Recently I have been having what is known as “Blogger Burnout.” This is essentially the feeling of not being able to write or blog. The problem is not finding subjects to write about. I have plenty to write about and a lot of great ideas for articles and content. The issue is the actual enjoyment and willingness to write and convey my thoughts has become increasingly difficult over the past couple weeks.
It's hard for me to pinpoint and zero in on why blogger burnout is hitting me hard now. Part of it is that a friend of mine is also experiencing blogger burnout and is taking a break from writing altogether. While I was not happy to hear that, since he is a good writer with good style, I really understood and respected that decision.
I was analyzing what was making me feel down about the writing and blogger field. This made me look back at some of my articles I worked hard on in the past. Looking at some of my articles I thought to myself, “Wow, this is a great material… but nobody read it!” This might sound like kind of an A*&hole thing to think, but here are my 3 strongest and best written articles I did on my auto blog;
- Parking Panda strives to Revolutionize parking
- Charm City Pedal Mill: You Drink, You Pedal, We Drive
- RelayRides Takes Peer-to-Peer Car Sharing Nationwide
These were articles I worked long and hard on and I didn't write them to be SEO optimized or for massive traffic. I assumed the merit of the good writing would prevail… but that wasn't the case. While some got decent traffic and hits for a little bit most of these are not popular pillar posts.
That really gets me! I have written a lot of articles in the past just for the sake of traffic or to insight discussion to get a lot of hits. I mean I am not proud of it, but that is something everyone does.
The other issue is I have been writing and blogging online for quite awhile. While I think I have made great improvements in my writing abilities, I don't feel like I am at a point that I should be in my writing career. It's kind of depressing looking back and feeling like you wasted time trying to build sites and blogs but it just didn't workout or you went for positions or jobs which you didn't get.
I was going to write a list of ways to conquer blogger burnout. You know, because everyone loves list and that's great for SEO. Instead of me writing a list of ways you can avoid the ‘burn', which may or may not be helpful to you, I would love to hear other writers and bloggers experiences with being a blogger burnout victim.
How did and what did you do to overcome your blogger burnout? Did something inspire you? Did you take a break from blogging, writing and social media for awhile? Did you just decide to quit? Leave a comment and maybe you can help another writer or blogger find their passion again.
Catch me on Twitter @AdamYamada … if you can!
I find the best way to bear burnout is to either write something really silly/tongue-in-cheek/fun or go do something cool. As automotive journalists we can often even get some sort of cool car to play with.
Take a road trip in a Camaro
Go to a rally school
Get into autocross in whatever car you happen to own (I hope it’s a Ford Flex)
Unfortunately I am not at the point where I can easily get fleet vehicles from automakers to review. I still get to do cool stuff though like going to the GM Baltimore operation’s and test drive the Spark EV.
I appreciate the advice Stirling. I’ll try to just write all an all out crazy editorial.
Go to dealerships. It’s kind of an asshat thing to do on some levels, but I used to go to dealerships when we lived in the city and make a Saturday of test driving half a dozen cars from various dealers just to drive them. I wasn’t really writing anything automotive in those days, but it slaked my need to check out what was new with vehicles. Also, flash your IMPA card a lot. I get into a lot of events I wasn’t necessarily invited to that way.
I’ve done that before. On my new vertical business cards I have the IMPA logo on the back.
I’ve done the dealership thing every now and then. I’m always just honest with the salesperson. I say I’m a journalist, and I just want to be able to truthfully talk about the car in question. Sometimes I get turned away but most of the time I get to go play.
If you talk with the internet sales team then the manager, usually you will have better luck. The web guys know that a quality backlink is worth letting an auto writer take cares out for a spin.
For me, it’s about diversity. I have more than one blog on more than one subject and I have clients I write for to provide content, news blurbs, editorial, etc. on a wide variety of subjects. Automotive is where most of my personal time gets spent writing and it’s where I’m working hardest to grow as a career, but professionally it’s only about a third of my overall work.
Not everyone is the same, though. I have my kids to play with, gardening, animals, fun events to check out new vehicles or classics on display, etc. Like Stirling, I find a lot of release in writing not-so-popular, but oh so fun snarky or controversial pieces.
Honestly, my primary burnout is not with writing itself, it’s with subjects that I’ve over-written or have little new to explore in. I also tire of writing nice, controversial, well-trafficked pieces that get a lot of flame and spam from people intent on pushing their religion (which includes car brands/models) on the world. You’ve witnessed that first hand. I often just walk away rather than argue with the zealots. (Beware those who might not think the Volt is the perfect car!)
At any rate, I find happiness in diversity of subject matter. I’ve never been not writing. Even when I’ve had other jobs, writing was something I always did. From email rants to letters to the editor to online screeds to professional articles, I’ve always been banging on the keyboard. I actually get antsy when I try to take a break for more than a couple of days. :/
Thanks Aaron for the detailed reply. I am sure this will help others.
I think once you are a writer, you can’t ever really stop! 🙂
It’s true. You can’t. lol It’s like cocaine, only it takes a lot longer to have a heart attack over it. 😛
That is one way to look at it!
Adam:
I’m with you. I’m going through a burnout stage.
Like you, I have a lot of ideas. Every time I try to compose something, I feel a sense of internal rebellion. Deep inside, I just don’t feel like writing.
I’ve been trying some honest blogs about this type of burn-out. Most are not as genuine as yours. People go on and on and on about working through the wall. I’ve done that before when I have felt a sense of burn-out. This time, the feeling is deeper.
Yet, there are few writers who seem to say leave it alone for now. I know from other periods of my life, like running, that sometimes the only cure from burn-out is to temporarily, maybe permanently, walk away. That’s what I’m doing right now.
Instead, I’m trying to find articles like yours on the topic. I hope, in time, to shake this feeling. Sooner is preferred to later.
Anyway, thanks for the post.
Hey Carlos,
I appreciate you commenting and letting people now about your experiences going through blogger burnout. Also glad you feel I am being genuine as that was the entire point of writing this post. I didn’t want to suggest things I wasn’t sure would help others who have hit writer’s block just for the sake of them visiting my blog.
It’s definitely hard to jumpstart your writing passion when you hit a wall. This personal blog allows me to write about anything that interests me or anything I find worth writing about. I know people say it’s best to focus on a niche but that can get old fast. I agree with Aaron you need diversity if you are going to do this long term. I don’t understand how people write about 1 subject or topic for years without getting burned out.
Sounds like you have made the right decision for now and you feel like you need to write again you will with a more clear head.
-Cheers
-Adam