Why do I blog?

comments 43
This Blog

You may (Or may not.) have noticed that things have got a wee bit quiet here. Blog posts have become a less frequent (Understatement!) and I just keep forgetting to post updates on the films I’ve been watching for my 100 movies challenge for the year.

Been trying to think of a way to kickstart my blogging again. The number of times I’ve come here and stared at an empty Add New Post Page is pretty hilarious.

For a while I’ve been toying with attempting to keep up with blogging every day using The Daily Post. But realised, it’s not about how much I blog but what I blog. It’d be pointless to blog on some of the prompts they give for the sake of it.

One recent Daily Prompt did make me go ‘hmmm’ – Why do you blog?

Made me go hmmm because now is probably a good time to remind myself why I blog and why I have been for so many years and maybe, just maybe, that’ll be enough to get me back into some sort of routine with blogging.

So, why do I blog?

I like the idea of being able to share. Share little bits of what’s going on in the world around me, what I’m watching and sharing things you guys out there might like. Also, I’ve been journal-ling/blogging online for so many years now. For brief moments I stopped or paused. But I always came back to it.

It’s great when people comment and get engaged in what I blog about here, but to be honest, I’m not too fussed with hits and comment counts. I used to be. I used to be a stats whore. But blogging is just another sort of creative-ish release for me. I’m not an aspiring writer, in fact I don’t think I can write for shit! But blogging’s something I enjoy and stuffing life with doing things I enjoy can only be a good thing. Right?

43 Comments

  1. I don’t think you give yourself enough credit Jaina. You’re an engaging writer, otherwise I wouldn’t have stuck with you as long as I have! I think we were part of that generation that first discovered blogging, so it’s hard to not come back to it again and again. And I definitely appreciate the quality of your posts when you do blog, so keep going.

    • Aww, thank you Humaira!

      I do remember when so many people I knew had personal sites and blogged almost daily. I remember the original blogging version of Follow Friday. Feels like a world ago now.

  2. Well, i’ll disagree with you on your ‘can’t write for shit’ comment! On the contrary, you’ve always had a style of writing that pulls readers in; articulate, inviting, and honest. Your blog entries are always a delight to read 🙂

    I can’t really imagine you not blogging, actually. Perhaps because, like you say, you’ve been a blogger for years now. Keeping that momentum going for that length of time is no easy feat.

    • I’m flattered. Honestly, completely and utterly. To the point that I’m blushing a little bit.

      It’s all about the momentum, isn’t it? Need to get back on that!

  3. I have certainly noticed you haven’t been around. Always enjoy reading your stuff. But I also know how life can slow things down in terms of blogging and for me sometimes life eats into my movie watching. Not as much movie watching, not as much movie blogging.

    But I kind of have this weird little system I use. When my mines working good and I have a lot of ideas I will write like crazy for several days. So I usually have at least 15 or so movie reviews written up so that when I need a post for a day but I don’t have time to write one I can go to that back catalog of written reviews that have never been posted.

    Anyway sorry about the rambling. Keep on blogging whatever you do. I know stats aren’t your thing, but there are several of us who enjoy hearing what you have to say about the movies. 🙂

    • Life does indeed get “in the way” so to speak. Struggling with finding a balance at the moment. It’s funny how easily that balance can get knocked out of place.

      I need to do that. Get more pro-active. I did at one point. I’d have a crazy amount of ideas and spend a whole weekend writing about a month’s worth of posts and scheduling them all.

      No need to apologise, never underestimate the value of a good ramble 😀

  4. I’ve noticed a widespread decline in blogging on dedicated platforms such as WordPress and Blogger, and it seems most of that energy has been focused on sites like Google+ and, ugh… Facebook, where you are more likely to get some sort of instant gratification (in the form of likes and comments).

    I’m glad to know that you write for you, and not just for the likes (although I wish you posted more frequently on G+, as I usually enjoy the same thing you do). Cheers!

    • I have been neglecting everywhere of late. Just feels like I’ve got nothing useful to say! Maybe I do. Or maybe it’s the useless stuff that’s not so useless.

      The instant gratification thing really annoys me. The lack of any interaction and the notion that merely +1-ing or ‘liking’ something is enough. I think I’m getting Internet-Old.

  5. I DID notice that things had been quiet, yes 😀

    If you’re having trouble coming up with stuff to write about though, why not start running some pic posts again? The pictures you post are always pretty amazing Jaina!

    • Cheers, Dan! I’ve been wanting to pick up my camera again, but not got the drive or motivation to do. Really need to kick that up the arse. And hey, who doesn’t love a blog post with photos?

