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Let me set this particular scene for you: You’ve been posting, discussing, reviewing, tagging, memeing (is that a thing? Spell checker says yes!), whatever you like to do with your blog. Then one day, you kind of run out of ideas. No worries, you still have a few things stored in your backup idea vault (aka, a piece of random scrap paper with two book-related topics jotted on it). Then those are gone and still… nothing.

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That’s what is happening at the moment. I have discussed with several bloggers how the book community in general seems to be in a bit of an overall slump after the excitement of BEA wore off. I had been okay… for awhile. And now I find myself faced with these same troubles, wondering two things: How to get out of it, and if anyone else is feeling the same way.

Maybe we should have a BlogTherapy™ session and figure out why this happened to begin with. I suppose I should have seen the signs- no new ideas to jot down on my scrap paper, nothing penciled in on my (mostly useless) calendar, and a ton of procrastination. Before I started this post, I stared at the blank “new post” page for awhile, then chatted on Twitter, then looked up books on Goodreads, came back to stare some more, and then finally realized: I should talk about this! Maybe you have experience with it yourself, or maybe you need to be on the lookout. In any case…

Warning Signs of Slumpage:

1. Screen staring with no indication of typing words in the foreseeable future.

2. Twitter usage has increased threefold. 

3. When writing reviews, the only words you can summon is “It was okay/fabulous/rubbish”. 

4. You are daydreaming about fun tasks like the dentist/DMV/dishes instead of blogging. 

5. You have new books on your TBR that don’t publish until 2021.

I admit, I have been in this kind of funk before, and I am quite sure I will be again. But it’s scary. And the more pressure you put on yourself to come up with something fun/creative/inspired/smart/whatever, the less likely you seem to be to think. Blame the annoying voice in your head, the one that’s trying to scold you into creativity. And then maybe remind it that it doesn’t work like that?ezgif-1844599280

So of course, I want to know a few things, since this is a discussion- are you/have you ever been in a slump? Hell, am in a slump!? And obviously, some tips and tricks for the class would be insanely helpful! 

Slump Status:

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Posted June 19, 2015 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Discussion, Discussion Challenge / 50 Comments

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50 responses to “Hitting the Creative Wall

  1. Word. Major slump here and it’s makin’ me craaaay-zee. it’s extra killing me because book 3 is like… almost done… like copy-edit done and I can’t manage to pull myself together.

    I need less… of everything, plus a big Slurpee and some duct tape to get me in that chair!

      • I’m planning on a kid-free work day on Thursday… *fingers crossed*

        You’re so dang encouraging… I’ll get it done! unless… is there anything good on TV that day?

  2. Argh. I’m totally in this situation, since I just finished my exams and am trying to gear up myself for Camp NaNo next month. I’m still wallowing in post-exam despair and it’s so hard to be productive. And OMG, increased Twitter usage is SO TRUE.

  3. YESSSS!!!! Oh my gosh, I’m in the worst blogging slump ever!! I just now posted the post that was supposed to go up a week and a half ago! I started writing it then and just finished it now!!!! I have never faced a blogging slump before and it’s so scary! It’s a lot like a reading slump and how much I hope I never have to face them BOTH at the same time!! Awesome post!
    ~Fari 0:)

  4. I wouldn’t say I am in a slump yet – I have only been blogging for like three months so I still have some umph left. But coming up with fun interesting posts after reviews, memes and tags can be so hard! I do have a backlog of reviews to do because if I am not in the mood and would sound like you described above. Hope all the slumps for all the people go away soon!

  5. I don’t think the whole book blogging community is in a slump because BEA is over. Don’t forget all the books that are coming out soon that were given out at BEA. Slumps happen. Read other blogs, watch some booktube videos, read a book you are really excited about. Talking about your slump is the first step in getting out of it. Talking about it always worked for me. I just think about all the reasons I started a blog in the first place and that helps. Think about what you wanted out of this thing. I have tried bloggin less often, like 3x a week instead of 6 and then I find that I miss it so much I get excited about blogging again.

