From Slogging to Blogging: How to Get Serious as a Beginning Writer
I’ve been blogging for almost two years and to be honest, it has felt a lot more like slogging. Slogging my way through SEO and finding my perfect avatar and subscribing to all the podcasts and newsletters from all the right bloggers telling bloggers how to blog. Don’t even get me started on the pace required to learn the ever-changing algorithms of social media and the blogger share threads that suck the life out of me and leave me wondering what the hell I did with the day that, at sunrise, seemed endless with blogging and writing potential.
Then I had a dream. In this dream, I had to enter a long classroom filled with traditional rows of desks and I was supposed to walk down the middle aisle, all the way to the front, sit in a desk and take a test. However, all around the room, to the left and the right were people I knew from life: bloggers and former colleagues, friends, and family. They were all milling about, clustered in high interest networking groups, sipping cocktails and talking. As I walked into the room, God said to me, “Don’t look at them. Don’t look to the right or to the left, just sit down and take your test.”
I knew this warning was to be taken seriously so I forced my eyes to the floor and kept my gaze away from anyone who might distract me. I took the test (no idea what the test was) and then exited the room the same way I entered. Interesting to note: no one in the room — despite the fact that I knew them all — took note of me or looked my way or attempted to engage me in conversation.
I awoke with the knowledge that I had just received a vision as to how I was to proceed with my writing career and next stage in life.
I was to KEEP MY EYES ON MY OWN PAPER.
Before you dismiss me as a selfish recluse that does not contribute to the life and wellbeing of others, let me assure you that is not the case. I am in dozens of groups on Facebook and regularly participate in three scheduled group calls to talk about writing and career goals. I belong to a very popular writer’s membership group and actively seek out others in my neck of the woods to attend local gatherings and meetups. I lead a small circle of like-minded writers in Facebook and host a growing community of women who enjoy living simply like me in my Facebook group called Simple Life Simple Faith.
So I’m not an isolationist by any means. But what this dream showed me was there were a lot of people standing around talking about what they were going to do and I could get sucked into that stream and not ever take the test, so to speak.
It also spoke of my need for approval that God’s’ been purging my from heart real hard this past year. In the past, if I contributed to a shared blogger thread and didn’t get the feedback or requisite shares and comments that I had put into the effort, I felt deflated and irritated that I had spent a great deal of time all for seemingly naught.
I was growing weary of looking for validation from fellow bloggers and approval that my work was good, worth sharing, and had merit. God showed me, through this dream, that the only test I had to take was between him and me. He would grade my paper and He would not post the score on the wall outside his room. (Remember those pre-internet days of learning if you passed the final exam or not?)
He also made it clear to me that it needn’t matter one hoot what everyone else was doing or not doing, I needed to keep my head down and do what he had directed me to do. Simply write. I was not shooting to be a blogger who advises bloggers or an Instagram influencer, I was aiming to hone my craft and free up the bottleneck of creative ideas and words that had been lodged in my chest for more than a decade. The only way I could do this was to put my head down and hands to the keyboard and write.
What has this meant for me in practical terms of how I structure my day and interact with social media and other bloggers and writers? It’s complicated but I’ll try to share.
Firstly, my peeps come first. I create, source, and post quality content in my Simple Life Facebook group and endeavor to respond thoughtfully to every comment. I pour my heart into this group because I do not take it lightly that these women have chosen to be there and hear from me on a regular basis. They are my tribe and I long to feed and nourish them.
I no longer spend oodles of unproductive time in share threads that go nowhere.
I am no longer interested in following those who write about things I know I will never read nor do I ask fellow bloggers to follow me even though I know they will never engage with my content.
I trust that when I need to meet another writer/blogger/Instagrammer, their feed or stray comment will catch my eye and I’ll be drawn to it. When we look at everything, nothing stands out. When everything is important and special, then nothing is important and special. When it’s Christmas every day, then Christmas time loses its magical appeal. When my eyes are away from the social media scrolls I can be more discerning about what I want to participate in and which threads seem like they are worth my involvement.
I now choose the important over the urgent.
Urgent looks like this: Check all the FB group threads first thing in the morning, respond and don’t forget to follow up. Worry that I missed an opportunity.
Important looks like this: Which groups are speaking my language and are at a writing level that is going to move me forward? If that means paying for a membership site to be in those groups then so be it, that’s what I do.
Being intentional with my time around blogging also means getting over FOMO. Yes, there are things I will miss out on. I just have to be okay with that and trust God has my back on this.
I’ve also become astute at following and observing those writers and bloggers who are where I want to be. Tom Kuegler, for instance, and Nikki Tate. I watch how they engage on social media, spend their time (as far as I can tell) and try to tease out what it is they are doing that seems to be working for them. I engage with them and cultivate relationships because I sense genuine heart and soul through their writing and skills that I long to emulate.
One writer I happen to know in real life seems to have genuine deep thoughts to share on social media despite the fact that she travels a lot, works part-time, and is writing a book with a contracted deadline. I observed that she doesn’t post often but when she does it’s with a purpose. The way I picture her is this: head down, deep in thought, under for days, writing, listening, writing. When she comes up for air she has something to share.
From watching her, I gather this is a good practice; create, create, create, then share. Create, create, create, then share. From this sequence, you can see how much more productive a writer/blogger’s day can be. I am a writer first, Instagrammer and Facebook poster next.
Another writer (Tracy Gerhardt-Cooper) I know works full time, is a full-time mom, and is writing a novel, but has planned her day to write X amount of words for a specific purpose. I have seen her writing productivity skyrocket and she’s happy! Why? She’s not chasing down rabbit holes and looking for validations. She’s focused on her goal and she’s got her eyes on her own paper.
I love to learn so I’ll never stop reading and learning from others who are paving this erratic, rugged, but open-to-adventure trail called writing and blogging, but I’ve learned that in order for me to achieve any type of personal fulfillment along this journey, I’ve got to keep my eyes on my own paper!
What about you? Where are your eyes today? Are you sabotaging your own writing goals by looking at your neighbor’s paper? What strategies have you found to stay on track and stay true to your own voice?
If you think simplicity is the next step for you to maintain your focus, I’d love to love on you and walk that journey with you in the Simple Life Simple Faith group. Join today! I promise you won’t get distracted from what’s important.
