Everyone likes to dole out advises, write out a ten-point list, offer suggestions and insert cautionary clauses in the field they are, or at least believe are, an expert-through either experience or extensive study. Likewise, if you are a blogger, you might have come across numerous articles on how to blog, why to blog, how to blog better, benefits of blogging which also includes benefits of blogging everyday.
With due respect to writers who share their experiences, I'd like to admit to myself and publicly on this space that all the theories of benefits of blogging daily have back-fired for me. The first time I took part in a month long blogging marathon was in December 2011and although I did not run out of topics during that period, the sheer effort almost killed me at the end of it all and I faced a major writing block for the next few months.
I steered clear of such exercises for a very long time and silently vowed never to undertake one in a hurry, yet, as they say, I was enticed by the unbelievable benefits endorsed by popular and seasoned bloggers all over. Now, of course, I wanted more readers, especially when my blog was in a comatose condition at one point. And, who didn't want to be famous, with fellow bloggers clamouring for your attention and asking you to take time out of your busy schedule to write out guest posts for them? So, in a weak moment I signed up for yet another marathon, this time a daily show for an undefined time. Definitely, the wires in my brain had gotten messed up.
Myth one: You'd get more readers.
Fact for me: Nope. For a few days, I wrote patiently, following all the rules mentioned. I visited and discovered so many new blogs, religiously read their posts, commented and waited for my blog to be discovered in turn. People came in, surely, but out of politeness and not because I was the next biggest find in blogging history. If I failed to visit theirs, I could rest assured that those many number of comments would go missing on mine. To be fair to the entire process, it is not quite humanly possible to genuinely spend so much time on other people's blogs, add them to your list and make an appearance in their comment section each time a post is out. Especially, when so many people out there write so well, perhaps better than you, are also dishing out a post each day, have their own life apart from blogging and also have better things to do. So, net-net, you end up having only those many true readers you started off with. Maybe after months and months of a rinse-repeat of the above scene might result in a spike but by then I think I'd have gone nuts.
Myth two: You'd start writing better.
Fact for me: Not sure, maybe not. Some days are just not yours and no matter what other experts say about not bothering about the post being perfect, you can't write average stuff and still expect people to read and appreciate. And, when there are no readers, I'm not motivated. If I'm not motivated then I cannot write better. I'm yet to arrive at the point where I write for the love of writing. If I were to achieve that state of mind, then I'd not blog publicly.
Myth Three: You get a better Alexa rank
Fact for me: True but not relevant. I blog because I like the banter that takes place between bloggers via comments and also to hear at times that I write well. Of course I'm a narcissist. How does it matter if I rank 40 or 80 on some random scale, the basis of which I don't know, when I hardly get one or two genuine comments on my post?
Myth Four:More comments/invites to guest posts/shares/backlinks
Fact for me: Nope. I admit that the number of comments went up by sheer numbers but that did not mean that I bonded with those many bloggers and they came because they became a genuine fan of my writing. They came because we wrote for the same writing prompts and more as a courtesy and greed for quid pro-quo. Again, no offense to anyone. I did the same, so I understand.
Just like one medicine does not work alike for two different people even if the symptoms and illness may be alike, so also, there are theories that could have worked for an entire generation of people, yet may not work for you. So, it is really up to you to figure out what works or does not. If it did not work, it does not prove the theory to be wrong (hence these are myths and facts FOR ME). It only means that you get to write your own theory or find the one that works for you.
So, I shall blog only when I feel like and write what I feel like. That way I'll not be under the wrong impression that I wrote a literary piece and feel bad about no one reading or commenting on it.
With due respect to writers who share their experiences, I'd like to admit to myself and publicly on this space that all the theories of benefits of blogging daily have back-fired for me. The first time I took part in a month long blogging marathon was in December 2011and although I did not run out of topics during that period, the sheer effort almost killed me at the end of it all and I faced a major writing block for the next few months.
I steered clear of such exercises for a very long time and silently vowed never to undertake one in a hurry, yet, as they say, I was enticed by the unbelievable benefits endorsed by popular and seasoned bloggers all over. Now, of course, I wanted more readers, especially when my blog was in a comatose condition at one point. And, who didn't want to be famous, with fellow bloggers clamouring for your attention and asking you to take time out of your busy schedule to write out guest posts for them? So, in a weak moment I signed up for yet another marathon, this time a daily show for an undefined time. Definitely, the wires in my brain had gotten messed up.
Myth one: You'd get more readers.
Fact for me: Nope. For a few days, I wrote patiently, following all the rules mentioned. I visited and discovered so many new blogs, religiously read their posts, commented and waited for my blog to be discovered in turn. People came in, surely, but out of politeness and not because I was the next biggest find in blogging history. If I failed to visit theirs, I could rest assured that those many number of comments would go missing on mine. To be fair to the entire process, it is not quite humanly possible to genuinely spend so much time on other people's blogs, add them to your list and make an appearance in their comment section each time a post is out. Especially, when so many people out there write so well, perhaps better than you, are also dishing out a post each day, have their own life apart from blogging and also have better things to do. So, net-net, you end up having only those many true readers you started off with. Maybe after months and months of a rinse-repeat of the above scene might result in a spike but by then I think I'd have gone nuts.
Myth two: You'd start writing better.
Fact for me: Not sure, maybe not. Some days are just not yours and no matter what other experts say about not bothering about the post being perfect, you can't write average stuff and still expect people to read and appreciate. And, when there are no readers, I'm not motivated. If I'm not motivated then I cannot write better. I'm yet to arrive at the point where I write for the love of writing. If I were to achieve that state of mind, then I'd not blog publicly.
Myth Three: You get a better Alexa rank
Fact for me: True but not relevant. I blog because I like the banter that takes place between bloggers via comments and also to hear at times that I write well. Of course I'm a narcissist. How does it matter if I rank 40 or 80 on some random scale, the basis of which I don't know, when I hardly get one or two genuine comments on my post?
Myth Four:More comments/invites to guest posts/shares/backlinks
Fact for me: Nope. I admit that the number of comments went up by sheer numbers but that did not mean that I bonded with those many bloggers and they came because they became a genuine fan of my writing. They came because we wrote for the same writing prompts and more as a courtesy and greed for quid pro-quo. Again, no offense to anyone. I did the same, so I understand.
Just like one medicine does not work alike for two different people even if the symptoms and illness may be alike, so also, there are theories that could have worked for an entire generation of people, yet may not work for you. So, it is really up to you to figure out what works or does not. If it did not work, it does not prove the theory to be wrong (hence these are myths and facts FOR ME). It only means that you get to write your own theory or find the one that works for you.
So, I shall blog only when I feel like and write what I feel like. That way I'll not be under the wrong impression that I wrote a literary piece and feel bad about no one reading or commenting on it.