Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings in order to discuss a wide range of topics from books to blogging (and some slightly more personal matters throw in for good measure). While Heidi is on an extended hiatus, there are five of us who are hosting it and providing the questions. The current team is composed of Berls at Because Reading Is Better Than Real Life, Jen at That's What I'm Talking About, Karen at For What It's Worth, Linda at Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Roberta at Offbeat YA. This week's question is...
WHAT’S THE HARDEST PART ABOUT BLOGGING FOR YOU?
It may sound counterintuitive, but reviews often are - and here they're the very reason why I started blogging. You see, they are so much WORK. What can I say, I take my reviews seriously 🤷♀️. Also, I like them to be structured, which makes them even harder to write (unless I'm in a state of grace and breeze through the whole thing, which happens occasionally). And sometimes I spend more time coming up with headings than writing the review proper, especially since I usually go for puns or wordplays on song/movie/series/book titles. I once joked about reviews being my favourite posts...to have written 😂 - and I stand by my word. Seriously, they feel like such an accomplishment afterwards, but before...
Another pesky thing is stay on top of comments. I don't mean reply to the ones I get - I mean blog-hop. That doesn't really fall under the "blogging" umbrella, but it's still a blogging-related activity, so yeah...I'm putting it here. Sometimes I find myself with ten or twelve blogs to visit and I'm already panicking, so go figure. I'm such a big baby LOL.
Well, that's it for now. Did you enjoy this post? Would you like to participate in the meme on a regular or semi-regular basis, and get emailed the prompt list? Just head over here and fill in Jen's form! (Of course, you can jump in anytime you like - you are under no obligation to actually do all the posts, or even most of them, just because you signed up, and you can remove yourself from the list at any time). And if you're interested in participating in a more casual manner, or only in commenting, here is the TMST prompt list for the rest of December and the month of January:
- December 21st: What reading challenges (if any) are you planning to participate in 2022?
- December 28th: What are your favorite books/audiobooks that you read in 2021?
- January 4th: What are your blogging goals for the new year?
- January 11th: Resolutions/words of the year - do you do them? What are they for 2022?
- January 18th: What have been your most fulfilling blogger/author interactions so far? (a question I submitted)
- January 25th: What do you do when that pesky review makes you work for it? (a question I submitted)
I'll be back on January 18th...sorry to skip a whole month, but I'll be on hiatus from December 20th to the 31st, and my blogging goals will be covered (as usual) in my yearly wrap-up...plus I'm spectacularly bad at resolutions, so choosing a "word of the year" doesn't work any magic on me 🙁. But I'll visit your blogs and comment in the meantime! And since this is my last TMST post for 2021, a loud shout-out to all the other ladies who keep the meme going (see above), especially Jen, who took it upon herself to organise the whole thing (and occasionally has to deal with my "can we move that topic forward? because I can't manage three TMST posts in a row" requests 😂 🥰).
On a side note...I turned 55 today! 😱
Now tell me something...what's the blogging-related thing that makes you work for it the most?
I haven't thought about reviews being particularly hard to write but I think since you like to structure your reviews, it adds to the work. Me, I just randomly write what I think of the book and that's it. I have read a lot of reviews and I can tell you, your reviews are quite well done, at least, the ones I managed to read. I like the bits about the pros and cons because no one book is perfectly written that they can't have faults.
ReplyDeleteI also haven't really thought about commenting much. I try to comment on as many blogs as I can but sometimes I just give up and just go comment on those that had recently commented on my latest post. It's much easier that way.
None of us are under any obligations to leave comments or return comments. I know we all say commenting is the joy of blogging but you know what? Getting comments is great but sometimes I do feel like I have to comment back just to be nice and sometimes, I just leave it.
Happy birthday! I hope you have a lazy, happy day.
Have a lovely day.
"I have read a lot of reviews and I can tell you, your reviews are quite well done, at least, the ones I managed to read. I like the bits about the pros and cons because no one book is perfectly written that they can't have faults."
DeleteThank you! That means a lot to me.
"Getting comments is great but sometimes I do feel like I have to comment back just to be nice and sometimes, I just leave it."
