I think I am in a blogging slump. Definitely not a reading slump...I am reading and loving what I am reading. I just have very little inspiration to blog right now. Part of it I think is the "Read More" buttons. As you all know, I like writing about books as much as the reading part of the Challenge. I just get more out of my reading when I write about a book. Last year I hated the teaser set-up where a person had to click all the time to see the review and the read more buttons seem to put our entire blogs in teaser mode. It's kind of a discouragement. Yes, it is flexible and there is a Read More button so I guess it gives readers a choice top do what they want to do... except as a reader I always want to see more. I wish I could set my viewing somehow to "Read More: Always". But that's just me...the site is so big now that none of us have time to get to the blogs of all that we want to read. I think the emphasis this year is more on reading and upping the number of books.
Anyhow, in terms of writing not just reading blogs, I am in slump. It probably won't last for long. These things rarely do with me. Maybe I am just a bit burned out too as spring hits and there are more demands on my time. Also, I think I am trying to figure out how to keep up with my new reading love ---romance and Harlequin---and rearrange things for the long haul so I try to keep up with all the Harlequin lines and authors I adore and also read the oher kinds of books I typically read before discovering Harlequin and romance. I am a bit overwhelmed by how many books I love. need to build more of a long haul pattern not just for the next months but for longer and beyond this year's Challenge in terms of both reading and writing.
I am going to start playing around with my blog to see what fits me better. I am not giving up the longer reviews I write but maybe it is just better to do that in a different kind of format in other places. I may write short blogs and then replace the blogs with reviews. Who knows? I am just going to experiment to see what suits the best.
The main reason I am mentioning this, however, is that if you see a short review like the two I plan to blog next, don't assume my experimenting reflects on the book. If I write a short blog or something totally different than my typical blog style, don't assume it is a tactful way of saying it is a bad or mediocre read. The next 2 books I am blogging are 2 books I absolutely adored. I think I really need to experiment and figure out what is fun for me here.
Maybe I will blog less frequently and blog more books together. The whole Challenge is moving at such a fast pace (and the pace needs to be stepped up a ton to reach our goal) that one book blog often gets lost in back pages as soon as it is created so maybe the daily kind of blogging to keep in touch with friends I did last year should not be my modus operandi this year. Whatever I do to experiement, just never assume it is a negative statement about the books I am reading. I doubt even my shortest blogs wsill be 5 lines so unfortunately, all will still need "Read More".
AKA Merri
Family Challenge Team: The Spine Breakers with my dh Glenn AKA Phaedrus
Hey Merri - whatever works for you
I only read one book today
because I spent the rest of the day trying to find that title I thought I'd already read and catching up in here after four days away - I had intended catching up with blogging but DS's cough put paid to that
Tomorrow I'm supposed to be going out to lunch with DH and the brother, unless of course DS is still off school
Either way that will cut down on my reading time but I'm off work this week so hopefully I'll make up the blogging and reading time before I go back to work again
Here's wishing you inspiration for your blogs
Hugs
Sadhbh
Dream Team 2008 Challenge blogs
Merri....
I'll miss your long reviews but I know what you mean about feeling overwhelmed. It's just so hard to keep up. I know everyone keeps referencing the tools that are out there but the tools I really want (like I miss that other preview where I could quickly check one person's reviews and see where new comments were rather than having to scroll through a thousand pages) aren't there. Here's hoping they are added later.....
The D2K Paranormal Junkies 2008 Challenge
Merri: I've enjoyed your
Merri: I've enjoyed your reviews, but I found for myself I couldn't write so much because it seriously cut into my reading time. But you have a great way of analyzing a book. Bottom line? Do what works best for you--if this means cutting down on the length of the review, then go for it.
Nancy
Thanks everyone. I just
Thanks everyone. I just need to find some kind of more long distance rather than sprinting balance. I love writing longer reviews and I think I will get bored very quickly if all do is write short blogs. But our blogs seem to get lost in the sheer massiveness of everything this year so who knows what I will do. I just need to experiment to see what is best for this new Challenge format and my own sense of sanity and pleasure. I have books I have to review (which are pleasure reads because I am pickier about what books I review than I am about which ones I read) and non-review books I want to review in terms of longer reviews. I have romance reads and other genre reads, Harlequin and other. I am just completely overwhelmed right now.
I know what you mean Deb. I know the tools that are here so it's not helping me to be told which tools exist. It is very hard to put up a new community interface and think of everything at once or even understand until one just does it but as a blogger, I am frustrated by how little blogs get read/get comments. As a blog reader, I am not seeing blogs like I did last year so I am guilty too. I don't know why but I really miss the sense of individuality that came from being able to preview an entire blog, not just books buta bloggers whole blog and their more daily non-book blogs too.
I just have to experiment.... I just felt it was important to give a warning to people used to my style that any change in form has no relevance to my pleasure or non-pleasure in my reads.
AKA Merri
Family Challenge Team: The Spine Breakers with my dh Glenn AKA Phaedrus