Bloggers to the Rescue

When I started blogging in November 2016, I decided to write one piece a week, and post it every Monday morning. I thought it would be easy. I had toyed with the idea for several months beforehand, and I had material ready for at least half a dozen entries.

My initial intent was to focus on topics related to writing and literature: plot, dialogue, point of view, books I read, short stories, excerpts from novels in progress, the difficulty of writing every day, and so on. I thought I would start conversations and get feedback, which, in turn, would generate new ideas and the blog would become self-sustaining.

Well, it didn’t turn out that way. I kept my end of the bargain and I haven’t missed a deadline yet (my self-imposed deadline, of course), except last Christmas when I allowed one Monday to get by without a blog. I stayed close to my initial goal of focusing on literature, but I strayed from time to time, touching on other subject matters such as every day life, family, and current political events.

I wrote about the Women’s March, immigration, language in politics and gun control. Not surprisingly, most feedback I received was on my political posts, and mostly from people who disagree with me. I enjoyed the interaction and discussion.

I now have a little under 400 followers, and maybe as many on Goodreads and Facebook. Every time I publish a blog, there is a little flourish of activity, a few positive comments, “claps” and shares. That makes me feel good. I say to myself that I have to continue because writing to a deadline is what professional writers do. And it is something I really enjoy when I have a good, fresh idea to write about. But I reached a point where my readership doesn’t grow as much as before, and finding new subjects to write about becomes difficult. In other words, I struggle at the end of each week.

I still have short stories I could publish, the problem being that the length of the stories exceeds the recommended seven or eight minutes read, and I post them in installments, which makes it difficult for the reader.

Recently I decided to continue blogging until my two-year anniversary, and then re-evaluate.

In the meantime, I am sure I am not the only writer wrestling with this predicament. Do you have any feedback to share? As a blogger, how do you maintain your blogging rhythm? Unless you have a specialty or topic you always write about, how do you pick your subject matter for your next blog? As my reader, which blogs did you enjoy most and why? What would you like to read about next?