Wednesday, December 3, 2014

What's eating you?

I'm a pretty big believer in writing every day. I used to really like doing morning pages, and writing about whatever I felt like just as my day was getting started. It felt like it helped me get the creative juices flowing, and most writers agree that the ability to write consistently and well is a habit you develop, not necessarily a skill that you're born with.
I do push myself to post every weekday, or at least every weekday that I'm working. In the warmer months, that wasn't too hard. If I didn't feel like writing or couldn't think of much to say, I could always fall back to a short outfit post and still feel like I was posting some decent content. Now, of course, it's winter, and daylight hours are short, so I can really only take outfit shots on the weekends. I hadn't realized how much I relied on typically having two posts a week that were just there and sorted out for me.
Of course, now that I have to be a little more creative about generating content, I'm having a little bit of a mental slump. I know, realistically, that I have plenty to talk about. I'm cooking every night, and some of my recipes are turning out pretty damn well. I'm knee deep in some awesome books and TV shows. There's a lot of stuff going on in the world that I have strong opinions about. I've also been toying with doing a campy little sci-fi or fantasy serial, which would help me dip my toes back into creative writing on a deadline.
As interesting as I would find it to write those kinds of posts, I'm not sure if it would be a positive step for this blog or not. A lot of the advice that I've read about blogging is to create a consistent brand. My posts are already a bit scatter shot - one day a fashion post, one day a movie review, the next day a social justice rant - and diversifying even further might just make the folks who were only interested in, say, the fashion aspect of the blog, tune out. I'm not so vain as to think that this will ever be much more than a hobby for me, but watching my readership grow has been a real point of pride. I'm still in the very minor leagues in terms of readership, but I am reaching a much broader audience than I was even a few months ago. I don't want to lose that readership to poorly thought out editorial changes.
I'm talking about this in part because I know a lot of the people reading this are fellow bloggers, and you guys probably have similar problems at least some of the time. It can be hard to balance quality with consistency, and creating content that both appeals to a broad audience and is reflective of a genuine voice and personality.
This is a really fucking long winded way to say that I couldn't think of anything to write about, so here are some pictures of old Hollywood babes eating. Enjoy.

catherine-deneuve-cannes-3
rita fashionwhileeating
l_2220_marilyn-hotdog--1-
joancc
12124
u1519004.nocrop.w840.h1330.2x
u1322975inp.nocrop.w840.h1330.2x
101689691_10.nocrop.w840.h1330.2x
3140671_10.nocrop.w840.h1330.2x
42-17122807.nocrop.w840.h1330.2x

9 comments:

  1. Ahah thank you for including the photos. I totally get what you mean. I am the same. It would be very hard to ever make this blogging more than just something I enjoy doing and a way to connect with other like minded gals. I have had a few opportunities arise from blogging but nothing major and those are far and few in between. I think that its difficult because as readership has grown since when I first started blogging. There are some posts that are more popular than others and of course its tempting to just stick with that but then theres stuff I totally want to write about and do and it doesn't seem to get much of a response. Which is fine cause Ill release my creativity in whatever way I want but it can be kind of a bummer when no one reads it when you're putting it out there to the world. I mean Im gonna be honest my outfit posts garner the most attention and while I love fashion I never set out to be just a fashion blogger doing an ootd every post. I was hoping to be more a lifestyle blogger if I need to label it or just an eclectic mix of posting whatever I find fun to talk about. It can be a hard balance to strike. If it makes you feel any better I always enjoy reading what you post whether it be fashion, current events, or just random topic related.
    Justine
    http://theredlipchronicles.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you for saying that, it makes me really happy that people enjoy some of my more random posts. I definitely get what you're saying about not letting yourself be swayed by what's popular - if I did that, all I'd do are reviews, which are usually my most popular posts.
      I think you do a great job as a lifestyle blogger, and I love when you post recipes or decorating ideas and things like that.

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  2. I understand this completely. I too find myself sometimes with a lack of blogging focus. It was so much easier in the summer months when I was out doing more interesting stuff and being able to take photos of outfits, places and things. Now that it's winter and we have literally 4 hours of day light and the temperature is between 0* and 10* I'm finding it almost impossible to do outfit posts. I also can't share my knitting because everything I'm working are gifts for people who read my blog. It's forcing me to be more creative (not necessarily a bad thing) but I fear that I will get too off topic for my blogs brand. Then again, it's just a hobby and I do it for myself. But it sure would be nice if it could grow into something more. In my blog reading experience, I can get bored if a person writes the same types of posts over and over. I like to get to know the person through their blog so a variety of posts is a good thing.

    She Knits in Pearls

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    1. It's funny - summer is when everyone's outdoors, doing fun stuff, so it's great for blogging inspo, but potentially bad for readership. And then in the winter, when everyone's stuck inside looking for something to keep them entertained, it's hard to come up with stuff to talk about.

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  3. This post is great I love all these photos of these iconic womens!!!! Brigitte Bardot is my favourite!!

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  4. Love the eating photos. I always seem to be the one stuffing my face in photos!

    Since I'm kind of blogging for my business, I struggle with working out where to draw the line. I read a lot of personal blogs with outfits posts etc, and I get tempted to do that too, but I feel I should stick to what my brand is actually about. Sometimes, anyway :) I guess you will learn from the response you get what kind of posts your readers are still interested in, and there is plenty of time to focus it back again when you know what you want and your readers want.

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    1. That's a good point - I'm still developing, so even if stuff gets a little off track for a while, I can't really damage a "brand" that I don't even have yet.

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  5. Keep writing about what inspires you. I appreciate the well roundedness (what you might see as scattered) of your posts and that you present more than just fashion. There are a zillion fashion blogs out there but only one you. That in mind your blog will surely change and develop along with you and staying true is what keeps readers more than any theme or single topic in my opinion. It’s such a treat to be let into another’s life and that is what I love most about following blogs, knowing that I'm not alone in my own eccentricities :)

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    1. Thank you for saying that! I really want to appeal to all the other girls out there who have really diverse interests. I'm glad to hear that you think I'm interesting enough to keep up with. ;)

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