  6. I’m in a complicated slump status. Seriously. IT’S COMPLICATED. I have ideas, I just have no motivation to write them. >_< And I don't really have a post-BEA-hype to even blame it on. I'm just…lazy?! GAH. I DON'T KNOW. It ain't flowing. And I haven't even been reading a lot lately. Something is eating all my time, but who knows what. IT IS A QUANDARY. When you find the magic slump fixer, lemme know. I need it.

    Although, I'm not opposed to taking breaks while in slumps. *nods*

    • See, we are the opposite! I want to write things, I just don’t have a clue what to write! Clearly, we need to combine forces. It worries me though that you aren’t writing OR reading. Do you have a fever? Is it anthrax? Really, we may need to call in some kind of medical team.

      And breaks scare me. A LOT. I am so afraid I’d be one of those people who took a break and then… POOF, gone. 🙁

  7. Such a cute post Shannon! I used to be in a slump, especially last March. But mostly it was because school was so much that I literally lost inspiration to write any sort of blog post or read any book, since my brain was fried from doing both in school 😛 I’ve had those several instances where I would run out of posts for my blog. IT WAS HORRIBLE. I’m bad at getting over it because what I do is to usually wait until inspiration hits again, which would obviously take forever 😛 Lovely post Shannon!!

  8. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a slump, but I have had to take breaks from blogging because I was busy with other things. Getting back into blogging after being away for a few weeks was insanely difficult. I just had no motivation to work on the blog. I was tired and wanted to sleep instead.

    • Ahh that makes sense! I agree, there are so many days- more often than not, really- that I wish I could be sleeping. I think that is why I am so against breaks (for myself, not others!), because I am too afraid I will get too lazy and never start again!

  9. I had a THREE MONTH slump. It was such a desolate and busy time. I’d stare at my laptop screen for half an hour in the wee hours of the night before crashing and waking up the next morning for school or testing or some other BLEH thing. I’m on the road to recovery though! I’ve got some discussion posts ready, and I’m working on more posts in general. Never fear, you shall get through this hun!!

    • Three months!??! That is awful! I am so scared that it will be a long one 🙁 The only GOOD thing is that I do have the desire to post (in my last slump, I didn’t even care!) so maybe that is a good sign? I am so glad you are finally getting out of yours. It is so hard!

  10. I’ve been in a huge blogging slump recently because of school, and I’m currently trying to pull myself out of it. School just finished for me, and along with that, I got the burden of finals lifted off of me. I guess in the weeks leading up to finals I could definitely snatch an hour or so between studying sessions to write a blog post, but I just felt too drained to do anything else. Then, the more blog posts I miss, the greater my slump gets. However, I feel so much more relaxed now, so I’m trying hard to get my posting up to speed. Ugh. It’s going to take a while. I hope we all get out of our slump soon.

    • Oooh I am glad you have time now that school is over! That should definitely help! My fingers are crossed for you 🙂 I think that’s my biggest concern- nothing for me will EVER change, so I have exactly the same amount of time that I will always have (very little) and it is so stressful. Ugh, let’s hope the slumps end sooN!

  11. For me, a slump is a period of time where I have no inspiration, ideas or desire to put posts together, even if I have reviews I could do. That’s different from a lack of ideas. For ideas, I bookmark every post I see that gives “Great Ideas for Blog Posts” or whatever they call it. If it’s an actual slump, like a feeling instead of just being too busy to blog, I just walk away. That’s why I like being ahead of the game. I didn’t write anything for 3 days last week because I didn’t feel like it and no one knew because everything was scheduled. On the 4th day, I woke up excited with a post idea. Bur even during a writing slump I still visit and comment. That can help w/ inspiration also.
    Great post, Shannon! Go for a walk and enjoy the early summer.

    • See, that is really great! Being able to schedule ahead would take SO much stress off me. Then, like you said, I COULD just visit blogs, and enjoy blogging. But I can’t even find time to catch up, let alone get ahead. It’s so hard. I love it SO MUCH and I WANT to do it- I think THAT is the most frustrating part.

