As of today, Tuesday, the 8th of March 2016, I have been blogging for 177 days. 25 weeks. Nearly 6 months.
I have published on 130 of these 177 days.
This is my 201st post. I have averaged 34 posts/month. And 8 posts/week.
And I am a giant nerd for counting and calculating all of this.
I have no idea if these numbers are high… or low. Maybe this is average. I don’t know what these numbers mean to anyone… except me.
• • • • •
I think I’m burnt.
I have been writing a lot lately. Maybe too much, if that’s even a thing. My kids are going to forget what I look like without a laptop on my lap. Oh, I am not neglecting them, I promise. But every spare moment, I’m writing for my blog. Or reading blogs. Or thinking of what to write next. It’s taking over my brain.
Over the past few months, my schedule has gone to hell. I stay up too late. I wake up with my kids. Between those two, I average about 4-5 hours of sleep. Unemployed and nowhere to be [a whole separate topic], once I’m alone again, I may sleep for another hour or two, but not often.
My general nutritional intake has gone to hell, too. I’m not eating junk. I’m not eating too much. The problem is… I’m barely eating. Coffee. Maybe an egg… if I’m feeling wild, some cereal. Later, coffee. And possibly more coffee. Then a healthy dinner. And… that’s pretty much it… unless I have more coffee. No way in hell am I eating a proper diet!
• • • • •
I do love to write and I don’t plan to stop. When I am a very old lady all white-haired and frail, lying on my deathbed, my son or daughter or grandchild will be sitting next to me taking dictation. [I realize modern technology does not require this, but I much prefer this picture of my loved ones sitting with me.]
I need to ease up. The ratio of writing time to people time is skewed. I should play more with my kids even if they don’t ask. I should jump all over John and make it impossible for him to resist me… and I should have more sex. I need to stop thinking I have to publish as many posts as possible or my readers will bail. I am crazy. Because… absence and the heart and all that, right?
The other thing is… the majority of what I’ve written since I started blogging has been for the blog. It’s for me, too, of course. But I’ve been focusing on the blog more than any other writing project for a long time. It’s not as though I’m a ‘real’ author neglecting my amazing novel. I might have an amazing novel one day, but right now, I have a few pieces I’ve been mostly neglecting. Are any of them good enough to become my amazing novel? That is the unanswered question, isn’t it?
• • • • •
I am going to try to post less. Maybe five posts a week… one a day, skip the weekends. This may still be crazy but I know me – it won’t be easy for me to cut back. But I need to re-prioritize my free time. I will still post Fiction Friday and the Weekly Perk. [I hope you enjoy those.]
I’ll still be reading your blogs, too. I just need to stop spending as much time as I have been writing for this blog. It’s not a drastic change – maybe no one will even notice I’m posting less. Or maybe you’ll be relieved that I finally shut the hell up for a while.
I know what you mean, it’s all about balance…
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Yes… and I tend to fall over. 😀
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Well, ditch the stilettos, lol!
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Haha. 🙂 I might be okay if I get off the wire and walk on the ground!
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😀
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Blogging is so addicting. Eveytime I strive to post less, I post more. Ha-ha. You’ll find your happy spot with it. You should really think about submitting some of your short stories to journal and magazines.
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I’m still not convinced I’m going to manage to post less… Going to give it a shot though. It is addicting… and different than I thought it’d be when I started! I know I should submit something somewhere. Honestly, I’m not sure where, but maybe I can give myself time to figure that out!
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I would start with Google. I know I’m so helpful. 😉 The blogging community is so lovely and supportive. It’s just such a nice environment, it’s hard to stay away.
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Haha…yes, Google – the universal starting point! 🙂
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😉 xoxo
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It can become ad ducting to a degree. Sometimes I think a break is warranted. I say, you do what you do. I doubt you’ll lose any readers. And if you do, did you really need them anyway? 😃
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🙂 Thanks! I’m pretty sure less than half of my followers actually read anyway, you know? Hopefully I really do get a bit of a break…instead of adding ‘take a break’ to my to-do list and not getting to it… 😀
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I hear ya. I have like 250ish followers but I only converse with maybe 20-30 of those, never hearing from the others, or rarely. I don’t worry about it. Not sure about you, but I do this for me, not them. If anyone wants to tag along, great. If not, no biggie, ya’ know? 😃
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Yeah…I agree. I think I’d be doing this even if no one was reading. But I do love the feedback and friends! It’s funny…online, I think the more the merrier…but in real human-interaction life, I prefer just a couple of friends at a time…or just one. 🙂
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Bingo! It’s an odd dichotomy, isn’t it? 😊
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Yeah… Hidden and all… and anonymous… I think parts of our personalities come out here that never come out in the flesh, so to speak. (Sorry, that sounds dirty!)
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To the public in general? Yes. To my wife and closest friends? They see the real me. This virtual world suits me. I can be me, but when I want to shut it off I can. 😃
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Yes… only the closest to me see the real me… And here. Maybe I’m even more ‘me’ here. I mean, I cannot let my kids know about the naughty stuff I write. They would be scarred for life! 🙂
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Haha! Well, at some point, they’ll understand. May gross them out, but they’ll understand. 😃
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😀
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I think that the time of year has a lot to do with blogging frequency. As the weather improves, you’ll want to spend more time outside, which will curtail your writing. Bonds of frienship won’t be broken over frequency of posting. We’ll be here. 🙂
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🙂 I hope so. *Some people* have a tendency to vanish with no warning… 😛
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Perish the thought! If you find out who that is, find ’em and spank ’em. OK? 😀
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Will do. 😛
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I totally understand this and a break, even a day in between (or two) has helped me to step back. Your audience won’t abandon you. Smiles. The ‘living’ you do offline translates into some wonderful words.
