Guilt: The Blog Killer

I've been feeling this unrelenting guilt for the past few months. 

To be honest, it's been happening for close to a year. Eleventh grade man.....it was absolutely brutal. For all of you Juniors out there, I feel for you. My one bit of advice to you is to get to those SATs early; Don't procrastinate. Although it's fun to put it off at first, it bites you in the end. Of course if you're not in America, I guess you won't even know what SATs are. xD So onto the guilt portion of my post. If you've been following my blog for awhile, you might have noticed that my posts have become depressingly scarce. In 2013, I was able to write about 160 posts. In 2014, a measly 28 posts. The shame is real. In fact, I've been berating myself. I really, really don't want to let this blog run down into shambles. 

However, I now realize that the majority of bloggers go through this phase. After a period of producing an abundant amount of book reviews, blogging begins to feel more forced than the fun it used to be. But let me impart some of my meager knowledge. Blogging is supposed to be fun. It's supposed to be a way for us lovers of books to combine forces and take over the world share our thoughts and feels about everything and anything book related. It's not a contest to see who can make the prettiest designs or receive the most ARCs. It's definitely not a job. It's not something we should have to push ourselves to do. If you feel like you're indebted to your blog because your readers are expecting things from you; don't. Your readers are human too and won't banish you just because you leave for a week or a month (this being what I was afraid of). So if you're run-down, tired, irritated, or the seldom correct answer on my Calculus tests, all of the above, TAKE A BREAK! Don't make the same mistake I did. Trying to stay as active as possible by posting reviews I really wasn't feeling was one of the biggest mistakes of my blogging life. It dragged on the inevitable. It made me want to run away from my computer in terror. 



In a nutshell, I guess all I'm trying to say is don't let your guilt force you to do something you don't want to do. If you have any book reviews that you're in the middle of, finish them, give yourself a pat on the back, and take a step away from the computer. Write a little note explaining your hiatus and take a stroll through the park, enjoy a cold glass of lemonade, plant a garden, or do whatever suits your fancy. I guarantee that when you get back, you'll feel refreshed and ready to start anew. If you're in high school or college; it'll be more of a challenge. But if blogging is something you truly love doing, it'll happen either way. I am now back from my very long, unscheduled break, and hopefully now I'll be able to get more than 2 posts up a month. Not a very high expectation level; I know, but baby steps, baby steps.