Blogger Guilt

I haven’t been blogging here as much as I usually do.

It’s a combination of factors. Work has me writing more right now than I’ve ever written. I’m also blogging over at Thoughtwrestling, and doing more stuff over at Jester Creative’s blog too. I’m writing content for clients, proposals, scripts – you name it. Many days I’m cranking out at least 5000 words. By the time I get back over here, I guess I’m just all written out.

I feel bad about it.

There are thousands of blogs about blogging. They tell you to “be consistent”, and blog every day, or at least a few times a week. You’ve got to “keep your audience interested” by continuously pumping out compelling content. I believe all of those things to be true anytime you want to give something legs, build an audience, a community. I coach my clients on this and I do it pretty well with them.

But like the cobbler with holes in his shoes, I don’t always stay on top of things in my own house.

But it’s not like I’m doing nothing. 5000 words a day? That seems like something to me. At least my brain and my fingers think so. But I can’t help but feel guilty sometimes that I’m letting things slide over here.

When I started this blog back in 2007, I really did it for myself. I probably had about three readers, including me, my husband, and my Mom. But suddenly, other people started to take interest. They were leaving comments, and that was super cool. They were posting links on their blogs, and Twitter, and that was flattering. My subscriber count started to go up, and I realized that, even in my own small way, I had an audience that seemed to give at least a small crap about what I was typing out every day. I’m grateful for that, and I think the feedback I’ve gotten, positive and constructive, has helped me grow immensely.

So, I guess it stands to reason that if I’m posting less often, or if my content isn’t as strong, that I’ll feel like I’m letting people down. Now don’t get me wrong, my ego is still in check. I know you have a lot going on in your life, and you’re not going to be too adversely affected if SuzeMuse doesn’t pump out a blog post every day. I totally get that.

I am starting to think that I’m the one being let down. If I’m not contributing here, then I’m not opening the door to the conversations that can happen when I unleash what’s rolling around in my brain.

Perhaps it’s that I miss YOU when I’m not here.

[photo by Frederic Poirot on Flickr]