• Ok, McCain’s speech isn’t the shot out of the park that Palin delivered last night, but its a good solid double off the wall… #

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There was a point in time where I was posting multiple postings in one day. Some times, as many as 6. Of course, there has also been a time when I’ve posted as often as once a month, and then again, there have been times where this site has not often been online for one reason or another. I’ve noticed here (and on other blogs as well) that blogging, like everything else has an evolutionary cycle that is followed, sometimes more closely than others.

Blogs, it seems, start out like many other “loves” in our lives. At first, the need to populate their pages with witty banter is great. Bloggers seldom go longer than 12 or 24 hours between posts (many may fire off a rapid succession of posts in a shorter amount of time. Whether or not these posts are of the caliber needed in the blogosphere is another debate for another day). Like young lovers in a new relationship, the new blogger mostly gets a sense of belonging from posting the menu from their lunch, what they think about the bitch in the cubicle next to them or what funny thing the odd looking man did on the subway this morning on their way in to work. Its almost as if blogging gives their lives meaning. A reason to exist online and try to connect with others.

Many new bloggers feel that the work their doing is important. As if Marty Kline in Podunk, IA (thats Iowa) really cares about the street musician in San Fransisco. But the truth is he doesn’t and after months of posting and checking PR and Alexa and god knows what other rankings, the new blogger is often let down.

After a while (rather quickly if the blogger is only blogging for money and not for any real reason) the process of blogging becomes something of a chore. A “yes, I must update today, but I won’t over the weekend” attitude sets in. Posts become more mundane, regular and more of a job than anything else. Its this point of blogging that most bloggers fall in to and never seem to escape from. How many posts can you find about the pizza someone had for lunch on thursday? Or about the way their boss makes them feel unappreciated (not that its a boss’ job to make you feel appreciated). Too many.

This period is perhaps the most dangerous for a blogger. For its now that the act of blogging looses its fun. If something isn’t fun, your more likely not to do it. When blogging becomes a chore, when you’re searching for that next post instead of just freely typing to get what you want, you’re more likely to stop.

I’ve noticed, among the bigger, more popular blogs, that unless you have multiple authors or contributors writing for you, content updates are sporadic. Its not a fault of the blogger (well, some of it is) so much as the fact that blogging has become a job. Its like waking up in the morning and driving to work. Punching the clock and counting the hours until you get to go home, except that in this case, you’re keeping track of word count.

Anyone can fall in to the point where they lack the desire to blog (I think I went most of February with out posting), the hard part is finding a reason to blog again. This series is going to continue with several topics on maintaining that desire to blog. Don’t ask for a schedule of when I’m going to post them, because I just don’t know.

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