Sometimes I read posts on personal blogs and I wonder if the writer was bored by their own work and if so, why they published it.
I tend to dislike much of what I write but I often post it because it helps me measure my progress. One of the goals is to become a mastery storyteller and that doesn’t happen without a willingness to do the work.
And by doing the work I mean taking the time to read books and do lots of writing and rewriting. That goal is a big part of why you will never find me without a book to read. You may not always see a hard copy but my Kindle app is always filled with a variety for me to choose from.
Sometimes Blogging Makes Me Crazy
Sometimes blogging makes me crazy because I have this push/pull thing going on inside my head. I always want to write with reckless abandon and not a care in the  world because that is where I find the most joy.
Yet there is the goal to build the platform and to continue to monetize. That pushes me to try to visit the path of the rule following blogger because there are some solid pieces of wisdom within it.
My guess is that The Conundrum of Content Creation offers you several paths to success but at varying paces. More specifically if I turned this joint into the premiere location for news/information on How To Write A Parent Blog I could increase my traffic and generate more revenue in a shorter amount of time.
I am sure Soulati would suggest I work on message mapping so that it was clear what people will find here. It is not a bad idea and I haven’t completely ignored it either.
Read the About Me page and you’ll see a pretty good outline of what to expect here but you will also see links to many different types of content. It isn’t just dad blog stuff, there is fiction, humor and writing included there as well.
Does Your Writing Ever Bore You?
Ideally the answer should be no because if you are bored you can almost guarantee the reader will be bored too.
A while back The Shmata Queen told me that I am too hard on myself and that my worst writing is better than what most people produce. It made me feel good to hear it but the standard I set for myself never let’s me forget if I think I can do better.
Writing is so very easy and so goddamn hard.
One of the things I noticed about living in Texas was that it felt like the words flowed more easily and eloquently than they do back here.
Maybe it is because a change of scenery is often helpful for stimulating your mind and generating more ideas and new perspectives. It is a big part of why I want to move back.
I never suffer from writer’s block. I don’t believe in it but I definitely have moments where I hate my words so there is something to be said for living in an environment that fosters a positive feeling.
There are so many stories I could tell, things that I saw or experienced and things that I witnessed. I think about meals at BJs and The Keg, drinks at Saltgrass and there is a parade of images that waltz through my mind.
Limited Feedback
The commenting here has dropped precipitously like it has all over the blogosphere so I can’t use the comment section to gauge feedback and reader happiness like I once did.
My stat software makes it clear that traffic has grown and that people are engaging here. You might not be commenting like you used to but I see visitors and that makes me happy.
But that is part of the push/pull thing for me too.
I am not as shameless as others about self promotion and that has an impact. Most of the guest blogging I do come from being solicited by others and not because I ask.
That is not a bad thing, but it impacts the numbers. If I want to grow I have to make a bigger push to do so.
The funny thing about all this I tell my children they have to learn how to advocate for themselves. I stress the importance of being willing to go talk to teachers and not wait for life to come to them but to take it on headfirst.
Yet I don’t always follow my own advice, maybe I should.
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TheJackB April 9, 2014 at 10:50 am
David Kepley  I hear you. I publish virtually everything because I feel like I am learning something. It gives me material to review and think about, there is no room for improvement if you don’t establish a base.
I understand about writing for the children, because I definitely do that.
TheJackB April 9, 2014 at 10:48 am
StartYourNovel  Phoning it in is never acceptable. I can live with the moments where I am not happy with my work because I just didn’t have it that day provided I feel like I put the effort in to it.
Every now and then I run into people who tell me their writing never makes them feel one way or another. I have to bite my lip and tell them that if they never feel happy, sad or frustrated they aren’t putting any effort into it.
I can’t understand how people can say that with a straight face.
David Kepley April 9, 2014 at 7:55 am
If I scroll down to see how much of a post is left I stop reading. That includes my own writing.
I like to think at the base level I’m writing to my children and if it bores me, it certainly will them.
It’s a complicated push/pull continuing to write. Like you’ve said, “Why do you do this?” Anytime the answer falls outside of my personal priorities, I leave it open in a tab and wait for some worthwhile reason the words came clicking out of my fingers.
StartYourNovel April 9, 2014 at 4:46 am
My writing sometimes infuriates or frustrates me, but it sure as hell never bores me. When I find a paragraph boring, or even a whole blog post, I ax it.Â
It’s not so much “kill your darlings” — it’s about not phoning it in. Yes, readers can tell when you’re bored and going through the motions.
I don’t believe in writer’s block either, except as a temporary hurdle that you can overcome.
As for following your own advice, we all miss out on Brownie points when it comes to that. Advising others is easy. Applying common sense to your own life, well, not always.