Navigating The Five Stages Of Blogging Fatigue

August 8, 2007 | By Jason Kaneshiro | Filed Under Blogging, Features, How I Blog

Kent Newsome has a good post outlining five stages of blogging, from creation to abandonment at Newsome.org. They are:

Excitement: While setting up a new blog, the blogger is full of great ideas, is inspired, and expectations are high.
Expectation: When starting from zero, little things mean a lot and progress seems exponential.
Frustration: Blogging meet diminishing returns, turns into inefficient work, and the blogger finds it harder and harder to get attention amid the multitude of other blogs.
Alienation: Rejection of the blogosphere.
Abandonment: A dead blog.

I could instantly relate to these stages as I usually oscillate between 2 and 3, while on a really bad day (perhaps after a blogger calls me a moron) I can drop to number 4. After one year, I have yet to give up on blogging completely, but I’ll be honest — I’ve come close.

Currently, much of my fatigue stems from the realization that blogging can be hard work, and if I were to pick a blogging metaphor, it’s that of a long, endless jog. I’m somewhere in the middle of the pack - runners passing me while I pass others - but nobody knows how long the race is or where’s the finish line.

My traffic is increasing but not at the rate it once was. I seem to have stalled out in terms of Technorati links coming in and feed subscribers. Many of the “wow” moments that inspired me in the early days aren’t especially motivating anymore.

But still, I persist.

So what keeps me at stage 2? Where do I find inspiration?

Comments left by readers. I really enjoy reading responses to what I’ve written, even if they disagree with me. A funny comment always inspires me to continue blogging.
Responding to what I read on other blogs via my own. It’s wonderful to have the ability to read a blog article and write a response on my own.
Setting internal goals that don’t rely on external validation. Stats like traffic, ad revenue, or page views are “external” validations. An “internal” validation might be challenging myself to write four posts on Sunday and publish them ahead of time so I can have a few weekdays off. Meaning, success is totally in my court. Mixing up goals keeps things fun.
Writing series of posts. I’ve experimented with writing several posts on one subject (Radiohead album reviews, James Bond movies, Battlestar Galactica) that provide material even when I’m not feeling inspired to write anything else. And when inspired, the posts can write themselves.
Giving back. I’m running a blog contest with a reader prize and have ideas for many more.
Striving to be a decent blogosphere citizen. Reading and commenting on other blogs and linking whenever possible helps me feel connected and hopefully inspires other bloggers by letting them know I’m reading their blogs. In a sense, I’ve struck up conversation with some other runners in the middle of the pack near to me, and through subtle blog behavior - we keep each other moving forward.

And the last inspirational tip: Honest blogging.

When I write something true to myself without any consideration as to the result, I’m usually pleasantly surprised. An example of “honest blogging” was when I nearly quit my blog, but decided not to. I wrote a post called Some Reasons Why I Nearly Quit Blogging. The varied reaction raised me from stage 4 to stage 2 over a few days.

If at any point you’re slipping down Kent Newsome’s blog theory from stage 4 to the edge of 5, perhaps an blunt, honest post about your feelings would slow the descent. How about an article titled: “I’m Tired Of Blogging And I Want To Quit”?

I have a feeling your readers - even if they seem non-existent and indifferent - and some you had no idea you had - will read the post and lift you back to stage 2. Writing in this manner can take the dark feeling of slipping down the blog abandonment scale and transform it into interesting content - and hopefully turn your blog fatigue back into a positive.

Just make sure to link from your blog abandonment post to The Blog Herald, so I can personally give you a second wind!

Digg it

About the author: Jason Kaneshiro is a relative "newbie" blogger and the author of Webomatica, covering technology, movies, and music. He lives in the Bay Area and works in web / instructional design in San Francisco.

Comments

19 Responses to “Navigating The Five Stages Of Blogging Fatigue”

Elaine Vigneault on August 8th, 2007 8:59 am

You always put a lot of thought into your articles. It’s obvious. And it’s great.
Webomatica on August 8th, 2007 9:26 am

Thanks! I try, and am continually learning.
Linker Barn: Hump Day August 8 on August 8th, 2007 9:40 am

[…] Overcoming the five steps of blogging fatigue. […]
J.D. on August 8th, 2007 10:41 am

I’m naturally flakey, so after the adrenaline rush had worn off, I knew I couldn’t keep up the 3-4 posts a day I was doing initially with People You’ll See In Hell. I dropped down to two, but started writing longer articles, which was still too much.

