Comments on: When the Music’s Over: Blogging Through a Dry Spell

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 02:30:00 +0000

Now you’re blogging! Can’t you see?Perspective and Passion drive the medium. Better to have a dry spell and come back with words from your heart, than to regurgitate what others have already written.Think of how much time we spend crafting hyperlinks away from our own content, rather than using that energy to showcase our own thoughts and passions exclusively.-Sam

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 13:10:00 +0000

Hi Kent. Dry spell? Yep. I know the territory. Though I do not have your years or level of experience, I too suffer and it’s frustrating.You would think with all the minutiae we are subject to on an hourly basis in this world of blogs, up-to-the-minute desktop newfeeds and the Internet in general, a spark of some sort would ignite the fuel that feeds our idea engines.It’s a terrible situation this ‘dry spell’ thing. And whats worse is when someone says the words “writers block”. I really despise that term. It’s like an excuse. A crutch to justify why one isn’t writing. “Oh, I have writers block this week. May I have another cup of coffee please?”I’ve tried various methods to relieve myself of the “DS’s”. Now I just keep a directory on this computer of one and two liners made in notepad. Hundreds upon hundreds of onesies amd twosies. Maybe I should go back and read them now. Maybe. I feel, oh, I don’t know, motionless and emotionless about my writings right now. Like a low cal diet. Bland, tasteless. Cripes, it’s not even in green ink. Now theres a thought. Write with colored inks.Now that I’ve bummed out …….. ackkk….

By: pundy

pundy — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 16:03:00 +0000

Kent, I know exactly how you feel. It gets worse too when you miss a few days; your brain loses the rhythm, you have to force yourself to jump back in.But the idea that you should blog every day is totally artificial anyway. Why every day? Who laid down that rule? For me I think you should only blog when you have something to say. Quality not quantity. The good news is, after a few days rest you will have something to say. Your brain is too fertile to remain dormant. You know that.I read you every day but you don’t have an obligation to post every day. Ignore the tyranny of readers. And don’t worry about it. We won’t enjoy you any the less simply because you’ve become a bit sporadic.Remember – blogging is like sex. It’s great but you don’t want to do it all the time.Just post when you really have to.

By: Kate

Kate — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 04:22:00 +0000

Ah! I was wondering what was going on…I had come to expect two or three posts from you daily, and to have such a long spell without posts was…well…unexpected. I have no great advice, and, not being particularly contentious, no arguments brewing with you. The question is: Is a “dry spell” a Bad Thing? That is, should you feel obligated to apologize for not posting? My answer is, no. Just let us know you’re still alive & kicking!For me, since I have taken up blogging as a writing discipline tool, I try to force myself to find a topic. Some topics are very limited in scope. Some are sheer drivel. It’s the act of writing every day (or trying to) that is a benefit in itself. For me, that is.Memes are very handy for dry spells!Or you could talk about the dangers of blogswarms when related to politics, science, miscommunication, etc. (I have Pianka on my brain.)

By: Mathew Ingram

Mathew Ingram — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 03:22:00 +0000

Hang in there, Kent. There are dry spells — and sometimes life intervenes too One of the reasons I’ve been blogging less, oddly enough, is that I’ve been involved in planning a conference all about… you guessed it, blogging. It’s called mesh, and it’s in Toronto May 15th and 16th — check it out at http://www.meshconference.com.