I have some people who make a point of commenting on all my posts (or most of them), and since they are old friends, I know it isn't a way for them to get a comment in return - they are only visiting because they want to. Then again, if I can't return all their comments, I feel bad. But I know that no one expect us to be commenting all the time, or on posts where we don't really know what to say - as long as we do our best, I think everyone understands and is happy nevertheless.
Thank you for the birthday wishes!
OMG HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND GOOD EVENING ROBERTA
ReplyDeleteI'm terrible at blog hopping AND staying on top of comments - I think that's honestly my hardest thing with blogging for ages (but to be fair, I don't have internet access at home so...)
Reviews tend to be less difficult for me unless it's been an extensive time or I just haven't been in the reviewing or blogging mood unfortunately. Most of the time it's because I honestly don't know what to say other than READ IT NOW or Yeah, not worth it please stay away. Except the difficult part of that is actually finding that motivation, so I guess the most difficult part might be the motivation to blog? 🤔
If you see this tomorrow GOOD MORNING ROBERTA
Thank you! and I missed your good evening/mornings 😄.
DeleteEven without internet access at home, and with your motivation ebbing and flowing, you're still there! blogging! popping in my comments! after 9 years. That's an accomplishment in itself.
Happy birthday!
ReplyDeleteI can see where writing reviews would be the hardest for you because your reviews are so in depth.
For me it's commenting and having time to visit all the blogs. My reviews aren't as in depth as yours and I just write them as I'm reading the book and then finish them after I'm done.
Thank you!
DeleteThere's nothing wrong with your reviewing method of course. Also, your reviews aren't short/lazy by any means - it still feels like you've put your best effort into them. It's just a matter of style 🙂.
Even when it comes to visit blogs, you're so much better than I am. Too bad that for some reason my notification system hates your lovely self and I always see your comments belatedly 😂.
I get that, I have a movie review that I'm still working on that I've yet to post on my blog. Honestly reviews take so long to write, because you want to portray the book or movie you saw well (and not give your readers (accidentally) false information about it). And also make sure you make a compelling argument to get people either to not read or watch it or to get them interested in it.
ReplyDeleteFor me not only review take a long time to finish, but filming and editing videos for the acting side of my blog. Filming the video is fun and is the least stressful part, but getting down to editing is so hard. Which tends to be the reason why I occasionally post videos in post relating to acting (other than the fact that it takes a while to memorize and perform a monologue and get it to where you want it).
I hope you have a nice break, and "see" you in January. :)
-Quinley
I have a lot of respect for people who film videos! It's much more difficult than putting words on a page (or so it seems to me), and the editing part must be a nightmare. Words are easier to manipulate (except when I try to find the right one and it keeps eluding me and I revert to synonym dictionaries or stuff 😂).
DeleteThank you! Actually, my last post of the year will be on Monday, but it's been written already.
Happy Birthday Roberta!! Hope you had/have a fantastic day!! :D
ReplyDeleteFor me, reviews are often the easiest posts for me to write - especially when I’ve figured out a way to structure them (which actually goes for any post - once the structure is in place, it’s a lot easier for me to write them). Of course, this is probably because I only write full reviews when I already know I have a lot to say, lol!
Proper blog-hopping is a constant struggle for me. I love reading everyone’s posts, but when it comes time to comment… often I forget how to use words, haha.
Also, I can’t not mention that I love the gif accompanying this post!
Thank you!
DeleteOh, you're so blessed. Sometimes I have to squeeze the words out of my mind, though once I have my review done, I end up thinking I did a good/great job.
Reading posts without commenting is a well-known issue. Sometimes you just feel like saying "Well done!" or "Great post!", but it sounds so lame 😂.
Glad you loved my gif of good old Woody!
Blog hopping is more challenging for me now that I am back in the office. BOOO! Sometimes I skip a day and just go hard on other days. And yes, reviews are hard. I struggle with properly capturing my feelings and putting them into words. But you really analyze, so I can only imagine how much work you put into your reviews.
ReplyDeleteYou are the queen of comments! I don't know how you do it. Sometimes I do read the post and...that's it. I don't have the energy to form words LOL.
