Hello, there. How are you? It’s been forever since I blogged.
More accurately, it’s been 4 solid months.
Not that I was that reliable with my updates before then, but still.
I’ve been thinking, lately.
When did blogging become a chore? It used to be fun, but these days the thought of blogging is such a stress inducer. What’s my topic? Is it in keeping with the image I’ve been cultivating, the topics I committed to writing about? And then, as I start to write something more in the vein of an article, I wonder, “Should I post this on my blog? Shouldn’t I submit it as an article somewhere else, instead?”
Publicity is a funny thing. I forget when or where it was, but awhile ago, I came across this piece of advice in a writers forum: “Agents and publishers will want you to have a blog, a Facebook page, an Instagram, a Twitter, a Tumblr, a Snapchat and a YouTube channel, all updated several times a week. Most people can’t handle this and also write, much less anything else in life. You should pick the one or two things that you know you can stick with.”
This advice has stuck with me, because I was struggling. Instagram and Twitter are the easiest for me, I think–Instagram because I don’t bother posting for any reason but for fun, and Twitter because I know most people I know IRL aren’t watching, so I’m not so self-conscious. I’ve let myself lean on those two, but even then, I haven’t been updating much.
So we circle back to submitting work to journals and websites and magazines. I try to always have at least 1 work under consideration somewhere. But there are downsides to this, too. I maybe get some legitimacy out of being able to say that I had stories or articles accepted somewhere, but as far as I can see, those stories and articles don’t get any eyes on them.
Early last year, I submitted 2 articles to The Constitute Voice. One of them–an article about colonialism, which made use of an example using an alien invasion to explain its effects on the world centuries later, which I’ve been desperately wanting to turn into a proper sci fi novel–I was particularly proud of.
A mere few months later, it had been taken down. No explanation. No communication of any kind. I didn’t see any negative comments. I don’t know what happened, and I could work myself into a hole imagining all sorts of things–when really, if you take away the crisis, it’s as simple as saying, “Okay, fine,” and publishing the same thing on my blog instead.
There’s so much pressure on trying to be an author. There are all these rules, and dos and don’ts. There are so many how-tos, and so many things you’re supposed to be doing. It’s impossible to do them all, and when putting yourself out there turns into a chore, what’s the point?
Which is why I’m doing what I should have done months ago: declaring an end to the rules.
Will this result in more blogging? Only time will tell.