Staring at a Blank Blog Page.

L.S. Engler

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Nov 13

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2–3 minutes

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For the past few days, I have spent more time than I’d like to admit staring at a blank blog page. I suppose this is far better than staring at a blank notebook page (no problems there!), but I still find it frustrating that, lately, I don’t have it in me to blog. I’m not too concerned with it, of course. In the grand scheme of things, blogging has its place, but it is not the end-all, be-all. I refuse to stress out about blogging, when I’m managing to produce the real writing content. But I do feel bad, and I feel that, every day I fail to blog, I’m missing an opportunity to make a connection with a new reader or fellow author.

At the same time, I know there will still be plenty of opportunities for that in the future. Best save myself for when I really have something to say, right? Perhaps. It’s an interesting conundrum, especially when I feel like I do have things to say, I just don’t know how to say it, nor do I feel I have enough to say on the matter to justify a whole post. Really, sometimes, all I want to say is, “Hi! I’m here. Don’t worry. I’m just chugging away in writer land, but I haven’t forgotten about blogger land, either. Hope everything is well.”

So…

Hi! I’m here. Don’t worry. I’m just chugging away in writer land, but I haven’t forgotten about blogger land, either. Hope everything is well!

In brief news, Heartless is coming along nicely, though I’ve been consistently behind about thirty pages every day. I’ll do a little catch up, and then fall back behind, but that’s okay, because it’s still coming along without any big hiccups. For a moment, I was afraid the Slayer was going to do something rash like she did when I was writing Soulless, but the sharp deviation from the outline managed to get diverted. Phew! I’ve had a few stories come back with rejections, so I’m brushing them up to send elsewhere, but I do wish I had more time for some short stories. I started whipping up this cute little romance yarn, just to test the romance chops, and it should be finished soon. Meanwhile, I think I’ve finally decided which stories to choose for World Unknown Review, and I hope to contact all the fantastic authors who participated by next week.

So, I’ve been keeping myself busy, just not with blog ideas. How about you? What have you got going on lately, blogosphere?

17 responses to “Staring at a Blank Blog Page.”

Sulfen

November 13, 2014 at 12:35 pm

I was on the same boat as you. My plans were to blog daily about certain topics but decided that it was too early to share them with the world so I decided to write about something less sensitive in the meantime. I also felt pressured to blog daily and felt bad every day because I failed to deliver day after day for several months. I’ve learned to not stress out and just have fun writing what I please when I want to.

Best of luck!

Reply
1. L.S. Engler
  
  November 14, 2014 at 9:24 am
  
  Yup, not stressing and writing what you please makes for a much better blog for your readers, too, I discovered. Odds are, most people aren’t even going to read it every day. When you post more sporadically, when you feel like it, the readers can tell. The blogger isn’t overwhelmed, and the reader isn’t bombarded with posts. Everybody wins!
  
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aetherhouse

November 13, 2014 at 1:34 pm

Hey stranger! I’ve been pretty quiet on my blog too. it’s just been really busy lately. The holidays are like that, and NaNoWriMo is here too. Lots to digest.

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1. L.S. Engler
  
  November 14, 2014 at 9:46 am
  
  Man, I haven’t even begun to think about the holidays yet. Oof. Well. At least I’m not bored, I guess.
  
  Reply
Lauralynn Elliott

November 13, 2014 at 3:41 pm

The page doesn’t look blank to me. I think I see words on it. 🙂

I’ve been a neglectful blogger lately, so I understand.

Reply
1. L.S. Engler
  
  November 14, 2014 at 10:43 am
  
  (Better?)
  
  Reply
  1. Lauralynn Elliott
    
    November 14, 2014 at 10:46 am
    
    *snort*
    
    Reply
Letizia

November 13, 2014 at 6:32 pm

It’s funny how creativity works. You have a million ideas for blogging one month and then none for another, but that energy all gets redirected into another creative outlet. Best thing is just to let the creative juices go in whatever direction it wants to go in, respect the muse, right? 🙂

Reply
1. L.S. Engler
  
  November 15, 2014 at 10:51 am
  
  Right? There’s no way to determine what the muse will demand, so sometimes you have to go with the flow. Sometimes, you have to wrangle her down and force yourself to get something done, but not very often, and the wrangling goes easier if, in those fickle moments, you just go along with it. I do wish she were a bit more consistent, though. SIIIIIGHHHHH,
  
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Kate Sparkes

November 14, 2014 at 6:19 am

I feel the same way. If not for WIPpet Wednesdays and a really simple “here’s what to post on Monday” blog thing I’m participating in, I would hardly be posting at all! Glad to hear things are going well, though. 🙂

Reply
1. L.S. Engler
  
  November 15, 2014 at 11:29 am
  
  I even dropped my RoW80 check-ins. Whoops! I just wasn’t feeling inspired to write them, so they had to have been pretty boring. It might be interesting to pick up WIPpet again for Heartless, though, hmmm…
  
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  1. Kate Sparkes
    
    November 15, 2014 at 11:31 am
    
    My only problem with blog hop type things is making time to visit other people’s posts.
    
    Reply
    1. L.S. Engler
      
      November 15, 2014 at 12:22 pm
      
      Same here! I try not to stress out about it, though, and just try to visit when I can.
      
      Reply
Fallon

November 14, 2014 at 6:49 am

I try to set aside certain days for certain topics, and leave the other days open if I feel like I have something to say. those “open” days usually go by with me silent. And for the last two weeks, I’ve been concentrating on NaNoWriMo, so I haven’t put a lot of time toward much else. And that is going very well, as I’m just about at the midpoint.

Reply
1. L.S. Engler
  
  November 15, 2014 at 12:04 pm
  
  I’m not doing quite as well on NaNoWriMo right now, but it’s still coming along. Way to go keeping on track! Lately, I’ve been feeling too constrained by certain topic posts; maybe I constrain myself enough with my deadlines. 🙂
  
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infinitefreetime

November 16, 2014 at 9:17 am

I try to skip no more than one day every couple of weeks, which does lead to less-than-completely-inspired posts every now and again. I’ll admit that I haven’t been super compelling this week, for instance. But I figure the blog gets me to spend at least a little bit of time writing every day, even if it’s just “Hey, nothing going on over here, SOMEONE ENTERTAIN ME PLEASE.” Nobody seems to be complaining, at least.

Reply
1. L.S. Engler
  
  November 16, 2014 at 11:15 am
  
  See, I enjoy your style of blogging, which goes against this determination I had from the beginning that said “Every post must be at least 200 words long, otherwise I’m just wasting people’s time.” But that’s not true, because you sometimes post two sentences, and it’s winds up being one of the most entertaining posts I’ve read that day. Brevity has never been my strong suit, though, so I can’t even seem to wing an interesting topic for two sentences. I’m working on it, though.
  
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