During my break, I did some thinking. Sure, I was taking a break from blogging, but I would need content for when I came back. I needed something relatable, but that could be of help too, and something I had experience with. And the answer eventyally presented itself. Insecurities.
Everybody has them, and all kinds of it. Today, I’ll be talking about blogging insecurities. There a ton! But first things first,
You matter, and your blog does too
Specially at the beginning, blogging feels like it’s you in a bubble, and then there’s everyone else, and anything you post will just bounce back to you, while the others just take a passing glance at it, and then go on their merry way. But even if you get zero views, whatever you want to say; no one else can say it like you can.
Most of the blogging jitters we get are caused by…
Unrealistic Expectations
I’m actually guilty of this. I saw so many blogs that reached a high level of success in the course of their first year, or that had just started out and had a very huge following and hadn’t even begun, that I felt somewhere there, maybe I wasn’t social enough, or quirky, or funny, or interesting enough to take my blog there. This is sometimes the biggest reason why I feel discouraged to blog. I know constant hard work is everything, and I don’t compare usually compare my work with that of older blogs, but it’s hard not to do it with the newer blogs. But not everyone progresses the same way.
I have gone through this. I’m going through this. And it’s awful, and can zap the fun out of blogging in a nanosecond. This post is for anyone who can identify with this, as well as for me. It’s quite therapeutic to give advice to yourself. We often give advice to others and don’t follow it ourselves.
What you can do:
- Try to stay positive. Look over old comments on your blog where people have liked what you’ve written and have encouraged you.
- Strike up a random convo on twitter about books, TEEN WOLF, or you know, fries.
- Read a book and chill.
- Tweak stuff on your blog, and then change it back. 🙂
- Write a post about it!
[alert type=”info” close=”false”]Compare, by all means, but always your current progress, with your previous one. How well you did this month, in relation with the previous one. The goal isn’t to be better than the others, it’s to be better than you were the day before, and to keep improving.[/alert]
Comparing yourself to others will only get you frustrated and make you feel like you’re not enough, specially if you already deal with depression, or anxiety issues. Take it slow, and be happy.
Quote:
“Try to stay positive. Look over old comments on your blog where people have liked what you’ve written and have encouraged you.”
Great advice!
I’ve been blogging for 3 years now, and I’m still a small fish in the sea. Very likely, this will never change. But you know – it’s OK. I don’t have all that time on my hands. I very rarely read the hyped books. BUT – I realised one of the major keys to success as a blogger is to have many friends, because they’re the ones who will come back and comment and encourage you, no matter what. Successful bloggers are – more often than not – bloggers with a strong following of friends. And friends are – more often than not – people who read the same books and enjoy the same shows and stuff…Except, I have maybe made a little friends in my blogging life, but some of them like different things than I do…and still we clicked. What I mean is, there’s no recipe for the perfect and successful blog, but we can all cook our little cakes and always find someone who’s willing to taste them, and like you said, we are all awesome and we all matter!
Roberta R. recently posted this awesome thing…Author Interview: GL Tomas (“The Sterling Wayfairer Series”)
XD Love the cake analogy! Focus on friends and doing your own thing… Haha, yes you’re right it’s your friends, the ones who you interact with, the ones who -unless you’re only blogging for yourself, which is awesome too- make a blog what it is.
Aw, *hugs* definitely feeling this sometimes. I think sometimes I try too hard. This year, I had work, studies, and the blog to do. I needed rest! Thanks for the reminder, Pam 🙂 . The thing I need to remember most is to CHILL OUT and just enjoy.
Jee Ann recently posted this awesome thing…What Goes Around Comes Around in “Bad Karma” by Dwight Holing
*ACCEPTS HUGS!* It seems it’s been getting hard for everyone. Everybody tells you it’s not necessary to post every day, and all that, but the pressure to do it doesn’t go away that easily D:
Great post! I have definitely felt these blogging insecurities. When you see other people’s blogs become instant successes it can make you think ‘what am I doing wrong?’, or ‘what’s wrong with me?’, which is ridiculous really, because those people are the exception, not the rule. It’s so true that people’s blogs progress at different rates, so you really shouldn’t compare your blog to someone else’s, and I really like what you said about judging your current progress against your previous one.
Laura recently posted this awesome thing…Are you a mood reader?
Right! Instead of being 🙁 because you don’t have ‘x’ ARC, or this or that number of followers, you can get 😀 Because you have one new follower, or because you look back at the 3+ digits that is the number of posts you’ve published and say ‘Damn, I WROTE ALL THAT’.