What Happens When Blogging Isn’t Fun Any More?

fun

I’ll be 45 in May but I still can’t tell you what she meant when she hoped I didn’t break her fun button. But I can tell you that I helped Sister Mary see god…more than once and that if you are going to go to church that is the only way to it.

I suppose you might think it is sacrilegious to have sex in church but I figure if the goal is to bring people closer to god than the clergy ought to thank me for finding a way to keep the pews filled with people. Hell imagine what life would be like if when you passed the collection plate it was to grab a hand full of condoms and not to leave a handful of cash.

Yeah, I know some of your faces might be turning red now because old Jack Steiner is committing blasphemy. I could tell you to keep your shirt because I believe in sex in the synagogue too.

I could tell you some stories about the rabbi’s daughter, hell I could even tell you some stories about the rabbis too.

What Happens When Blogging Isn’t Fun Any More?

I’ll let you wonder how much of what you read above is fact and how much is fiction because the real focal point here is for the people who wonder what to do when blogging isn’t fun any more.

The people who last in this game are having fun because it is too much work to keep on keeping on. It is too hard to keep trying to figure out what to write, how to promote it and wonder if your words measure up against the others…unless you are having fun.

And me, well part of the way I have fun is by writing ridiculous stories about sex with nuns or chronicling the lives of my children, like stories about the world’s strongest penis or what happens when they read the graffiti on the stall walls.

It is a mixture of serious stuff here. I haven’t yet blogged about how my mother is going in for surgery this week, they say it is benign and that this is a precautionary measure but old Doc Google can make you crazy with what he shows you.

Sort of fitting that it is coming now during the midst of this transitional time.

When blogging isn’t fun you have to find a way to make it fun…for you.

If you aren’t having fun your writing may very well suffer and that won’t make your readers like/love you any more.

Don’t Write For Other People

Don’t write for other people. Write for yourself. Tell the stories you want to tell and answer the questions you want answered. Try not to give in to blog envy and wonder why that other blogger gets more, has more, does more.

I am not always good at that. Most of the time I am, but sometimes it just chaps my hide to read some posts and wonder how they got whatever it is they have that I don’t that I think I should.

Sometimes if I am feeling particularly juvenile I think about those other bloggers and imagine that along with the great gig they got a bad case of the runs too.

Confession: In high school I had a major crush on a girl who had very bad taste in men. When she started dating one of the major jackasses I tried to convince myself that it didn’t bother me, except it did.

One day I heard him bragging about some of their sexual exploits and he said she caught him with her teeth. I damn near cheered, it was time for a celebration. I wanted to give him a hot dog bun and some mustard and a note that it was for the next time they got busy.

My best guess is that a bunch of readers haven’t made it as far as you have. They might have been offended or bored by what they have read and I am ok with that. I guarantee there are 567 ways to tell a better story.

And I can assure you that even when I bleed at the keyboard I wonder how I could have done a better job.

Find Your Smile and Run With It

The trick here is to find your smile and run with it. Figure out what makes blogging fun for you and keep doing it. If you are having fun and you sustain your effort good things will come from it.

And if you are new to the blog I want to thank you for being here. I hope you’ll become a fan of my Facebook page and that you’ll hang out in the comments not to mention you should know that some of what you read is fiction. Don’t worry because I didn’t get arrested for this, this or this.

I may or may not have taken Jersey Santa on.

All I can tell you is Don’t Look for Death Because it Might Find You and have fun blogging, you deserve it.

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13 Comments

  1. KristyV2 February 21, 2014 at 4:47 pm

    Dear Jack (better than Dear John),
    Found you through the infamous Mark Schrader via Tweet land. Ok, I’m hooked…first time here and now an instant fan. Love your writing “style” (laugh here, now cry there) and thanks for the inspiration to NOT stress over blogging and just find my smile and have some fun. kv2 (aka student of social media) THANKS!

    Postscript: How about 10 reasons to stop blogging??? The brownies were done and I haven’t blogged since March…what tha?. http://goo.gl/82MFjI

    • Jack February 22, 2014 at 6:40 pm

      Hi Kristy,

      I have been meaning to reply to your comment but every time I do I see your mention of brownies and run for the kitchen.

      Many thanks for your nice comment, I hope to see you here again.

      • KristyV2 February 22, 2014 at 7:28 pm

        Hahaha! Running toward the kitchen seems to be a preference around here too. Having a professional chef in the house enhances that desire. I, on the other hand, am the yang to his ying…did you note the brownies were created from a box? KV2

  2. Julie Barrett February 20, 2014 at 3:34 am

    The world’s strongest penis story made me laugh out loud.

    My Dad did the surgery last week. Good luck to your Mom.

  3. Annie Andre February 19, 2014 at 10:53 pm

    What is that old sayin? There is always a smidgen of truth behind every joke! I could not imagine it being fun to have sex in a church. i would be too scared. not because i think it is blasphemy and certainly not because i am afraid of lighting striking me down. More afraid that i would get caught.
    in the past with my blog i have often left out stories that kind of left me with my pants down for fear of how they would make me look or feel. They were not fun to write i suuppose. but ever since i let go of that fear and just wrote what i wanted without fear; those stories are not really more fun but they do give me a sense of realism and that has been very rewarding and therapeutic to write about. I cold never imagine blogging just for the sake of blogging without getting some satisfaction out of it.

    • Jack February 20, 2014 at 7:51 pm

      I am obviously a big fan of writing with reckless abandon. It brings out some honesty and realism that is just refreshing, of course I am seriously biased about that.

      As for getting caught, well…

  4. Carolyn Nicander Mohr February 19, 2014 at 7:59 pm

    If blogging weren’t fun anymore I would:

    1) Quit. The only reason I blog is because it’s so much fun.

    2) Come here and remind myself why blogging can be so much fun.

    3) Resume blogging.

    If that didn’t work I would just repeat those three steps.

    Thanks for always keeping it fun, Jack. There are exactly two types of experiences in life: those with you as a part of them and those without. The former is always better than the latter. But you wouldn’t know about that because you’ve never experienced the latter.

  5. Joe February 19, 2014 at 7:28 pm

    I hope the Sister Mary story is true because I like blaspheme. Is it still blaspheme if you’re not a Christian?

  6. Natalie February 19, 2014 at 7:18 pm

    That’s what I’ve been doing; it’s all we can do, really. Thanks for the reminder.

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