Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Sorting It Out


I’ve been in the process of reorganizing lately. Reorganizing what? EVERYTHING. That’s what it seems like, lol. My room is very nearly set up completely (with the exception of a few things needing put away in the garage). The plot of my novel is getting woven together (thanks to it being constantly on my mind). And now it’s time for the blog.

This may seem like an obvious thing, but there is a decline in page views on days when I don’t have anything new posted. Even more so when I skip two. I really want regular and steady content. Yet I have a constant struggle with keeping things fresh and interesting consistently. Some weeks my blog is packed with content; other weeks it’s just a review and my Thursday update. I know, I don’t have to have a ton of posts all the time… but it would be nice for it to be steady instead of this constant back and forth.

So… I’m working on that. Right now I’m doing alright with The Journey of Self-Publishing series but once that’s over, I will need something to fill that spot. When I was reading through my survey results (I’m just going to touch on the survey here, I’m still going to do a post on details), someone suggested talking about books I read it the past. The funny thing is that I was JUST thinking about doing something like that.

After working on a post about series books (which will be coming soon), I discovered my Goodreads tags were all unorganized. I went through the tags I have and came up with better ones. This way when I’m looking for childhood books, I can distinguish the middle grade from the children’s (and separate all the BSC and SVH in another category... why did I add all the ones I read again? Lol). I wanted to do the same with my blog tags but when I discovered how many I have, I decided against that. I still want to have main tags for every type of post (book reviews, articles, discussion posts, guest posts, etc.) so that my followers can find them all easily.

One thing I’ve always enjoyed seeing on other blogs are posts featuring favorite articles of the week. YA Highway does this, and so do various authors. I’m considering doing one of my own (a mini one, of course). My Update Thursday feels like it has too much in one place. So I might split it in half--keep Update Thursday as an update on reading and writing, then have another post (maybe on Sundays) that recaps my blog for the week plus articles I’ve enjoyed.

I’ve also been thinking about blog design. I kept putting it on the back burner because I was unwilling to spend the money. As I was going through my tabs recently, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much nicer it would be to have drop down tabs. Like for my reviews, having a drop down tab that allows you to review them by author, title, and the order they were posted. It would also be nice to have mini buttons for Facebook, Twitter, etc. and a nice blog button. In other words, more professional. But, yeah... I love how my blog looks, but I can't use Bloggers free background picture forever.

Another thing that has been a work in progress is finding the balance of online life versus real life and writing life and my business. I haven’t been doing too bad with regard to writing and business. Real life mostly consists of work and getting out of the house once in awhile, and that is fine too. But online life… that’s been tricky. It is so easy for me to spend hours reading and browsing online. The problem with that is that those are hours I am wasting away not accomplishing the things I want to do. First and foremost, finishing my novel, but also other things.

I had to be honest with myself--I need to set priorities. Like how I can’t spend half an hour going through the tweets posted in the last 12 hours. Or how I can’t keep up with every blog I’m following no matter how much I want to. I hate to not be keeping up with everything, but if I want to be an author, I can only be stretched so thin before I break.

Well… this has been quite the jumble of thoughts.

I just felt the need to express myself and what I’ve been thinking about lately. It kinda feels good to put it all out there and get it out of my head. Now I can focus on the things that need to get done... and try to curb my obsessive compulsive tendencies by staying organized. Lol.

Much love to my wonderful followers for being there and reading this,
Jessica <3

PS: Today as I read the title all I can think of is Cassia from Matched. Sorting it out. Lol. I really need to read Crossed.

10 comments:

  1. I hear ya. It can be so hard to get things figured out and sorted out. In theory it's simple - 'I'll do this and this and this', but does it ever actually work out that way? I really need to prioritize too...I'm a terrible procrastinator and waste way too much time on things like Twitter, Facebook, entering giveaways, etc. I feel like I'm falling behind and I hate that. Plus I need to get my blog organized - I feel like I'm scrambling for posts and then I don't get anything posted at all. I need a secretary lol. I'd love to have drop-down tabs on my blog, they're so cool but I wish I could figure it out on my own. Then I think well I can barely keep my reviews and whatnot organized so what's the point? lol I'd love to reorganize my tags too but every time I look at the list I just end up closing the window and doing something else. Why does it have to be so hard?!

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    1. It is so much easier in the mind than it is when you need to actually do it, lol. You have done a lot though, especially last month on your blog and with your writing. I think you're due for a little bit of a break. :) I wish I could figure out the drop down tabs too!

      There is so much that needs done... I ended up writing out a checklist for all the things I want to do, and put it all down in manageable segments. It's helping a little bit. I just need to kick myself in the butt to start moving forward faster. ;)

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  2. Ahh, organization. See, I'm something of a pantser by nature but I try to keep posts scheduled ahead of time. TRY. It keeps me sane! Still, it can be SO difficult posting often enough...but I say whatever YOU feel is right, do it. If that's one post a week or 10. It's YOUR blog, Jess. :)

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    1. I've gotten into the habit of getting most of the next month scheduled ahead of time. It works out great, until I near the end of that month and realize I haven't scheduled anything for the following month, lol. It is difficult to post a lot, and keep up with it. I just need the right balance. ;)

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  3. I'm with Molli on this one. It's your blog and you can do what you like. Maybe the key is to not look up your blog stats as regularly. I used to do that and it drove me crazy trying to keep the hits coming on the blog. Now I'm going to work on only posting 2 times a week so that I can concentrate on other parts of my life that have sorely been neglected. Once you get into your own routine things should fall into place.

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    1. True... It's the first thing that pops up when I log in, but I can just ignore it and move on. It's all about balance--I mostly want steady content to keep my followers interested is all. I know some (like you!) will come regardless, so maybe I should be happy how it is. ;)

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  4. Just don't stress your self. Just reading all you plans makes me overwhelmed.

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    1. I'm trying not to. I think it's just that I think too much sometimes. ;)

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  5. Don't stress too much! Remember, this is supposed to be fun! And you've got a ton going on, it sounds like. I can empathize, though. I want everything to be organize and perfect, and I can get bogged down with that really easily, instead of working on anything important!

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    1. You're right, it is supposed to be fun! I think that's what I need to focus on instead of worrying about my posts too much. I really do want to focus more attention on my book. :)

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Thank you for commenting and happy reading!