Sprites & Bites is coming up to 2 years old and I don’t have the will to blog anymore. I am feeling very frustrated about where to go from now. After a few security scares with wordpress and with Google reporting my site as infected – it is clean, but they have yet to remove the bad flag on my domain this may be the straw that breaks the camels back.
The other problem is writers block. I just do not know what to write about anymore and am feeling blogged-out, for want of a better term.
This is not a goodbye, but more of a cry for help. If anyone has any ideas on how to freshen up the site and to motivate me, then please let me know.
Don’t go!
I understand it gets hard to keep going. I have peaks and troughs myself and i think the two year mark is a typical point where people “burn out”
If you can get past that you should be ok
Maybe try stick to a “writing schedule” for a coupe of weeks?
It doesn’t have to be to intense (maybe two posts a week?) but having a deadline your committed to the regular posting will help with “exercising your blogging muscle”
Do you keep stats on your visits? Look at which posts are most popular and try to make similar posts
Also look at your most popular and write the exact opposite…this will help make your blog a bit diverse
From my point of view some of your personal posts were interesting but dont see enough of them (e.g your BT problems, dolls in condemned 2, etc)
Just my thoughts
Feel free to email me if you want someone to bounce ideas off?
Andy
Just do what I do: blog about *everything*. Don’t feel you should be blogging. Don’t force yourself to write. Just mention bits and pieces and write longer things when you feel like it.
Oh, and there haven’t been any posts on biscuits in *ages*.
HI Andy and Dekay, due to google and firefox making a mockery of me, I decided to delete the entire history of Sprites. It was something I was forced into a corner of doing (more on that in another post).
Sprites will be reinvented and the new slim design is all part of that. Its not going to be a major reinvention but I have a couple of ideas that may breathe new life into it and bring in some more reader input. It is not a forum or anything cheesy like that, but is something different. It was one of those conversations you have with somebody on msn that start off with one subject and leads to another and then something funny happened to give me a great idea. It may not turn into a great idea in the end, but it is something I want to try.
All very mysterious? For a clue check out the Tiger Woods post
I always enjoy your games reviews and opinions, both on here and on ugvm as well. I’d like to hear more about other stuff going on with you as well – maybe you should have a personal blog and a games blog running in parallel?
Not sure anybody would be interested in my private life. Its all about catching shopilifters at the moment. I have some CCTV of thieves I want to put up on Youtube, but I think I might be breaking the law. LOL
Hi Becks,
My blog has been going for around 4+ years now.
For the first few years, it fueled itself. Our little community was ripe. The last few years though has been a real lul.
Everytime the hosting bill is due, I post that I am going to shut down the blog due to lack of interest.
Each time, all the readers/friends come right back at me and say Nooo you can’t. We always check the homepage – so each year the blog takes another breath.
I always think – if only people would comment – at least then I know the blog had a pulse. However, when I listen to some BBC Radio 1 DJ (Mr Moyles) moaning that his blog is a waste of time as no one comments on it – I realise hey – what chance do I have if people don’t comment on blogs of the more famous.
It’s not about the comments …
Seriously – be sure of why you are/want to blog. To become an internet superstar of K Rose ilk? OR just because you enjoy geeking about and it passes some time while sat at your PC?
Blog because you can, when you want to about whatever you want. Don’t let the blog stats be your motivation, just click the Write Post button and post your thoughts … well, that’s just my 2pence any how
HI Pleb,
I do agree that lack of comments is a tiny factor, but then I am just as bad as others as I do not tend to comment on other peoples blogs either. But its not the be all and end all of the blog. To me the more important factor is the stats. If I see people are actually visiting the site then comments do not matter in the slightest because I know they have been there.
I love studying my stats and seeing where people come from. Sometimes there is a big clue in their domain address. I see the other day I had a visit from Grampian Fire Brigade and for some reason it chuffed me, even though they were only looking for polaroid hdtv sky remote codes. The biggest one was when I received a visit from Rockstar Games though. Was has to be the best thing ever
What do you use for your stats?? Google analytics or another?
I use Statcounter ( http://www.statcounter.com ) and have found it to be the best with regards to information given about visitors. Its certainly best of the freebies.
Forgot to mention also, even though it is free, the logs are not hosted on your server, so there is no extra load on the database.
That was the one – Statcounter. You should take a look at google analytics as well – nice interface but can be hard to find the data sometimes
I tried google analytics but did not like it. I am anti-google aswell which doesn’t help.