  12. Great post, Shannon – and not something that I see get addressed much. I can’t say I’m in the same boat because I haven’t been blogging all that long (although I’ve been reviewing for years). However, I look at it as very similar to a reading slump. It doesn’t happen often (thankfully!) but when it does I find it best to just go with it. Like you mentioned, the more you try to force something the harder it gets. I have no problem taking a step back, doing other stuff, and I’m back in business pretty quickly. Hope this passes for you… I know it’s frustrating!

  13. I’m in a bit of a slump myself right now. It doesn’t make sense why since I have so many new books and tons of reviews piling up in my head. I’ve posted less this week than I ever have. I currently have four or five incompleted posts hanging out waiting to be finished. Maybe it’s because Summer is just starting and BEA is over. I have a cold this week, too, so that isn’t helping. Ugh. I hope I can pull out of this slump soon.

    Michelle @ Michelle’s Minions

    • Oh, my son has also been really demanding (and bad) lately, too, so that’s been taking up a lot of time and occupying my mind. He’s a four-year-old terror!

      • Aww I am sorry that you are going through it too. I think it is probably a combination of ALL those things. And yeah- demanding kids do NOT help. It’s really hard. REALLY hard. My daughter turns 4 next week, and my son is 20 months, and like, it is me, alone with them, at least 12 hours a day. So my exhaustion levels are kind of sky high too, which probably doesn’t help 😉 Hope things get better for you soon too!

  14. Oh god. Shannon, you’re most definitely not alone! I’ve gone through bursts of inspiration where I’ll write all of the reviews and be actually productive. I’ll come up with interesting (lmao to me at least) discussions where I’ll get some of the most enlightening comments. I’ll be able to comment back and visit numerous blogs.

    And then….literal radio silence from me. I don’t know what it is but I’ll be completely and utterly unmotivated to do anything related to blogging. I tend to blame it on a lack of time, and sure that’s partially it. However, more so I believe it stems from the fact I’m not actually feeling creative and motivated enough to come up with something that I’d like to post. Ahhhh!

    It’s truly annoying because I feel as though it makes me come across as so sporadic haha. Lol I hope you get over your (mini?? hahah from your description it sounds like the beginning of a slump to me, but hey let’s be hopeful) slump soon. Trust me, I know that’s much easier said than done but I know you can do it (: Just know that sometimes breaks are necessary and sometimes can provide those bursts of inspiration.

    • Goodness, I totally understand! I feel that way too a lot- like I am not even creative enough to come up with a decent comment on someone’s post! I am just so terrified of taking breaks, because I am always so afraid I will get too behind to ever get caught up again. As it is now, I am barely getting by. If it helps, I don’t see you as sporadic at all! 😀

  15. Yeah, I am somewhat in a slump as well. I had several backup discussions planned and reviews scheduled in advance. Then I did a lot of travel and I am running out of scheduled posts. Maybe I am still recovering from jet lag, but I am having a hard time coming up with ideas. And when I go to write a review, I find myself procrastinating. I just write the title, insert the picture of the book cover and . . . . Before I know it, I just save the draft and start surfing Facebook or Twitter or maybe even googling the random song lyrics I had in my head. Yeah, you get the idea. This is not the first slump I have had though so I am confident my creative juices will start flowing again soon.

    • Hahah i do the SAME THING! I write out the book info and then just look at the screen, then click away. Sometimes I even tell myself I am looking up info on Goodreads, but really, I am just on Twitter or something! Good to know that you are confident though, I think that helps a lot! Hoping your slump is over quickly too- I think there’s something about that post-travel letdown that messes us all up!

  16. I never really had blogging slump, book sllumps, yes, but I rather suffered from blogging exhaustion : write reviews (I like reading books a lot better even if I begin writing the reviews in my head while I read), posting (old lazy computer), answering all your coms, visiting other bloggers, keep thinking along “I have to”s and try to leave coms other than “glad you liked it” or “too bad it didn’t work for you”. Not seeing the time fly when you do this and find yourself in the evening wondering where all these hours went ! If days lasted 48h, that woud be okay, but I spend more time blogging about books than actually reading ! And living, almost.

    • Hahahah I agree with you! And that may be what this is, to be honest- blogging exhaustion. I mean, I do nothing except take care of the kids and house, read, and blog, and it can be exhausting. I am glad that I am not the only one who sometimes feels very overwhelmed by the whole thing!