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Thank you so much for your support. I’ve been feeling like all I do is write… And post… And then write more to post. It has become an addiction only surpassed by my coffee addiction…!
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Laughs. I understand both addictions. We love to write and we love to be read.
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Your blog is about YOU. Remember that. I won’t abandon you, and that’s all you REALLY need isn’t it? ME? What a wonderful blessing you have received in ME. Yeah, those other people are OK too, except Rob, watch out for him. But I’M the VERY BEST! 🙂 (don’t everyone begin vomiting at the same time please.)
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I adore your loyalty. Ditto.
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You just adore ME! Just admit it. I’m the BEST!! 👑
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Listen, Bestie, Can I also be the best? Ah, see, already forgetting about me. 😉
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The best and BEYOND
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All I can think of is Buzz Lightyear. 😀
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LOL Hey you posted a pic in one of these posts of a woman with a laptop. Is that an aerial shot of you??
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You mean the one where you can see toes? Use your imagination. 😉
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I figured it wasn’t you. Absolutely love those freaking toes. Honestly, I stared at them. But to take that photo, John would have had to been hanging from the ceiling. Sigh.
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THAT sounds interesting.. but I think I’d prefer to be the one hanging. I did take a picture of my own toes after I had them done last week… I sent it to my sister because she’s weird and wanted to see the color. LOL
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You have NO idea just how BEYOND I am Sir. 💋
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Chimp batting his eyes again.
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Thank you sweetie. You make me laugh. 🙂 You are the best. I should have known this would happen… being totally addicted to this place. When I started reading a little more than I used to, I had a book in my hand 24/7 and I read almost 60-something books in 6 weeks. When I get into a new thing, I tend to REALLY get into it.
I’m not even sure I really want to blog less… but I feel like I have to. I know I should be doing more than this in my free time. Of course, today is the first day of my supposed “less blogging” plan and I’m here… and just had an idea for a poem… and the only other thing I can think to do with my free time right now is job hunting which has put me on the verge of vomiting my pathetic breakfast.
So… here I am…
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LOL! We all need a break. I felt the same way. I haven’t posted original content in almost a week. Burnt out. It happens.
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Thank you so much for your support! 🙂
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Sandra, everything in life is balance. You know I came to this very same conclusion a few weeks ago. Actually, I have updated my posting schedule to never post on weekends. My own writing and family need more of me. It doesn’t matter how often you post. You see I ended my Devil Girl, because it “forced” me to post on Saturdays. I will not hold myself to any set schedule. And even though I am not blogging everyday, I make sure to follow all the posts of the people who are MOST loyal to me. Rest, enjoy your family, have tons more sex, find a job, and live your life to the fullest. Everyone will always be here to follow your amazing writing; I know I will. Fly butterfly, fly.
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Andrew… thank you so much. Your words mean a lot to me. I did start thinking about this a while ago… and part of that was reading your decision to cut back. It was good to know I wasn’t the only one thinking this… and I may not lose people (which I worried about). I place too much pressure on myself about pretty much everything. But I definitely shouldn’t feel pressure for something I’m doing for fun. I’m sure I will still write a LOT but some needs to be separate from my blog. And I certainly will not stop reading and commenting on those whose posts I look so forward to seeing pop up. And I probably need to wean myself a bit anyway so I don’t have withdrawal when I finally do find a job and just don’t have nearly as much time to be here. I plan to do all those things you mentioned… perhaps especially the sex part. 🙂 A woman has needs. And priorities change, but, well, not that one. Thanks for sticking around while I fix my damaged wings. Kisses. Mwah.
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You know I will always be here for you. I had to make the change, I’m reading 1200+ blogs now. That is several hours of my day just reading posts, not even tending to my own blog. (Look at how I’m answering this comment now, & I am several hours behind on answering comments on my blog due to reading).
What I have done, is I make my most loyal followers my priority. Perhaps, we can discuss this more at length one day. But we need balance. Self (I hope you take care of yourself), family, work, & life comes before the blog. If you have notions of a novel that must be harvested as well. You know you are one of my favorites. I will be here to read whe you post. Love you.
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Have you thought about a speed reading course? 😉 It is a lot. I don’t even follow as many as you do and I feel overwhelmed by it! Thank you for your support. You’re a great friend and I’m glad and honored to be a favorite writer of yours. You know you are one of my favorites as well. Love you too.
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I guess you noticed I allowed your posts to pile up until today. When it comes to my favorite writers, I like to read your stuff when I can give it the UNDIVIDED attention it deserves. Today all my favorite writers are getting a load of comments from me. So never read anything into my disappearance. I set your notifications aside for special processing. Hey, regarding the overwhelmed feeling, first follow those who are loyal to you. Then, you read the rest. It take the pressure off.
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To be honest, some of my days are running together lately… and not working has made me not know what day it is at least half the time. I have to check my phone. 😀 So please don’t worry… I assume nothing. People have lives. Just because lately I’ve been spending too much of mine here doesn’t mean other people are that crazy, too.
I know what you mean about the reading — I have done that… set some aside until I know I have time and preferably no kids asking me something every 4 seconds. My daughter in particular seems to talk non-stop every waking moment she’s in the house. Amazing that she’s the perfect little student at school! Good thing she’s cute. Of course, she looks just like me, so… lucky little shit. 😀
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If she looks like you she is a lucky little shit. ON your free time, you think about these things on managing your blog and keeping up with posts and you can ger pretty creative and save time.
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Thanks… 🙂
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You do what feels right. 🙏 🙏
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Thanks. 🙂
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