While countries around the world worry about swine flu (sorry, H1N1), I’m here to tell you there is another insidious virus sweeping at least the blogging world. Yes, some online Dr. Evil is secretly going around stealing our mojo.
You know you’ve noticed it. Some bloggers you follow simply don’t post as often. Others have replaced blog content with their running Twitter commentary, or they select links found on, again, Twitter for a “best of” round-up. (Not a bad idea, and one I may shamelessly steal borrow.) A Google search on “lost my blogging mojo” pulled up 714,000 results.
Yes, I’ve lost my own blogging mojo. It appears to have started slipping away during a frantically busy week leading up to a week off in San Francisco. Once back in town, the pace continued, and between my freelance writing business and networking/volunteer activities and personal life, I would find myself shutting down the computer at 11:30 p.m. and thinking, “I’ll blog tomorrow.” Or before writing a post, I would just “dip into Twitter,” which quickly ate up my allotted non-work time. Meanwhile, Dr. Evil cranked the Mojo Vac on high and “tomorrow” kept getting farther away.
When I launched this blog in January 2007, I worried about getting into a regular rhythm of posting, having found it difficult to keep up a hand-written journal. But for the most part, I managed to maintain a regular two- or three-times-a-week schedule. So I know if I can only get my mojo back, I’ll be good to go.
If you’ve got any advice for getting blogging mojo back, I’d love to hear it. And if you’ve seen my mojo, let me know. If I see your mojo, I’ll be glad to do the same.
I blame Twitter! That’s my excuse, anyway. I am curious to see the responses. One idea: put “write blog post” on your calendar, perhaps twice a week.
I know what you mean. The same thing happened to me in March and I am still looking for it. It’s good to know that I am not the only one. Maybe we should start a support group. I enjoyed this read.
I think you’re putting too much pressure on yourself Sue. It’s normal to fall off the blogging wagon periodically, and 2 – 3 posts a week is a lot for anyone. Maybe give yourself permission to post just once a week, and work back up to three times if that’s where you want to be. You’ll soon find you’re back in the groove.
Here’s another thought…why not do a guest post or two to reignite the blogging fire? Writing for someone else’s blog calls for a bit of a mental shift. You think a little longer and harder about how your topic will be received by a different audience. You may write about something that never entered your mind before. And you could find yourself with a new following creating fresh links back to your site. It’s all good!
Thank you all for your comments, ideas and support! I think Twitter is partly to blame, too…now, to do something about it.