  17. Right now I’m in a vacation-induced slump. I COULD write that discussion post for this week – or I could sit outside on the deck in the sun and veg. Yeah, the sun is winning, Oh, and yes, I know I could type outside on the deck, but it’s not happening. Oh well.

  18. To be completely honest, I’ve been in a slump forever. I really want to come up with creative ideas for posts like you do, but I just don’t have the creativity for it. Like, I have no ideas for discussion topics or features or whatnot and the only thing I really feel like I know how to do is reviewing. *sighs* Thanks for sharing this Shannon and fabulous post! I hope we both get out of our slumps soon!

  19. I want to say I’m in a slump because I’M BEHIND ON EVERYTHING. And I always aim to schedule posts on the weekends, but so far that hasn’t happened at all! Mostly it’s because I’ve been playing video games and I just can’t stop hahah.

    And creative posts? What? I mostly have trouble with writing reviews for books I just cannot explain. Ugh. IT’S HARD. And if I know you, I’m sure you’ll get out of your slump. You’re crazy like that.

  20. Not a slump per se but something like. Sometimes I have these dry periods when I have no idea what to post. Even reviews are a struggle. So I turn to BookTube and other blogs and all of a sudden ideas come and my mojo is back. I think it’s a normal cycle and from what I read in the other comments we all go through once in a while. Same as reading slumps really 🙂

  21. DUDE. THE DENTIST. Ugh, but yes, totally, I mean, this is why I hardly do anything discussion post wise because I want to do something different that nobody else has done so I sit down to think and…………………….nope. Wasn’t happening. But you know when you have a few ideas but don’t know how to get them out? That’s where I’m at, haha. You might just be in a little slump because of all the fun of BEA. 😀 But I was totally in a reviewing slump a few weeks ago, like every review just felt like I was saying the same things and just ugh. So I started reading my own books for a bit without reviewing just for a break, that seemed to work well for me. I was in a reading slump at the same time and I was just ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Having one is bad enough., so that’s what made me decide for the break, haha, and I picked a book I knew would get me out of it, which was Ally Carter’s heist Society series, only meant to read the first, but then, uhm, HAD to read the other two.

    It totally suck though, right? But the good part, WE SHARE THE PAIN!

  22. I am luckily largely immune to slumps. My biggest tip for avoiding them is to build up a post buffer. I have posts scheduled for this month and am now filling in for July and August (and even September). Working ahead means I don’t feel a lot of pressure to produce on demand and can take my time. Sometimes it means having some quiet days but once the buffer exists it becomes easier to keep that momentum going. Also, it’s totally healthy to want to take a break–you’re only human after all!

  23. SLUMPING. SLUMPING. SLUMPING. SLUMPING.
    This is terrible, I always feel bad about it and I want to be a better blogger everyday.. but I just can’t write anything. Mainly because of my reading slump, I don’t read, therefore I don’t review so.. I know.

    I’m just glad I’m not alone! So thanks for this♥

    – Jumana @ Books by Jay

  24. I am slumping so hard that it’s not even funny. I have posted about 10 posts in 5 months, which is just terrible. But a new job, as a manager, has put a lot of stress and pressure on me and also taken away a lot of my time. I am finally trying to get out of it. Mostly by visiting other blogs and commenting. I have missed reading everyone else’s posts way more than I miss reading my own! 🙂 I hope to get out of this giant slump as soon as I can.

  25. I’m not exactly in a slump, but I am feeling too lazy to do any of the ideas I have. I’m such an ambitious thinker, that NONE of my ideas are actually simple to execute. Well they are, but they’re time-consuming, that sort of thing. Add to the fact that my reading has been all of over the place. NOTHING is blowing me away, and I feel that I’m DNF’ing more books than I’m actually loving. * sigh *

  26. I’ve never really had a slump anything. Lies, actually, I have had a schoolwork slump but due to deadlines I was still forced to do things. But never had a blogging or reading one… which is strange. I am waiting for it to happen one day because I am curious to know how I would handle it xD I hope yours manages to end soon! I think the best thing to do is try not to think about blogging and immerse yourself in other things until an idea comes along.

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