Monday, June 4, 2012

How Do You Manage Blogging?


It has been no secret that my winter and spring were eaten up like popcorn at a thriller movie this year from various interruptions. Some of it, of course, was my own poor management of time I am sure. But creativity and becoming lost in words does take time. Then there are blogs…like those famous potato chips, you can’t read just one!

I try to limit myself, but there are so many good blogs and newsletters out there that I can become derailed with some mighty good thoughts and opinions of others for a long while. Lately Becky over at Writer Searching for Bliss (http://beckypovich.blogspot.com) got so distracted by blog reading and writing she had to take a Blog Break! To quote Becky a bit, blogging “sure eats up a lot of time”.

I meant to limit by list of blogs that I would follow regularly, but mercy, that too has grown like Topsy. It is a job to read and comment on them all. I keep running onto more and more that are worthwhile. Some blogs are for pleasure and some for work. Several writing blogs challenge me to produce. I suppose one could do blogs like magazine subscriptions. Try it for a while and then drop it later, but too often I find the bloggers are such interesting people, that they become personal friends and who wants to drop their friends?

Today I signed up to follow a blog called The Dictionary Project. The idea of words, authors, books…ah, sounds good to me! You might want to check it out for yourself at http://thedictionaryprojectblog.com.

A recent blog I have been trying to tap into...and one I am way behind in reading….is Tend Your Inner Garden over at http://tendingyourinnergarden.com.This is a site for women searching to tap into their own inner guidance relying on the seasons as teachers...among many other topics.  Today I got the newsletter in my email and listen to what Deb Engle had to say:

"By cutting away what was no longer them, I revealed the beauty at their core. This is the process we do for ourselves when we tend our inner gardens and take time for spiritual practice. We consistently, little by little, let go of what is no longer us so we can reveal the beauty within."

Now the author was talking about looking for beauty in our own lives by showing how she trimmed her plants, but I saw this as writing advice as well. Don’t we often need to prune those wordy passages down and let go of things we “think” are vital only to see our writing become stronger and more lively?

This also reminds me of blogging again. How do you decide how much to blog, either reading or writing? Do you set limits for reading? Do you set goals for writing? Do you prune your blog list? How do YOU manage blogging, an informative and supportive activity for writers?


5 comments:

Susan said...

Oh, Bookie, that's a good subject. It's SO TRUE. Blogging, a total joy, DOES take a LOT of time and effort.

Since I started my blog, I've posted daily. I know that's probably compulsive, but it's my daily spurt of pure joy. My 1000 post anniversary is coming up in the next couple of months! Woo hoo.

I read a LOT of blogs, too. Like you, so many bloggers have become friends and that's wonderful.

I do have to limit reading. Cannot get through every single blog I Follow but I read a LOT daily.

As for my writing, I usually just share what's going on in my life. (Hope it's not too boring for some. ha ha)

No, I never prune my blog list, at least manually. If I lose interest in a blog, I'll simply not go there anymore. (Rare occurrence.)

I feel honored you visit me often, Bookie. Hope you won't change your mind about your visits. Take care. Susan

Linda O'Connell said...

Blogging can be addictive and time consuming. I don't have enough time in my day, but summer vacation will be here in July and then, I will. Your blog is on my favorite list.

Martha said...

What a great post -- I try to post almost every day (I do miss some) and I'll read sporadically -- mostly at night while I watch TV (I've never been a devoted TV watcher unless it is a movie!) And I'll check blogs out during the day but most of my reading is evening.

But blogs can be time consuming I must admit!

Donna Volkenannt said...

Hi Claudia,
I'm trying to limit my time blogging so I can do more writing, but I can't resist blogs like yours.
Donna

Lynn said...

I went back to work for a short period (helping hubby with a project) and so I had no time to read or comment much on blogs and what I did do, left no time at all for writing. It really is hard like you said.