It’s my readers that will kill me
You all have probably seen the inane NY Times piece about the deplorable work conditions bloggers operate in and the way we’re all run run running all the time to be the first to break news and such.
Let me give you my perspective on this: 86 percent of the time writing is a lot of fun, regardless of the venue it’s intended for. The other 14 percent, whether it’s for MMM or MVox or whatever, feels very much like work. But I’ll take it since I have absolutely no manual labor skills or anything and I love to write. So I fight through the days when it’s not so much fun and eventually get back to enjoying it. This is true, I imagine, of just about anyone’s experience whether it’s in their chosen vocation or as they’re trying to race to the top of a competitive ladder.
Honestly I’m really trying to take some of the pressures off of myself. There’s nothing that can’t wait and if it comes down to being the first with a story but with no original thought or going out and playing with my kids, well, the choice is easy. This site and everything else is transitory. It’s my family and such that’s the priority. Like Andy Beal says, I try to maintain some perspective on this madness and make sure to right the ship whenever I feel like it’s the blog that’s driving me and not me driving the blog. Usually the first step is to close down the computer for a day or two, which helps enormously.
Also expressing this sentiment is Karina, who points out that it’s much more important to have something original to add to the conversation than to just try to be first since that’s a race you’re never really going to win.
This is fun. I get to write about movies and marketing and people pay attention to what I’m saying. But it falls in line behind my family and my life. Sure, I might be composing something while I’m watching the kids run around the backyard, but that’s just because I’m insane. And it’s because watching their imaginations run wild allows mine to do the same.
If someone is prone to stress out about blogging then it’s not actually blogging that’s the problem. If they didn’t have blogs to contribute to they would have found something to stress out about. I know. I’m one of those people.
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I can’t say I disagree completely with the article. In the movie news world to stay on top of the game you have to post your butt off. Personally, as a guy on the older side and with a family, I sometimes back off and the consequences be damned.
But I know a few movie bloggers (you probably know them as well) who bust their asses and are as described: always glued to either a smartphone, laptop or desktop.
Sometimes I do feel the joy going out of it, but that’s self-imposed by the desire to keep regular readers coming back and attracting new ones – and their pageviews.
Vic
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Nice piece, Chris, and I’ve linked to this post from my “From the brains of other bloggers…” feature today.
I’ve set aside that NYT piece about seven times now, but can’t seem to get around to reading it, pretty much for the reasons you’re outlining here. I love to read my fave bloggers nearly as much as I love writing my own, but to read someone speculate about people like us blogging too much? It’s all a bit too inside, too naval-gazing for my usual tastes.
But you’re completely right: blogger burnout is much more a product of personality than any supposed self-imposed working conditions, and it’s overly simplistic and foolish to suggest otherwise.