In the words of Fiona Apple--I've been a bad, bad girl. And it's about time I start apologizing. Blogging is important to me. Every day I try to come up with a post that I think you guys will get something out of. Sometimes I accomplish that, sometimes not. But despite what's going on in my life, I usually try to make sure I post five days a week. So that, I've stuck to.
However, what I have slacked off on is what I like about blogging the most--interacting with all my bloggy friends. You guys are brilliant and insightful and supportive. You write blog posts that make me think or laugh or teach me something. And I used to dedicate a big part of my morning to reading and commenting on all these posts--not out of some reciprocation obligation, but because I enjoyed it.
But over the last few months, I can say, I've gotten to the point where I barely read more than five or so blogs most days. And usually it's because someone tweeted the post and I can easily click over to it when the title catches my attention. Even my industry standbys--Nathan Bransford, Janet Reid, Pub Rants--have gone from daily reads to occasional ones.
I also used to respond to every comment left on one of my posts because, seriously, I LOVE getting comments and am so thankful to those of you who take the time to say something. I still read each and every comment, but there are days I don't get around to responding back in the comments (and yes, I'm still bitter that Blogger doesn't have threaded comments to make this more efficient).
And I wish I had some respectable excuse as to why, but really it's just a combination of things. One is that the more followers I get (thanks to all of you, btw), the harder it is to make sure I get out to everybody's blogs. It also means I don't auto-follow back anymore because I don't want to make a promise to someone by following and then never make it back over to their blog. The other thing is that when I'm in rough drafting mode, I'm consumed with the need to write and between doing the normal life things we all have (being a mom, wife, housekeeper, cook, friend, critique partner, etc.), I only have so much time to dedicate to other things--so doing blog stuff falls to the wayside if I have decide between it and writing.
Now, I know that's not a unique story--each one of you balances similar things each day--but I'm just letting you know why I've become a less active blog buddy. It is not because I don't heart you.
Crap, did I just say it's not you, it's me? Well, it's the truth. :) I'm going to try to do better, but I doubt I will ever be able to maintain the level of commenting and blog reading I used to until I'm in editing mode again. So, I hope that you will continue to stop by and comment even though I'm not always the best reciprocator. And if you have any tips to share on how you balance your blog stuff with your writing, let me know!
So am I only the one feeling this guilt? How do you balance your blogging/internet stuff with your writing and every day life stuff? Do you expect blog reciprocation--here's a great article on that btw)?
