The Pressures of Blogging Consistently
Recently Nate Whitehill wrote about the pressures of consistent blogging. As it seems one who is dealing with blogging on regular basis should have all these in mind. Here is what Nate writes:
At some point, all bloggers feel the pressure of trying to blog consistently. No one ever said blogging was easy. Sometimes it can be a fun activity while other times it can feel like a daunting chore. A little bit of pressure is a good thing, because it can motivate you to write high quality articles on a regular basis. However, too much pressure can get in the way of one’s natural ability to post frequently.
Fortunately, there are many ways to effectively deal with the pressures of blogging. The following is a list of the pressures I have experienced and the methods I have used to overcome them:
Pressure #1: Regularly posting articles. My best posts seem to come in waves. If I don’t post for a few days, it only gets more difficult to write the next article. If you are feeling especially creative, instead of letting that creative energy go to waste, write a few articles in one sitting. You can post-date them in the queue and save them for later.
A question that arises a lot is “how many articles should I post per week?” That is entirely up to the individual. Some blogs post 4-5x per day while others only post 2-3x per week. My goal is to post 5-6 articles per week. It has been said that there is such thing as posting too much, but that really depends on the blog itself. That being said, I believe it is important to think of good blogging as posting for quality instead quantity.
Whatever posting frequency you decide, stick to that. For most new bloggers, I recommend trying to post 4-5x per week.
Pressure #2. Ever-increasing expectations. I have been blogging consistently for over four months now. Over the past month, I have started to expect more out of myself as a blogger because my readership has increased due to a few well-received articles.
Once someone experiences some degree of success, s/he wants to experience that feeling again and again. Thus, the pressure to keep raising the bar becomes an issue. Lately, I have even gone so far as to completely scrap an article only to rewrite it because it did not meet my standards of a high-quality post.
The best way to deal with higher expectations is to sit back, relax, and remember what makes blogging fun. Perhaps even go back and read some of your better posts and comments. This should not only motivate you, but also possibly give you ideas for new articles.
Pressure #3. Catering to a larger audience. As audience increases, so too do the critcs. Writing for an increasingly larger audience can be especially intimidating. One reader may love what you wrote while another might think it was garbage. This is just part of the game, but of course, it also adds to that pressure to keep raising the bar.
This is something that Matt from Take More Risks has experienced in the past — as soon as he ordered a ReviewMe from John Chow, he experienced a large influx of readers. It became somewhat daunting for him to keep writing great content. At one point, Matt was concerned that his blog wasn’t ready for such a large influx of readers. Since then, he made a dedicated effort provide his readers with quality content and according to a recent post, it was all worth it.
Pressure #4. Lacking confidence. Lack of confidence is something that has plagued all new bloggers at one point or another. Perhaps you are not confident about which topics your visitors want to read more of, or maybe you are not confident about the quality of your articles.
The first thing to know is that confidence comes with experience. A while back I wrote about why you must clearly defining your blog’s purpose. Once you know exactly which topics you are best at covering, it becomes that much easier to blog better and consistently. You can’t deliver the goods until you know what you are delivering.
If you are unsure about whether an article you wrote is ready to be published, try having a friend or a family member look it over and give you some advice. I do this quite often just to ensure the post both made sense and was easy to read. This kind of feedback can greatly improve the quality of your writing over time.
If you are at a loss for an article topic to write about, read my 5 methods for overcoming writer’s block. One of the best methods I use to come up with article topics is by having conversations with friends. If a topic arises that I have strong feelings about, I instantly know that would make a good blog article (assuming it is on topic with the rest of your blog).
Conclusion
We all experience the pressures of blogging consistently - the most important thing is to just work through it. Hopefully, by being aware of what causes blogging pressure, it will allow you to ease through those difficult posting periods.
Most bloggers agree - post frequency is far more important than post length. If you are having trouble writing consistently, stop worrying, sit down, and just start writing whatever is on your mind. You may not want to publish what you just wrote, but at least it will get the creative juices flowing. Once you build that initial momentum, it will be that much easier to write a quality article.
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