The questions have been coming in greater frequency as the summer winds down. Friends and readers, well meaning but curious. Everyone puts it a bit differently, but the gist is the same. The basic approach: "Has the blog gone dark?" Or the complimentary: "I really miss your writing. I hope you start again soon." The prodding: "The little mobile updates aren't enough."Finally the general concern: "is everything ok?"
It's all very flattering, and you've got to have a bit of an ego to have a personal website and expect folks to read about you and your misadventures, the accomplishments of kids they don't know and reviews of restaurants far from where they live. I'll admit the ego is here. The desire to write just hasn't been.
Even before this summer I had been having somewhat of a crisis of purpose about the blog. It had evolved from the daily series of quick hitting comments on the happenings of the Philadelphia region though a series of fits and starts into what can only really be classified as a 'Daddy Blog." Daddy blogs are great. I enjoy posting about my kids. I love bragging about how smart they are, how well John is pitching and how sweet Emma is. But the interest level outside my family is minimal and the genre doesn't provide much opportunity to stretch my writing skills.
So the blog was in a rut.
Hence the Summer of Benign Neglect.
Benign Neglect turned into flat out neglect as issues with my ex wife heated up, work was more demanding than ever and all of the million things that can get in the way of writing if you let them did just that. That's not the whole story, but it is enough of the story to give you a pretty full picture. The rest is just too boring to write about so I will skip it.
The good news is that I have been feeling the stirrings of wanting to write again, so we will see where this goes. I am not making any promises to myself that I will write every day, but I do feel like using computer to do more than play Facebook games for a while.
I appreciate very much the folks who checked in on me in my blogging absence. Things are fine. They really are. A summer vacation was in order. That's all. Thanks as always for reading.
You know there is a great "movement" - probably not the best choice of words. . .but a growing number of "Daddy Bloggers" that I've found on Twitter - and many of them are actually very good writers. . .not sure if it will provide inspiration to you or not - I understand the writing block - sometimes it's just hard to pull something out that feels inspiring. . .good luck!
Hillary
Posted by: hchybinski | August 29, 2010 at 07:52 AM
Thanks Hillary! I ready your "Mommy Blog" nearly every day and you endless ability to create interesting, smart, well-written posts form the daily highs and lows of parenting is inspiring.
Thanks for sticking with me!
Posted by: Cavalier92 | August 29, 2010 at 07:58 AM
I've felt the same way about photography this summer. I just don't have the enthusiasm that I normally have for walking around randomly, or hitting up a cool destination, to take shots. I was blaming it on the heat, but now that the heat has subsided, I am still having trouble finding inspiration. Maybe this was just the summer of low creativity! Good luck on getting back to the blog. I need to follow your example.
Posted by: Serena (Harpo42) | August 29, 2010 at 08:47 AM
It's a constant state of ebb and flow, this blogging thing. Sometimes the writing is there and sometimes it needs to go on vacation. We'll be here reading regardless.
Posted by: Melissa (Betty and Boo's Mommy) | August 29, 2010 at 07:20 PM