Got Blogging Blues? Dr Johnson Cures What Ails You (& Week in Review)

January 29, 2010 By 24 Comments

(Reading time: 8 – 13 minutes)

Got the Blogging Blues? Is your head willing but your heart AWOL? We’re here to help, with some timeless advice from a master of the good life, Dr Samuel Johnson himself.

Yep, it’s time for more news, more Burning Man, more obscure literary references, more linkin’ and lovin’ and another Week in Review on Website In A Weekend.

While it’s at the top of my head, I just mentioned to FairyBlogMother that “we’ve barely scratched the surface” here on Website In A Weekend. She concurred with

Oh, are you KIDDING?! We’ve all barely scraped the tip of the iceberg! There’s so much I want to learn and do in this area. Thanks for taking an interest in us, too.

I feel it’s a privilege. The majority of people I’ve met through Website In A Weekend are enormously talented… and not being valued at a fraction of what they can offer. This blogging stuff is a bit like I view Burning Man. We read and see in the media about lazy workers, who cost too much money, and nobody wants to be an engineer or scientist or serve anymore.

And it’s not just true.

Burning Man proves it. Load us up with all your bullshit rules, your “dress for success,” your careful-what-you-post-on-the-internet, and we’re going to spend all year creating the most amazing art and engineering you have ever seen.

Actually, more amazing than you have ever seen, because you won’t be there to see it…

…when we burn it to the ground.

You are, however, welcome to read our blogs as we create the most amazing information infrastructure on earth.

At some point, you, the casual reader and lurker, may wonder: “How do you figure out who to link to, and why?” Like, FairyBlogMother? Who’s that? Well, Fairy Blog Mother is the behind-the-scenes lady at Quest for Balance, a self-development destination where you will find something to think about.

I’ll have a lot more to say about linking in the future. You’ll just have to wonder for now. (Hint: link your comment to interesting stuff.)

Let’s get started with the first article in the brand-new Blogging Success category.

Beat the Blogging Blues

Samuel Johnson would have been a blogger, and a damn good one, too. I’d put money on it.

From a letter to Boswell:

For the black fumes which rise in your mind, I can prescribe nothing but that you disperse them by honest business or innocent pleasure, and by reading sometimes easy and sometimes serious. – Samuel Johnson, London, August 27, 1775.

Everyone goes through periods of greater and lesser productivity. Lately, it’s been a bit tough around Dos Palmas to get everything emitted on schedule. Last Sunday, for example, turned out to be a day off. Didn’t plan it that way, just happened.

When it’s tough to write, take Dr. Johnson’s advice and read. Here’s a great article by Website In A Weekend reader Ching Ya who provides some excellent advice – and great cartoons – for beating the blogging downturns.

Ching Ya’s Points #5 (Get the Ball Rolling with Momentum) and #7 (Patience. And Never Ever GIVE UP!) resonate with me the best. I’m stubborn enough not to know when to quit, and I’ve been riding momentum to get me through this current ebb in motivation.

If you haven’t noticed much difference in article quality or quantity, that’s a compliment to my craft.

The truth is, both quality and quantity have suffered a bit, but I have enough experience as a writer to gut through it. It’s no different than swinging a hammer on a construction job. You’re paid to drive nails; you drive nails whether you feel like driving nails or not.

Here’s my specific plans:

  • Momentum: I’ve an excellent track record since June 2009 for emitting quality content, daily. No reason to stop now. My improved writing skills are now compensating for waning passion!
  • Patience: Long time readers (bofem) may have observed I’ve taken a break from the commenting circuit. This is going to hurt my traffic short term, but it can’t be helped. I have a new client to work with, and Apple is going to release the iPad in a couple of months (recall I refused to make long term goals for 2010). Both represent opportunities for learning a lot of new and useful skills, and generating a very large number of interesting articles. The traffic will return, I’m not worried.

If you read Ching Ya’s blogging downturn article, what did you find most applicable to your situation?

If you didn’t read it, how are you using momentum and patience to increase your blogging success?

And one more thing, I’m continuing to step up my writing skills. I do this by using a wide range of writing techniques and rhetorical devices (hint hint hint), and by teaching what I know to other people.

What about you? Are you ready to…

Step up your writing

Would like to improve your writing? Even a little bit? I’m taking David Risley’s advice here and making you a little offer: find the paragraph where I used chiasmus, I’ll spend an hour with you on chat or Wave or whatever, polishing a page or post of your choice on your blog. I have a 33 point procedure I follow for each blog post, we’ll go through it one step at a time.

By the way, this isn’t exactly a “free” offer, it just won’t cost you any money. If you don’t know what chiasmus is, you have to figure that out. In either case, you have to find the rhetorical construction, which means you have to actually read this article. Scanners will blow right by, and that’s fine.

Offer expires midnight PST 3 Feb. 2010.

One year anniversaries

New feature: I’ll list the first blog celebrating their 1 year anniversary in next week’s Week in Review. Here’s the rules:

  • You have to be a real person writing on a real topic. Anonymous link spammers posting PLR and spun content won’t be listed.
  • You must be dedicated to your craft. Show some progress over the year. If you started strong, and but haven’t done anything in the last 5 months, that’s not showing much dedication.
  • You must be willing to provide a short, relevant description of your goals, what you have achieved in a year, and a very brief note on what your goals are for Year 2. Provide what you want for a contextually relevant anchor text for a back link.

I’d love to make One Year Anniversaries an regular feature, but I’m not sure exactly how to promote it. Suggestions welcome.

If I get more than one anniversary submitted for the week, I’ll consider up to three as long as they’re high quality blogs.

Upcoming: Gordie Rogers from Lifestyle Design for You

On February 1, 2010, Gordie Rogers tells it like it is: if you want to build a community, don’t require comments to be “pre-approved.” I totally agree, and Gordie stole my thunder… actually, he saved me from taking the time to write up my opinion on the matter. Don’t miss it, and make sure to visit Gordie’s Lifestyle Design for You. He’s on fire!

Updated: Shingle blog posts in series

Long articles broken into series help retain readers, and a good writer will do everything possible (within the bounds of good taste, of course) to “hook” readers into “staying tuned in.”

Series posts are also a great way to present a lot of information without overloading readers. With each article in a series, you can present a small challenge to the reader, or you make an offer, or provide them with useful information they can implement rapidly.

One way to write series articles is using a technique called “shingling.” I’m delighted to present three Website In A Weekend readers who have applied shingling to articles they wrote in series. Valentina Bellicova wrote a series on MasterMind Power, Carlos Velez has outlined his future plans for financial independence in the Wu-Tang Plan, and Marshall Craw discusses home power generation, always a subject of powerful interest when you live a few miles away from the nearest power pole. Check out these articles individually, or bookmark this example list of series blog posts.

New articles

One article short this week, no article on Sunday.

The Week In Review Series

Last WIAW Week in Review
  • Lego Manta Warriors? Pantyliner Ads? It’s gotta be the Week in Review. People win money on Website In A Weekend. And they buy Lego Manta Ray Warriors with their spoils. It’s true. Read more… maybe you’ll win big next contest.

    • Next WIAW Week in Review

    Stay tuned…
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