Blogging requires many roles; writer, researcher, business manager, technical specialist, social director, communicator, moderator, marketer, community organizer, and … ? Fill in the blank.
I don’t think it’s possible for one person to excel in all of those roles. We have different talents and different interests.
So, while we may all love blogging, there are certain aspects of it that we like more than others. And there are some parts that we actively dislike.
What is Your Least Favorite Part of Blogging
I’m hesitant to admit this, although I have mentioned it in the comments, but my least favorite part of blogging is writing. I don’t really enjoy writing my articles.
I know it’s improving and I’m slowly starting to write like I speak but I lack confidence. I don’t think I’m a very good writer.
So, if I don’t like writing, why do I even bother. I started this site to share information about programs, lifestreaming and WordPress tweaks that I found online or that I had learned by doing. I felt like I was gathering a lot of information that might be worthwhile to others and that I should share it.
In the beginning, I agonized over writing the articles. It took me forever to write them. I’m not so concerned about that now but I know there is still so much I can improve. I have gotten a little bit better about noticing my typos.
I love doing the research, testing code on my site, and looking for photographs for the articles. I spend way too much time looking at photos when I am trying to find the one that I want to use.
Tell me, what is your least favorite part of blogging? (And don’t say falling asleep at the keyboard).
photo credit: misstinykitten
Editing. I never studied writing or editing so this is the most intimidating part of blogging for me. I fear posting blog posts with grammatical errors and the like.
Carla’s last blog post – Halloween Safety
I hate to do social-network advertising nor am I good at keeping it alive :) People say it’s the key to drive more traffic but I am not the kind who could excel in that…
Another thing I hate is proof reading. Many times, I do not read through my posts for the second or third time for typos and grammatical errors.
Cheers,
Ajith
@Carla – Oh I hear you on that one. I frequently make my friend proofread for me but when I don’t I never find the errors until after the article is already published. The same thing drives me crazy with comments – I always notice the error as soon as I hit the submit button.
@Ajith Social networking is not for everyone. I thought I would hate it but found that I really enjoy it.
Is English you first language? It must be even harder to do the proofreading if it isn’t. Like I mentioned to Carla, I frequently find the typos well after publishing the article.
On that note – do you tell someone if you find an error in their article? I often want to because I would want someone to tell me. But I often don’t want to point it out in the comments and try to tell them through email or their contact form instead.
For me the whole purpose of starting the blog was to give myself an excuse to write. I already did a lot of writing but it was all kept private on my computer. My least favorite part of blogging is getting people to subscribe. I don’t want to beg like some bloggers do with their enormous RSS buttons at the top of the page and their huge text saying “SUBSCRIBE TO MY RSS FEED” at the end of each post, but it’s frustrating because I do a great job of getting a lot of people to the site yet very few of them actually subscribe and it makes me wonder what I’m doing wrong.
Wesley’s last blog post – My 100th Post!
@ Kim I know this isn’t the greenest idea in the world, but I find when I print before I proofread, I do a much better job finding errors and marking them with a bright red pen. Starting at a screen never does it for me.
Carla’s last blog post – Halloween Safety
@Wesley – Well, you’re getting more visitors because you’re getting more comments. Personally, I would rather have the comments than high feed subscriptions. My commenters are interacting with me whereas I have no idea what the subscribers are doing. (Well, some are commenters and subscribers but I only know that because they’ve told me).
I don’t think people view the big subscribe button as begging. Most people are lazy and are not going to hunt around for a way to subscribe – you have to make it really easy for them.
I’m glad you started the blog. You’re a good writer and as I’ve told you before you can be really funny and have a unique perspective.
@Carla – Yeah, I’m not going to print. I don’t even have a printer at home. I’ll just keep bugging my friend to proofread and fixing the errors after the fact.
@Kim. You might try “just writing” with your “internal editor” turned off. Just let it flow from the ends of your fingers, and edit later. Don’t worry about typos, grammar, repeating yourself. Let it flow.
That said, one of the hardest parts of writing to me is to get my ideas on the page. Have to meditate on them quite a bit. I am seldom satisfied, though, and as often as not just decide to post what I have. I’ve thought about posting comments adding to the article, or revamping it.
The part of blogging that I dislike most is choosing a topic and following through with it. I do a lot of research, then a draft, then drop it for “later.” Wastes a lot of time, and causes me to post less than I want.
Mike Nichols’s last blog post – What is Mental Wellness? Living with Health, Wellness and Wholeness
@ Kim – if only I had a friend who can proofread!
Carla’s last blog post – Halloween Safety
Hi Kim,
Your writing really has improved. I think if you go back and read some of your earlier stuff you have really found a voice. And I’ll be happy to be your grammatical guinea pig anytime. :-)
Ron Obvious’s last blog post – Do the Republicans have ANY cool celebrity supporters?nRobert…
The technical stuff. The part that you love. I hate that.
Vered – MomGrind’s last blog post – Should “A-List Bloggers” Close Comments?
Deciding the order of writing articles is the killer for me. For every article I publish, there are a dozen waiting in the wings to be written. That’s my least favorite part.
Ari Herzog’s last blog post – Thank You For Inspiring Me
I forgot one other thing. For me, its also WHEN to post. What day of the week? Time of day? Problogger had a post about this several weeks ago I need to look over again. I’m going to have a free shipping promotion on my site and don’t know if I should post it before or after the election. Depending on how the election will turn out (the same thing that happened in 2000?) it may be a while.