  6. I have asked myself the same question, and it’s a similar answer. I like sharing things I’m interested in, and I like interaction with like-minded people.
    Even if less posts than before, hope you stick around 🙂

    • You definitely will be hearing more from me. Once I figure out what that “more” will be 🙂

  7. Yeah, I’m in a bit of a blogging lull myself. I mainly post movie reviews, but lately there really hasn’t been much that I’ve seen that I’ve felt the urge to really dive down into and talk about. And I haven’t had much come to mind that I’ve felt would be worth sitting down and blogging about otherwise, either.

    I’m at a point where I think I need to reassess why I blog as well. I used to do it just for fun, just for kicks, and my friends got a kick out of the things I’d have to say, too, which was always fun. I’ve never had a really popular blog, don’t honestly know how to even begin to get the number of visitors and commenters I see on other people’s blogs. I just suck at networking like that I guess. But like you said, that really shouldn’t be the end goal to blogging anyways, it should be something that you do for yourself first and foremost, which I guess I need a bit of a reminder on from time to time.

    Nice post, and it’s something I’ve been thinking about myself quite a bit lately. 🙂

    • Figuring out what your personal aim is in blogging and why you blog will, using my logic, make it easier to blog, in that blogging will become second nature. Just figuring those things out is tricky. I mean, your main aim out of blogging could be to monetize the whole lot. Or just create crap loads of content. Whatever floats your boat.

      Take a break. Forcing things never promotes any sort of creativity. Look at other blogs, but don’t feel the need to do what they’re doing. Taking a break and reassessing is always a good idea when blogging.

  8. Yeah, I used to be very concern with stats. I still do that, but not as much. I know what you mean, blogging should be about hobby. We should just blog about the things we enjoy to share, not scheduled posts.

    • I think we all look at stats as the “quick wins” of blogging when we should be thinking about the bigger picture. Hard not to though sometimes.

  9. Great post here, really. I’m like you – never been one to obsess over stats, I simply write about movies because I love writing about movies.

    I really enjoy your blog (you can write, by the way!) and hope you keep it going!

  10. How’s the movie project going, Jaina? That’s always a good source of inspiration to start writing. 🙂 Hope you have been able to take in some of the classics you listed before — would love to hear your thoughts on them!

    • They’ll be an update on that shortly, though not so good in short! My film watching has gone down a little bit, need to do something about that.

      Getting on those classics should be a priority for me, definitely.

  11. I do notice that you haven’t been blogging and I hope you won’t give it up! I think your posts are fun! I’m not obsessed w/ stats but I LOVE comments! Chatting w/ fellow movie lovers are what makes me addicted to blogging. I like the community aspect of it.

  12. Hmm, I can’t quite seem to agree with your comment that you can’t write! 🙂
    Yes, it is probably a good idea to think about why we blog every now and then, a sort of reality check. I have found myself not blogging lately not because blogging itself takes too much time, or because I don’t have new images (I do! And how!) but because I am embarrassed that I haven’t time to reciprocate likes and comments. Silly, right? I didn’t start blogging to get into all that tit for tat commenting malarky. So why am I letting it stop me now? Dumb.

    • That’s the one aspect of the blogging community I’m not hot on. I understand there needs to be some reciprocation, but the idea of leaving comments on a blog in the hope of getting some in return just is so… fake. If you have something to say, then comment, but never feel like you have to! Not dumb at all.

  13. Your “stats whore” comment cracked me up. 🙂 I think we all go through a phase like that. I’m glad you’re sticking with blogging, and don’t underestimate your writing skills. I think your writing is quite good — I love your engaging, conversational style.

  14. Keep going Jaina! We miss you around these ways! I just write any old crap sometimes in case you hadn’t noticed. I too just want to share. I’m far more comfortable writing about movies than actually talking about them with real people like face to face!

    That Daily Post thing is pretty cool, thanks for sharing!

    • Aww, didn’t realise I was missed!

      It’s definitely easier talking online about movies, TV and the like, than in face to face. I’m not quite as articulate when I’m actually talking. Though, I’m not all that articulate in my blog, so that must be saying something! HA!

  15. Hey Jaina, Hope this post *has* helped you write more but not just for the sake of posting, as you mentioned. I’d rather read meat-y posts than fillers anyways. Not that all posts have to be inspired but should all truly come for your heart.

    • It *has* definitely helped. It’s got me back onto the blogging “roll” too. More in the mindset of blogging and making time for blogging. I need to do that more.

  16. Happy to see you are blogging again Jaina, was starting to wonder if you quit “the business” 😉

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