I don’t even know where to start on this one. I guess since I have a tendency to ramble with unedited content I’ll focus on the key points.
After six months of writing a post every single week, sometimes two, I have come to the conclusion that my pace is not sustainable. Not for me anyway. The blog has been feeling a lot more like work lately.
I started my blog so I’d have a place to write about games. I still enjoy writing, but it’s a secondary hobby and that has never been clearer than lately when I’ve had too much things to spend my free time on. Playing games will always be my primary hobby, and is how I decompress after a long day of work. Over the past several months I’ve spent more time on blog content than I have playing games in my spare time. And my gaming time has been spent increasingly on blogging related stuff. Generally speaking, that’s made me a little more stressed out than I’d like to be.
I’ve been thinking about changing my posting frequency for a while now, but it always felt like quitting in my head. I have no intention of ceasing writing, but it still felt like giving up on a goal I’d set for myself. However, after careful consideration I think my posting schedule has outlived its usefulness. Originally it was designed to force me to write more regularly, actually finish post ideas I had, and force me to brain storm new post ideas. It has done all three of those things, but sometimes we all need a break to decompress and constantly jumping from one piece of content to the next hasn’t afforded me any breaks.
So…what’s changing? I thought about changing the schedule to bi-weekly, but that still sounded stressful so I’m just throwing it in the garbage. Posts will come out whenever they’re ready instead of on a fixed schedule. Hoping this will lead to more content where I actually enjoyed the writing instead of posts that are born out of scheduling obligations that I had to grind through. Social channels will continue to receive updates, so there is no issues there. When something new goes live you’ll all know about it.
I’m also hoping this will help get me to a state where I can have content prepared ahead of time. I think in the last six months I’ve only had two of the almost forty posts prepared more than a day before they were supposed to go live. Constantly working to dead lines is not my idea of fun.
This wasn’t the most uplifting post I’m sure, but I wanted to end it by thanking you for the support over the last six months. It still amazes me whenever people read, or engage with the content I put up here. I really appreciate all of the support you’ve provided in one form or another. Hopefully the scheduling changes aren’t too upsetting, but at least with a decreased posting frequency when I do post it’ll be a bigger deal.
Frostilyte Writes 
I’m glad to hear you’re prioritizing your happiness! I’ve been on hiatus for a couple months now and it has done so much to help me get back to enjoy my free time, rather than feeling compelled to think about or work on “the next idea.” Looking forward to reading your posts whenever they happen to come out!
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Thanks for the kind words, Brink.
Glad to hear (read?) that you’re getting out of your hiatus what you were hoping to. Hopefully with a less rigorous schedule I can hit the same sorta zen mode. 🙂
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I hope so too! Good luck!
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Yesss, join me in the dark side of ‘Post whenever, schedules thrown in the lake’! 😀
More seriously, glad you’re looking out for yourself and prioritising your free time accordingly.
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Thanks Naithin.
I still dunno how you bang out posts as quickly as you do. You’ve done 2 month long daily challenges over the past 6 months. That’s pretty insane.
For what it’s worth, you’re one of the people that came to mind with the “post whenever” schedule since you posted something about that in discord at one point.
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It was easier tackling the every-day thing second time around, actually. But I’m less certain whether that is practice effect or simply a different quality criteria this time around.
Although perhaps quality isn’t quite the right term. My writing process didn’t really change at all, but the topics/content did. It’s ‘easier’ to just write about a play experience than to do something possibly a little more meaningful AROUND the gaming sphere.
And certainly this time around there was more about the simple act of playing something.
Not that those posts can’t be good — one or two of them I ended up quite liking — but I certainly prefer to do something a little more as the bulk of my content. And going for the non-scheduled approach does typically allow for a little more time to think on that, find ideas, etc.
But once I get to writing and posting, that’s typically a single sitting affair. And yeah, to hit even 2-3 posts a week, it is by actively sacrificing some gaming time. But at least with no set schedule I have the freedom to some extent to determine which nights/days depending on what else is going on.
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Consistency is important as a content creator, but being happy as a human is more important. Pursue what makes you happy above all else. Appreciate the work you’ve done to-date and will continue to pop in as you post at a pace you’re more comfortable with.
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Thanks for the words of encouragement Jett.
Hopefully I’ll find a pace that is a little more suitable for me. 🙂
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I felt the same way. It’s just not feasible to create content so often for free when you have a job and life to take care of, too. Glad you’re deciding to dial it down rather than quitting altogether.
I know it might still feel like failure, but blogging is a longterm game. Better to still be around with fewer posts in 5 years than to have deleted your website after just 2.
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Thanks for the kind words, Alex.
I didn’t want to stop it altogether because I’m sure that a few months down the line I’d want to get back into it. The trick is to, now, find the right balance.
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Sometimes quantity happens at the expense of quality, too. You’ll be amazed how much better a post becomes when you really spend time on it.
After a couple drafts there’s a tendency to get tired, mistakenly think you’ve written a masterpiece, and publish. But if you wait and come back to it later when you’re fresh you’ll find plenty more to change.
That’s how I’ve been treating my posts lately, like a block of marble that I’m very slowly chiselling into art.
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That’s a great point. And some of my favourite posts over the past few months have been ones that I spent several weeks on while putting out what I’ll politely call “filler” content.
The risk I run now, without a deadline, is never actually getting stuff published. I did find a video that talked about something entirely unrelated, but the author of the video spoke about how they maintain enthusiasm for a project through to completion. They said working on it daily, even a little bit, is key. That way you’re always making forward progress on the thing. I think that’s a mentality and plan of action I need to adopt…while also not beating myself into the dirt with deadlines.
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If it never becomes art, doesn’t get posted.
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Consistently enjoyed your work. Whether it posts once a week or when it’s ready, it’ll be worth the wait. Put yourself first and your best material will come from a better healthier place 👍🏻
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Thank you for the kind words. 🙂
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I’ve been on a three week break as well now since video games are also my primary hobby and when I was super busy with uni-stuff, I sometimes had the time to play a game or two for an hour maybe but I didn’t want to spend that time to write something up about a game I just played, resulting in more work after the work is done. So, now, I’m trying to go for a post a week (or maybe a post every two weeks, depending on how much time I’ve got) as well.
So, I understand your point of view and I’ll support ya in every way possible!
or rather, it’s important that one’s got fun in blogging. If one doesn’t have fun in doing what he does, that’s no good :c
Happy holidays! Cheers!
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Thanks for the kind words, Magi.
And likewise! Hope you enjoy your holidays. 🙂
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