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authors, blog, blogging, Kristen Lamb, Raelyn Barclay, Richard St. John, Robin Houghton, ROW80, Susan Gilbert, Ted Talks, Therese Walsh, Writer Unboxed, writers, writing
One of the things you learn as a parent, whether you want to or not, is tough love.
Saying no. Letting them live with the consequences not matter how much you want to make everything better. Biting your tongue as they learn from their mistakes, and maybe even get hurt.
April fourth was the fourth anniversary of this blog, of my pursuing writing as more than a hobby.
And I reached a point where I need to practice tough love on myself.
I started this blog because that’s what authors are supposed to do. (Yes, I’m looking at you Kristen Lamb, which is not to say I don’t appreciate what you do.) Build a brand. Build a following. Yada. Yada. Yada.
To blog, or not to blog, seems to be a reoccurring theme lately; Why Blogging is Important and Should You Be Blogging to name a couple. I’ve certainly been on the fence and nothing I’ve read has swayed me one direction or the other.
My experience has shown, when I’ve been active in groups like ROW80 I’ve had more blog traffic. Yet when I’ve been active in those groups, my fiction writing suffers.
Perhaps, I jumped on the whole branding/following/blogging train too soon in my process.
Hang with me as I follow a tangent for a moment.
My boss travels to conferences frequently. One of the perks, if you will, of my job is that my boss often shares videos of the keynote speakers. One such featured Richard St. John.
Ah-mazing speaker.
Of course, we were watching with a business mindset. However, as I listened I couldn’t help but think about how his points apply to other areas. How I needed to implement them, somehow, in my life.
Are you passionate about what you’re doing? In other words, would you still do what you’re doing even if you weren’t getting paid?
I suspect most writers would answer with a resounding, “yes!” (He even used an example of AUTHORS serving READERS at one point.)
My ah-ha moment came when he mentioned focus and how you should focus on one thing and work to be great at it.
He talked about how you could have success or you could have balance (family, etc.) but not both at the same time. He used the founders of Google as an example. These two men worked hard, focusing only on getting their business up and running and successful. Then, they took time off to focus on family…balance.
This is similar material:
Add this Monotasking post, which supports St. John’s point, to my recent time study and I have come to the conclusion blogging is not the best use of my time. Will I stop? No. Blogging has been good to me. I’ve meet amazing people, some of whom I consider friends. I’ve made some great connections. However, I am taking the pressure off myself. I will blog when I have something to blog. There will probably be more randomness.
How does blogging fit in your life?
Raelyn Barclay 