Carla’s last blog post – Halloween Safety
@Mike – I completely agree about just writing and then editing later but I find that really hard to do. I also have a hard time putting the words down on paper. I’ve often composed and awesome article in my head but it just doesn’t come out the same when I start typing.
@Carla – It is helpful to have someone like that. I don’t ask him as much as I used to.
When to post? I’ve fussed about that too. I’ve tried different times but I haven’t noticed a big difference. It seems to me that if the article interests people that it doesn’t matter when you post. I think you should wait on the promotion. People are too distracted right now. I’m supposed to go to a concert next Wednesday night and I am NOT going to be in the mood for it if my candidate doesn’t win.
@Ron/Jim – Thanks Jim! I don’t know what I would do without you and your constant support :-)
@Vered – I’ve been waiting for someone to give that answer. So far, proofreading has been what people dislike the most.
@Ari I don’t have too much trouble with that one. I usually have a rough idea of what I’m going to write each week even if I wait until the last minute to do it.
Kim, Nope, English ain’t my first language, I started learning it when I was 7 or 8 as part of carriculam :D The reason for not proof reading is not mainly because of lang limitation but it’s boring for me :) and hence I tend to post in a haste…
I’m with Vered. I enjoy the challenge of the technical stuff to a degree, but when I have problems or struggle to get something right, I become little Ms Cranky Pants.
And even though I’m a writer, sometimes fleshing out an idea into an article is a drag. Mostly I feel that way when I’m sleep deprived or feel like blogging is taking up too much of my time. I guess that’s the hint that it’s time for a break.
Kelly
Kelly@SHE-POWER’s last blog post – Quote of the Week – Happy For No Reason
Hi Kim – I’m with Vered. I’m technologically challenged and when I’m making changes behind the scenes I get nervous. What I’ve done is start another blog which is just my test blog. I practice or test stuff on there first. If I get it to work, then I put it on my main blog.
I’ve learned a lot of the technical stuff on my own, but I know I still have lots more to learn.
Barbara Swafford’s last blog post – Blogging To Do List – Do It, Delete It Or Delegate
@Ajith – Proofreading is VERY boring.
@Kelly – Hi! Now the votes are coming in for the not liking the tech site. Or at least problems related to the tech side. I like working on the tech part but do get frustrated sometimes when I keep changing the code and nothing will work properly. Usually that happens when I am tired and I just have to stop and look at it later. My Internet being out is another story entirely …
@Barbara – A test blog is a really good idea. You can try new things and not worry about messing anything up. I have one as well and use it for this site and the sites that I’m working on.
Checking to make sure everything on my site works. There’s been a few times when I look at my own site and go “wow, how did that happen?” when a form doesn’t show or the site layout has completely gone nuts…. (it’s usually a stray div somewhere)
That’s a task I’ll be happy to delegate to someone else. ;-)
ari
Ari Koinuma’s last blog post – Why Passion Can Feel Like a Burden
Hi Ari – Stray divs can frequently ruin an evening ;-)
Hi Kim, I’m so new to this. Writing should come naturally, but I trash a lot. I now write in word and cut and paste since I trust the spellcheck and the screen more (enlarged to 150%) :-) but I know so little about the tech side that I get concerned that I am missing things.
Now Photographs, for Wausau Whitewater, I have thousands if I spend some time PhotoShopping them (thanks to my awesome team of volunteer photographers) but for Design Resumes, I don’t want to invest a ton but I want unique photos. I need to know how to give credits to the photographers too. In the blogs, everywhere. So what should I do about the photos for Design Resumes?
Julie Walraven’s last blog post – Tested but not crushed
Hi Julie,
I usually write my posts in a text editor and then paste them in to WordPress. The WordPress screen is just so small to work with.
I use flickr for almost all of my photos. I do an advanced search and make sure I select Creative Commons and the very bottom of the search screen. These photos are fine to use as long as credit is give. If you look at the bottom of almost all my articles there is a little credit link. This has the flickr username and links back to the original photos. There are a lot of other places to get photos – that’s just where I get mine.
usually Iw rite an article in the notepad then copy it in my word… I’ll just check for spelling mistakes… But I’ll try to write as simple as possible.. My Least Favorite Part of Blogging is to popularize it !!
@TechnoSamrat – Publicizing an article is hard. If you look in my archives for June and July there are hardly any comments on any of my articles.
My least favorite part of blogging is publishing.
Yep!
I love writing. But putting it out there is a little scarey.
So for me, that’s a very important part about blogging as a writer. I say, “eh, that’s good enough. write more tomorrow or fix it later.”
And I do!
I would say it’s liberating, but it’s not. It’s just good practice for my writing songs, plays, and screenplays and getting it out there in the world.
Gib´s last blog post – Civil Rights — All About Sex?
@Gib – You are digging up some older articles tonight :-)
It can be really hard to hit publish. What I do is schedule them for a time when I’m still sleeping so when I get up it’s too late – it’s already out there.
Undoubtedly proofreading and editing. I first publish on a test blog and make sure everything is alright.
Rajeev Edmonds´s last blog post – How To Create An eBook For Your Subscribers
@Rajeev – And it can be so hard to catch the typos even when you keep proofreading. Earlier this week I had two typos in my 15% off article that weren’t discovered until after I had published it. I felt so dumb.
Exactly same happened in one of my twitter post. A good friend of mine left a comment as anonymous visitor and informed me about the error.
Rajeev Edmonds´s last blog post – How To Create An eBook For Your Subscribers