It’s 1AM. You sit, tired, weary, defeated, staring at a pale blue computer monitor which just barely penetrates the darkness surrounding it. You’re on your blog, staring at wp-admin blankly. You know you have to write a post- after all, you’ve got readers and they’re waiting for you. But you just can’t do it, no matter how hard you try or how much you wrack your brain thinking of new and exciting topics to write about. It’s all stale, like that half-eaten bowl of cereal that’s been sitting on your desk for who knows how long (seriously, get that off of there). The weight of the universe is upon your shoulders as you wallow in existential despair.
It doesn’t have to be like this, of course. It’s all about the way you frame blogging in your head. If you see it as some kind of business, or a way to build your resume, or an ego-boost, you’re doing it wrong. It doesn’t mean that a blog can’t be all of those things. It just means that you need to set your priorities straight. First and foremost, a blog has to be driven by you. Extrinsic benefits like money, the satisfaction of knowing you have an audience, and so on – those all come second to the intrinsic benefit you get from writing posts. Blogging should be something that flows naturally. Like all good writing (and I hope you’re aiming for a well-written blog), it can’t be forced. You can’t blog well if you’re struggling up against a wall of artificial expectations. You’ll get writer’s block. You’ll lose your motivation. If you can’t write something well, don’t write it at all. To re-appropriate Wittgenstein, “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must pass over in silence.”