/people. And maybe that's ok.
Maybe there is no such thing as a good blogger.
Do you ever feel like a bad blogger? How do you get over that feeling of complete incompetence? (My answer is to write rants and post them, then watch lots and lots of Marvel because Captain America is cool, but I'd love to hear your suggestions.)
Cool, now that that's out of the way, I have a confession to make. I am a bad story blogger.
The more I read other people's blogs, the more I realise that maybe I don't belong on this thing called the Internet. There are bloggers out there who read 600 books a year. They have funny and interesting reviews about them. Other bloggers write 500,000 words in a month. Other people have interesting thoughts on the writing process, and their posts and funny and deep and relevant. Sometimes one person does all of this.
Hahaha, yeah. I don't even know how many books I read each year. Probably a lot less than 600. I don't write nearly as much as other people. I don't read the right books, I hear about new books really late and I don't read many of the popular books. Some people have published books. Others have self-published books. For goodness sakes, I've only just hopped aboard the bolding-the-questions-at-the-end bandwagon AND my blog topic is so random that I need three descriptors, all of which are wide themselves (travel, stories and random. How's that for a wide topic? You know all that blogging advice that says you should only focus on one subject? HAHAHAHA).
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| I also have this thing for adding random pictures in that have nothing to do with the post. |
But the more I freak out, the more I realise that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that I can't keep up because there will always be someone who has read more, written more, gets more comments, writes better posts, etc. etc. I'm sure there's someone out there who thinks I'm doing better than they are, and I know I look at other people and think they're doing way better than me.
The fact of the matter is that even if I read 10,000 books in a year, it still won't be enough. I've had to learn to be happy with what I'm doing, and to not get hung up on how I haven't read every single book out there or written a million words a year or have the most successful blog in Middle Earth (err, on the Internet). I have a suspicious feeling that at one point or another, we all feel like bad bloggers/writers/readers/students/workers/people. And maybe that's ok.
Maybe there is no such thing as a good blogger.
Do you ever feel like a bad blogger? How do you get over that feeling of complete incompetence? (My answer is to write rants and post them, then watch lots and lots of Marvel because Captain America is cool, but I'd love to hear your suggestions.)
I LOVE this post! It's so easy to feel like I'm just flailing alone in my little corner of the internet (but what if the internet's a circle?) without doing anything worthwhile. And I don't think you're a bad blogger-the variety is refreshing!
ReplyDeleteYou just blew my mind. The internet is so totally a circle.
DeleteYou put it pretty well, I'm glad I'm not the only one. Why, thank you :)
I think it's just interesting how pretty much everyone feels like this, no matter how "popular" they are on the Interent. (Or life, for that matter.)
I get this. I often feel so inadequate in the world of blogging (not even to mention the real world), but I almost agree with you that there is no such thing a good blogger, only I'd say there's no such things as a bad blogger. There's just a whole bunch of us learning to swim together. :) It helps me to remember that - no one actually has it made, even if they do look perfect, so there's hope for all of us.
ReplyDeleteI'm becoming more and more disbelieving of the blogging advice to stick to one topic too, because most of the blogs I enjoy are entirely random, and it's always fun seeing what people come up with next. So basically, keep it up Victoria, because you are a good blogger. :)
That's a very good point. There are no bad bloggers, there are no good bloggers, there are just people trying their hardest and that's what counts. Very good points, Jessica.
DeleteI think it's kinda weird to just stick to one topic because I'd run out of ideas very quickly, personally. (Hence the randomness that happens on this blog.) Thank you very much :)
O_O I feel like this so much. Like, I always worry that I talk too much about the same thing or that I mix it up too much when I do try to vary things. And I always just feel like I'm pretending to know what I'm talking about. BUT YOU TOTALLY BELONG ON THE INTERNET, VICTORIA, DON'T YOU DARE EVER STOP BLOGGING. YOU ARE NOT A BAD BLOGGER. I LOVE READING YOUR BLOG AND YOU ARE DOING SO WELL. *nods* *gives you coffee beans* *hides because stage fright*
ReplyDeleteBUT LIZ YOUR BLOG IS AMAZING!!! It is really hard, though, I agree. You overthink stuff and stage fright and ugh. THANK YOU LIZ! YOU TOO, IF YOU STOP BLOGGING I WILL TRACK YOU DOWN, SIT YOU IN YOUR CHAIR AND FORCE YOU TO BLOG BY WITHHOLDING COFFEE BEANS UNTIL YOU WRITE. THANK YOU! (ALSO SORRY FOR ALL THE CAPS BUT I CANNOT ADEQUATELY DESCRIBE STUFF WITHOUT IT.)
DeleteAMEN. Sometimes I get all worked up about not being 'enough' of something. But in the end I think that it doesn't really matter. We weren't made to compare ourselves to others. That kind of negative thinking isn't going to get us anywhere in life.
ReplyDeleteLovely post. :)
YES. What you said. We can only do what we can do, and saying to ourselves that we aren't good enough isn't going to help much. Thanks for commenting, Bailey!
DeleteI feel like a bad blogger all the time and then I resent other bloggers and it is a vicious cycle of terrible bad things. BUT in the end I just have to realize I'm doing my own thing and that is good. And I would tell you that you are doing a great job as a blogger and keep up the good work! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's terrible, isn't it? I think everyone feels like that at one point or another, though, and it's just something everyone has to get over. HEATHER YES. Exactly. "In the end I just have to realise I'm doing my own thing and that is good." I feel like printing that quote out and sticking it to people's foreheads. Thank you, and right back at you!
DeleteI think Cait's taught most bloggers how to blog, which is funny because she doesn't even blog about blogging.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's a matter of posting "enough" for anyone. I know a lot of advice says to post 1-3 times a week, but that just doesn't work for some people. I don't think you should feel bad about not posting often because as long as you're happy with the quality of work you're putting out then it doesn't really matter. You shouldn't make yourself miserable and post when you're super busy, or crank out 5 posts a week if they aren't good quality just for the sake of posting. Some of my favourite bloggers (including you :) ) only post 1-2 times a month, and another one of my favourite bloggers only posts every few months. It's all about the quality, in my "expert" opinion.
Hahaha, I feel so bad for you! Good luck with catching up, and I love getting your comments, no matter how long it takes you :) Hmmm, I actually don't know. That's an excellent question. It's not something I personally struggle with right now because I have all the time in the world, so I don't know. Maybe split it halfway? (I know, I'm not being very helpful. Sorry.)
I totally agree with you, I'm often in the same position. (And in your list, I've only read Cinder, so don't feel bad :) ) But I think those high expectations come from the fact that there are so many bloggers out there, all reading stuff. No one has read it all (except maybe Cait :) ) but it creates an illusion that everyone else has? I don't know.
That's so awesome that you're doing so well. And I agree; if we have straight hair, we want curly hair, and if we have curly hair we want straight hair. If we're tall we wish we were short and if we're short we want to grow a few inches. I hope you don't obsess over the popularity/stats of your blog too much, because it's an awesome blog no matter what your stats say.
Oh, goodness, Emily! (I'm impressed. My brain is so cluttered that I couldn't name five books I read this year.) But don't obsess. Because you are awesome, no matter how many books you've read (or haven't read).
Yes, the good outweighs the bad 1000 times. It's so amazing how supportive everyone is and how much fun it is to share your ideas with like-minded people who understand you.
Thank you for the thoughtful comment, Emily!