Been thinking about why I ran in anxious circles around my blog for months on end. Part of me doesn't think there will ever be an answer (or that I even need one), but the other part has a guess.
I really really really wanted to look professional... and so I decided to cut out everything personal or emotional and only blog about craft. (???)
Which, you may have noticed, I haven't gotten around to.
Clearly, I was only afraid of being myself.
I am naturally on the personal/emotional end of things. This means that I am prone to gushing. I do not generally blog in advance. I suppose it's the pantser in me. My posts come in spurts. I often write about writing, anyway, because how could I not? And yet, I couldn't shake the constant, depressing tug to FIX everything about this space, to legitimize it. This personal, emotional space.
Then I became so preoccupied with "legitimacy," I felt like I was lying. As if the only options were a false me or an unprofessional me!
There is so much freedom to write about what I love, here. Who CARES if I don't join in on ALL the blogfests, or do ALL the giveaways... or have ALL the answers? My only job in this space is to ENJOY IT! Amiright?
I feel like I'm rallying the troops, here. Rally rally! Be yourself! Enjoy blogging! Smile! Professionalism has many facets, and will come naturally if you genuinely care about what you're doing.
Oh, and happy weekend!
rahrahrahrah
SO. TRUE.
ReplyDeleteI've blogged in some form since I was about 10 (no, seriously. geocities, anyone?) but it was, as you would expect, a lot of "childish" emotional angsty stuff. So when I graduated college, I decided I needed to start over and be very professional. Only blog Big Serious Stuff that I would be proud of forever.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA.
HA.
Thing is, this medium is ALL ABOUT being genuine, making connections, telling stories the only way you can: from YOUR point of view. Otherwise, it's just noise.
So over time I learned to find the right balance for me between personal and professional, which includes writing about personal stuff in a professional way, or writing about professional stuff in a personal way.
It's not an exact science, and blogs (like their people) evolve over time. But that's not a flaw -- that's the beauty! That's the point.
I'm glad you're trying to embrace it. :)
Did ya see how truly atrocious my grammar was in that comment? Oi. And I call myself an editor...
ReplyDeleteI hear ya, you read all this stuff about being specific, branding, making this really awesome blog to get yourself out there... yeah, I decided I had to just write what the heck I wanted or I wasn't going to write. Some days that will be about writing, but most it won't. Go you ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm just nodding my head in agreement to everything. Carry on.
ReplyDeletei've tried blogging just about craft too, and i always Stop blogging when that happens! my craft is just too fully integrated into my life-- i can't separate them.
ReplyDeleteYes yes! We're writers, so professional is whatever we want it to be! I went to a reading once where the guy wore shorts and a t-shirt. I almost wrote teacher instead ... that would've been interesting.
ReplyDelete