Blog Fog

I think blogs are like gardens.  You start them with great intentions, but after a while, you realize that you’ve run out of things to say—or post.  Life intercedes, and you get too busy to tend to what you’ve planted.  Weeds grow.  People stop dropping by, and before long, it’s almost pointless to go on.

One of the difficulties of a blog for me has always been the time it takes away from other things.  I juggle my days between freelance indexing full-time, and writing novels and short stories part-time.  My day is (gratefully) spent in front of the computer, so adding another deadline, another responsibility, has always been a struggle for me.   

Writing a five hundred word blog post is half of my daily fiction writing requirement.  I try for a thousand words a day, five days a week, regardless of how much indexing I have to do. 

I tried posting interviews in the past.  But those take time, too.  Formatting, proofreading, some editing.  It all adds up.  That kind of faded away.  Occasionally, I post a short video.  A promo for JUSTIFIED or GAME OF THRONES, or whatever other TV show or movie catches my attention.  But that’s not enough to keep a blog rolling. 

What I didn’t want to do was constant, in-your-face, marketing.  This year I had two books come out, and next year (2012) will be the same.  So, my appearances will keep me busy, and I’ll need to announce them. Other side projects need announcing, too.  Short stories and non-fiction articles get published, and demand some attention.  2011 was a good year for short stories for me.  But promoting something new all of the time can wear thin, not just on blog readers, but on me.

So, I’m at a crossroads.  I’m trying to figure out how to move forward and manage my work, my projects, and marketing, all while keeping the blog alive.  Maybe I’ll see my way clear after the holidays.  I hope so.

Until then…I’ll see you on the trail--or here every once in a while.  Just not as often as I'd like.

~~Larry