Breaking the Rules

If you read my post yesterday you may remember that I said one of my goals for this year was to figure out what I wanted to do with this blog.

Well, last night I think I finally realised what the problem is. Then I read this post today by Jamie Harrington, and she's come to the same conclusion.

When I started blogging I had no idea what I was doing. I was following one blog (Nikki Stafford's fabulous Nik at Nite) and pretty much only talking about Lost. Then I started visiting the blogs of other Nik at Nite followers whose comments I enjoyed. And I discovered the world of author and writer blogs. I also found that people wrote about funny stuff from their lives. And food. And movies. And socks. And other random stuff. So I started writing random posts about whatever I wanted to write. Then I started reading more and more blogs and suddenly there were "rules" - There were things you were "supposed to do" to build readership and develop a platform.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

I felt like I was doing everything wrong. So I set up a schedule and failed miserably, so I started only doing one regular feature (Retail Wednesdays) and feeling guilty for not doing more. And I stopped having time to go to other people's blogs. My readership dropped off and I got frustrated.

Over the summer I established a schedule again. And actually kept up with it. But I had even less time to visit other blogs. Then school started and I stopped having time to do any blogging or reading and I felt guilty. Constantly.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

It stopped being fun. It started being a chore. An extension of all of my other responsibilities instead of a chance to be free and goofy and enjoyable.

So I've decided to do two things - actually three - actually four things this year:

1. Post what I want to post when I want to post it. I want to rediscover the fun of blogging. I want to remember why I loved coming here.
2. Stop feeling guilty for not posting regularly. Who wants to read my continually apologies for not posting? No one! That's who. So I'm not going to apologize. I'm just going to post.
3. I'm going to go back to visiting other people's blogs. Not to get more people to visit me (though I've noticed that's usually a side-affect), but because I miss reading what you guys have to say. I miss laughing and chatting and getting to know you all better.
4. Clean up the clutter on my blog. Maybe even mix up the background - though I do like this one. Get rid of old things I don't need. Make it a little fresher. You know. Before the end of the world and all :)

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

So that's my goal/plan. I'm breaking the blogging rules and doing what's right for me. I hope you'll stick around for the ride!