Yeah, Yo — Write Mo’
When you start a blog, you are adventurous. Your first few posts are usually throw-aways, because you spend big chunks of your online time browsing others’ bloglists, and commenting on sites that look interesting, hoping to make friends.
Then you get your first comments. Wonder of wonders! You have online friends! You write more and more, they comment more and more, and you tell those tales — funny, sad, terrifying, comforting — that make you, you.
But then some people leave the blogosphere, or you find other media for your social cravings, and you begin to write less and less. You don’t want to fall into your anecdotage — telling the same stories over again, not realizing that your readers (or, IRL, your friends) remember hearing that same story three times already.
Your cast of characters shrinks. What is right to share about your 10-year-old is not cool to share about that same kid at 15 (even though their wit has gotten sharper, their insights have gotten more mind-blowing and complex, and they are turning into fabulous people [despite their attempts at driving you to the madhouse]).
So you post less, and visit sites less. You read your archives and wonder at the volume and the quality of some of the writing. Where did that all go? You begin to wonder whether you should shut down these pages. (And yes, I know I’ve mentioned this a few times already — my anecdotage hasn’t matured yet!)
But you don’t. Because you still enjoy this place and the people who visit. So November arrives, and you decide you won’t be putting up buttons and links, you won’t be joining communities of strangers all doing the same thing as you, but you will be taking this place seriously, even if it means only posting a picture.
Yeah, yo — write mo’!
Peaceable Imperatrix 
Still reading, even if not writing!
Yay! Here’s to pushing through the blogging doldrums! I’m doing the 30-in-30 thing this year — we’ll see how it goes.
Oh, cool! Look forward to reading when I should be writing 🙂
Yo!
(Not doing the posting every day thing, because I just can’t this year. But I like to keep writing…and reading.)
*cranky-pants mode ON*
Personally, I am not a fan of the post-every-day-in-November thing. I did it once (by accident) a few years ago, back when I was a Regularly Posting Fiend. Not all of my content was scintillating then, either (not that it is now, actually…), and I found that I often had to compromise on quality to get the quantity I thought was important. Now I’m posting maybe once or twice a week–partly because other outlets sap my efforts (I’m looking at you, Facebook), and partly because I like to spend some time on what I hope are somewhat thoughtful posts. I don’t post often, but I’m happier now about what I’m posting.
Now when November rolls around, the onset of the post-every-day thing fills me with dread because I know that many of the participating blogs I read will be full of, well, the polite way to put it is “stuff that’s wasting my time.” Yes, I know it sounds harsh, but my time is precious to me, and I don’t want it gobbled up by “Okay, I need to post SOMETHING today, so here’s SOMETHING to fill up the space.” Some people manage to pull off daily posting with style and interesting content; most don’t, I’m afraid.
*cranky-pants mode OFF*
Anyway, post WHEN YOU WANT TO, not when you think you must. And post about whatever you like. I’m here because I like what you post, not because of how often you post. The beauty of RSS is that, even if days or weeks or months go by between your posts, Google Reader will let me know when you’ve got something to say. 🙂
Like KathyR, I’m still reading your blog even if I’m not posting much. I’ve been sucked into Facebook and Twitter, and those, on top of lots of work, have been taking up all my time. Besides, now that the Evil Ones are no longer in office in D.C., I don’t have the urge to write about politically aggravating issues very often anymore.
I, too, find myself reading blogs but not commenting as often. (Wil, I’ll be bopping over to give you support!) Marsha, you have a point; I find, though, that some things I have to force myself to do for a while to get back in the routine of it (as another example: exercise). As a professional perfectionist/procrastinator, I notice that I will compose lengthy, thoughtful posts in my head, but when I sit down to write them out, I decide the idea is banal, the words aren’t coming out smoothly enough, so I close the browser window and surf around wasting time instead. And Katharine, that’s something else I’ve noticed: now that my outrage-o-meter is quiet, it’s harder to find things to blog about!
I know exactly what you mean. I do the same thing! Lying in bed at night, for example, about to drift off to sleep…and I’ll start composing a post in my head, only to abandon it completely the next morning.
So, I just rediscovered your blog. See, with the job change in September and the new computer etc. I forgot to rebookmark this site. Since I’ve been using my work computer WAAAAAYYY more than my old dinosaur personal computer (for obvious reasons) I didn’t see your blog every day when I started the internet like before (your page is my home page on our personal computer, btw…did you know that?). Anyway, I’m back and will be reading more often, though maybe not every day. So thanks for keeping posting.