The Life Of A Blog
If you visit regularly, you’ll have noticed a slight drop in the number of recent posts here at ScrawlBug. There is a reason for this. However, before I get to that, I’d like to say “Thank you” to the folks who do visit regularly: quite apart from being surprised, I’m touched!
The reason for the drop in posting frequency is one of the natural occurrences in the life of a blog: that moment when the page is more established and the creator steps back and says “Remind me: what exactly was I supposed to be doing?”
A regular visitor, Szabi (who happens to be a rather excellent designer chap), couldn’t have know it, but his comment yesterday arrived at precisely the right moment:
You really made me think and also this 31 day course. I reach 1/3 of the course and want to change my blog completely (ok maybe not completely ). Maybe I should write about different topics. Maybe I should write on my native language. Is this supposed to be a good sign or a bad sign?
Maybe it’s better earlier than later? Did you do any major changes on your blog after starting it?
He’s referring to the ProBlogger “31 Days To Build A Better Blog” (31DBBB) course that ran recently and which he’s doing as a wee bit of a late arrival.
Little did he know that I am, once again, in the throes of such considerations. ScrawlBug was born near the start of the 31DBBB course and was affected by many of the activities that were suggested, most notably the mission statement stuff. That’s what I’ve been reconsidering.
Firstly, in answer to Szabi, it’s a good sign! Examining why you’re blogging and what you want to do is an essential part of the life of a blog. Without it, the posts are random, unfocussed and cover all sorts of stuff. This is fine for a personal journal, of course, but not if the blog has a distinct purpose: defining that purpose helps by creating a central block of foundation posts, around which everything else is built.
In answer to the language question, that’s entirely your choice: you will reduce your potential readership significantly if you publish in Hungarian, though!
In my case, I didn’t need to rebuild (since the site was new, anyway), but I did need to think about why ScrawlBug is here. The focus has changed a little since that time: back then, it was a general ‘writing’ blog, but has become more directly involved in discussions of freelancing.
Again, this is a natural part of blogging, especially for those of us who aren’t long-term professionals in the genre. We find that our posts are going somewhere unexpected or that certain subjects aren’t appearing as frequently. When this becomes habitual, it’s time to either concentrate on the original intent, or re-examine and shift focus.
In my case,I’ll show you a bit of my thought process. A general writing site was too vague: it made coming up with subjects difficult because it’s too wide a subject. That sounds contradictory, but it’s true. I needed to figure out what my central core is.
In my ponderings, I’ve discovered that the long-term, deep and complicated side of freelancing is of less interest to me than the possibility of helping other newbies get started. So there’s going to be a slight shift. ScrawlBug will therefore be moving a little more in that direction.
There will still be much the same content, but with fewer posts on the craft of writing novels, developing characters and so on, and more on the subjects of finding work, building a portfolio and that kind of thing. The other content – grammar, punctuation, spelling, random stuff about online life, occasional article postings and the like – will still be here, of course, but again will be aimed at the new freelancer.
This means I had to redo the tag-line and header graphic, but that’s about the only major change. I hope.
Interesting stuff. I have just visited my neglected wordpress blog (I’ve been more of a Blogspot blogger). I’m comfortable with blogspot, and with Orble of course, I don’t feel comfortable yet with WordPress.
I know how to do stuff on Orble, or blogspot, don’t know much about WordPress.
What to you think, get stuck in and get into it or stick with what I’m comfortable with?
Hey there! I’ve always been one for sticking to what I know best. WP is incredibly flexible, but only if you have it on your own server: WP.com is limited in themes and doesn’t allow JavaScript, for example. If I were you, I wouldn’t change unless there’s a compelling reason. But then I’m lazy.
I kind of see your blog as that of someone who wanted to become a freelancer, and decided to blog what he learned as he’s going along. That’s what draws me to your blog, Spike. Not to mention, for the most part, your relatively humble way of going about it.
Hi Steven. That’s another way of describing it: I’d love to help out other freelancers by passing on what I learn, bit by bit (and usually through making stupid mistakes!). Just glad it makes for reasonably interesting reading!
Wow!!! Thanks for the answer Spike. I’m still thinking about what to do with my blog. I don’t know how successful can be a blog focusing on more quite different topics at the same time. Probably not much. I think I will think more about this and already started to watch successful bloggers who has not defined their blog so precisely and write about all kinds of topics of life (quite successfully).
Szabi: Personally, I like blogs that go off on different subjects frequently – they’re more interesting as a daily read, in my opinion – but if there’s absolutely NO core subject, it just feels vague and empty. As long as, say, a third of the posts are on the core idea, that’s cool with me. Depends what you’re blogging on, I suppose: if you pick a pretty wide subject, you can relate almost anything to it!
Like the new focus! I know there are other freelancing blogs, but yours is more honest, and I think it’s unlikely you’ll be indulging in the hard sell I often see on many of the others.
You’re right, it is important for a blog to have a focus. I admit mine doesn’t, in a way that’s become it’s usp, but that definitely wouldn’t work for everyone. I also have a family history blog and if I suddenly posted all sorts of random content there, people would just stop reading.
Hello Kate! Lovely to see you here. You’re right: the hard sell won’t appear here. I may add occasional stuff (like the Pie book), but I’ll never knock on your virtual door and try to convince you to buy it.
I always thought your blog was a personal musings thing, so its central focus is you (or your thoughts). That works fine, especially since you’re funny (he says, checking his pockets for stray chips). I have/had a blog like that as well – which I haven’t updated in ages. May have to do that again.