So I try to put up one solidly evil person a day now. The rest of what I post is stuff that interests me but still relates to my theme.
Webomatica on August 8th, 2007 11:57 am

JD, I as well was trying to do 3 posts a day in the beginning, and that was really tough. I think quality over quantity is a good thing to remember, and I’ve read over on Problogger that sometimes readers unsubscribe from blogs because there are too many articles. Finding a balance between enough blogging to sustain an audience and too much (risking burnout) is important to consider, that’s for sure!

Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Jennifer on August 8th, 2007 1:46 pm

This is a great post. I write six plus blogs at any given time and blogging fatigue comes on huge. Like this month when everyone has apparently left the web in search of summer vacation before school starts back up. When one or more of your blogs is doing very well it’s easy to stay motivated. But a bad month for all of them… It’s tiring. You really wish you picked a different job. Your list of what keep you blogging is smack on and a good reminder to keep at it. Very nice; I’ll have to link this somehow.
Webomatica on August 8th, 2007 2:29 pm

Jennifer - 6 blogs? Wow, that number alone is impressive and has me a bit tired just thinking about it! I’ll have to check them out.
Beating Blogging Fatigue : Serendipity and the Art of the Quilt on August 8th, 2007 3:52 pm

[…] Maybe it’s my imagination or I’m projecting my own malaise, but a touch of blogging fatigue seems to have set in quilt blogging circles. Posts become less frequent and more distracted and then fade out, sometimes completely. Over at the Blog Herald, Jason Kaneshiro picks up on Kent Newsomes’s succinct outline of the five stages of blogging (from creation to abandonment) and then highlights what keeps him keeping on blogging: […]
Vahid Chaychi on August 8th, 2007 3:57 pm

Hello my friends,

Please take a look at my last post, “Some Facts About Social Bookmarking Websites and the Traffic You Receive from Them”:
http://www.weboma.com/some-facts-about-social-bookmarking-websites-and-the-traffic-you-receive-from-them/

Best regards,
Vahid
misszoot.com » links for 2007-08-09 on August 8th, 2007 6:39 pm

[…] Navigating The Five Stages Of Blogging Fatigue Where’s the stage that says, “Resorts to continually talking about ass-sweat”? (tags: blogging) &nbsp6:39 pm […]
Carolyn on August 8th, 2007 10:11 pm

Great post, Jason. Blogging is a lot like life — sometimes the days and weeks just suck and you don’t know why you press on, but you do. You know not to “check out.” But then someone comes along, and they are glad that you passed by. And you realize that you are here for a purpose. Personally, I am glad that you blog. I always learn something, and have a little fun along the way. Hang out as long as you can in stage 2.
Webomatica on August 8th, 2007 10:29 pm

Maybe someone could create a little stage widget for blog sidebars, so we can know how a blogger is feeling and when might be a bad time to poke the bear :)

Stage 2 today for sure! Thanks for the comments.
Scoble Taking A Break » Webomatica - tech, movies, music blog on August 13th, 2007 2:12 pm

[…] the idea of blog fatigue is something I’ve experienced myself. I wrote about it on the Blog Herald last week. I’ve even considered calling it quits […]
Scoble Taking A Break : Wonderful Thoughts on August 14th, 2007 1:57 am

[…] blog fatigue is something I’ve experienced myself. I wrote about it on the Blog Herald last week. I’ve even considered calling it quits […]
Maria Langer » links for 2007-08-16 on August 17th, 2007 7:06 am

[…] Navigating The Five Stages Of Blogging Fatigue Excellent article, must-read for all serious bloggers. Some good advice on how to stay enthusiastic about your blog. On The Blog Herald. (tags: blogging advice tips) […]
Avoiding the blogging blues « Mindtracks on August 25th, 2007 4:45 pm

[…] Posted by sharonb under Blogging Jason Kaneshiro offers some excellent advice in Navigating The Five Stages Of Blogging Fatigue Jason states that comments left by readers, responding to pieces written on blogs in his own blog, […]
Marketing Lens - Today’s Top Blog Posts on Marketing - Powered by SocialRank on October 1st, 2007 9:20 am

[…] Navigating The Five Stages Of Blogging Fatigue : The Blog Herald […]
The Business of Blogging « No newsprint here on February 19th, 2008 10:13 pm

[…] scrambling to pull in business probably can’t, and many small businesses might quickly feel “blogging fatigue” and fail to keep up with posting, leading to poor appearances of a blog that might backfire and […]
Making Money Online Is Like… | Internet Business Opportunities | oibo dot org on March 25th, 2008 11:09 am

[…] can find a pretty decent article over at BlogHerald that discusses the bloggers own experience with blog […]

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