Welcome to Blaugust 2021!

Hi! Hello! Yes, yes- do make yourself comfortable. If this is your first Blaugust or even your first Blog you might be feeling a little lost.

Not to worry. Many of us have been where you are now and so have advice to share.

Here’s mine: Just have fun.

There you go. *dusts off hands and makes to get up*

Oh, need more? Well… OK then!

“Just Have Fun?”

Blogging is one of those hobbies that will happily consume your every waking moment. Between writing, editing (if that’s your thing), adjusting your layout, tinkering with it some more, researching how to make it do exactly what you want, visiting other blogs, reading their content, commenting around the place, getting into the community and I’m sure a dozen other things I’ve not touched on.

But it needn’t.

And I would argue that it shouldn’t.

Don’t get me wrong- I full well understand that there is a certain joy in throwing your all behind a hobby project. But ensure it’s sustainable. Don’t let yourself become burnt out on it before you’ve really had a chance to begin. Or perhaps the other side of this might be, ‘Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good’.

In essence, feed your blogging hobby only the time you’re happy to. Don’t let it remove more than you’re willing to give from other hobbies or sources of relief you might have.

Specifically, some things to watch for?

• Don’t labour over a single post long past the point of enjoyment for fear of a typo, error, or even simply of missing the perfect turn of phrase.
  Will people likely get what you mean? Then good enough! And if misunderstanding does arise? Perfect opportunity for a discussion to clarify! :D
  
• There will always be more content out there than you can reasonably hope to consume.
  This is particularly true over Blaugust, where a good number of people are aiming to post daily. Take a sampling of whats out there for sure! Comment where you have something you want to say. But don’t drive yourself to distraction over it.
  
• If your theme isn’t actively annoying people — it’s probably good enough.
  Not to say never work on it. I still tweak mine and consider alternates on a fairly regularly basis. I’m just saying that it shouldn’t become your reason for either not posting or, potentially worse, sinking more hours than you can in a sustainable fashion.

Bit of a theme there, eh?

There’s just one more thing I’d say about this, and if you are to take only one — make it this one…

It’s Never Too Late to Make a Come Back

There are lots of reasons you might drift from blogging. Spending time beyond the point of enjoyment is a common one. But it isn’t always about the intensity of it like I’ve spoken to here today.

Sometimes? Sometimes you just need a break.

And that is more than OK. Even if it comes out of nowhere, and you’ve simply vanished for a period of time without a word — it doesn’t matter.

You might feel a barrier stands between you and your return. A sort of, “It’s been too long.” I’ve been there. I’d suggest perhaps even most bloggers have been there.

Just push through, make a post — you can address the gap if you want to, but it isn’t necessary — and then make another post. And so on. The community at large won’t have gone anywhere. We’ll find you again, and be glad for it.

So if this is you, sometime down the road after Blaugust, that’s OK. You don’t need to wait for the next one to come back. Just… Make a post. :)

This was posted during Blaugust 2021, the annual blogging event hosted by Belghast. Blaugust is an event aiming to welcome new blogger blood into the fold and revitalise those who’ve been at it a little longer.

The Blaugust Discord is still available to join in, year-round!