Delete"you really analyze, so I can only imagine how much work you put into your reviews."
Yeah...but sometimes it's more of a "How do I begin?" issue.
There's a lot to blogging and commenting is one of those fun but necessary and time consuming things - provided you want to be part of a bigger community.
ReplyDeleteI have a much smaller group than most. Under 50 and then I try to visit a few new people every week. It's really hard to find new blogs these days.
Anyway...for me it's been the reading and finding the interest to sit and blog this year.
Karen @For What It's Worth
You still do a great job with comments. Even a "small" group can feel challenging some days. Especially if you want to leave a meaningful comment (which doesn't necessarily equate to saying something mind-blowing LOL. Sometimes we joke, and it's absolutely OK and heartwarming).
Delete"for me it's been the reading and finding the interest to sit and blog this year."
I know! but you have a life! pets, places to visit/where to hike, eating-out spots. You're still reading, if less. You're still blogging, while so many have thrown the towel.
That's how I define success now - I'm still doing it lol
DeleteExactly!
DeleteI get this. Reviews can be so tough we want them to be JUST SO. :) And yours are detailed and welldone whereas often I just slap mine together heh.
ReplyDeleteI also do that, I'll have all these tabs open lol. It's like do I want to reply to everything or just return visit, and I end up trying to return visit, but that's it own pressure too! I absolutely get this though. I think for me the hardest part of blogging lately is my guilt over not replying like I used to- I'm OCD so I'm all like I'm not replying to EVERYONE or will they see it, so I just return the visit instead lol.
"And yours are detailed and welldone whereas often I just slap mine together heh."
DeleteLOL, thanks! But I actually love your train of thought made review 🙂. I wish you'd write more! (NO PRESSURE haha).
"I think for me the hardest part of blogging lately is my guilt over not replying like I used to".
I get it! But when you get so many comments (which only shows that you're well-loved 🙂), after a while it becomes impossible to reply to them all. So I, for one, don't take it personally if you don't reply to my comments. Returning the visit is more than enough!
Aw thank you!!!
DeleteOh happy birthday too!!! :)
DeleteThank you! 💚
DeleteI agree, Roberta, reviews are hard and take time. I also want to write the best possible review I can for each book. It's worth it once the review is done but tough to actually get through it!
ReplyDelete"I also want to write the best possible review I can for each book."
DeleteAnd it shows! I don't always comment (shame on me), but I notice.
Reviews are a lot of work! I appreciate all the effort you put into yours. I always feel like I come away from one of your reviews with a strong understanding of whether or not I would like the book, and that's impressive. #foreverfollow 💛
ReplyDeleteAw! That's high praise! Thank you for validating me 💚. But you put a lot of effort into yours as well, and it shows. They also make me smile/chuckle often, which is a plus!
DeleteI find it hard to keep up with the blog hopping too. There's just a lot to do when it comes to blogging! Also, non-bloggers don't realize how much TIME and work goes into all sorts of different posts. For me, I think the rec posts take the longest, but kinda like you with reviews, I love them once they're done lol. Reviews may be hard work for you, but as long as you feel good about them when you're done, sounds like they're worth it :-)
ReplyDelete"Also, non-bloggers don't realize how much TIME and work goes into all sorts of different posts."
DeleteNot to diminish the efforts of bloggers in other niches, but book blogging is the hardest. One may think "oh, right, read a book and tell other people how much you liked - how hard, indeed", but it's a whole process! finding the right words, conveying the right feeling, covering every base...plus the actual coding and stuff...plus finding the time (and headspace) for it.
Rec posts are a beast too - I've only done a few in the past, and even when copying and pasting a line or two from the actual review for each book, putting them together/fleshing them out was exhausting.
Yeah, the way I do rec posts, there's just a lot of pieces to them. So much coding to copy and paste. Typing in titles and authors, thinking of a few sentences to describe each book, adding the urls of the images, adding links to my reviews and Amazon and Goodreads, adding tags. For ten whole books! Granted, maybe you and I make things more work than they need to be 😅 but we want them to be a certain way and be helpful and match our aesthetic!
Delete"Granted, maybe you and I make things more work than they need to be 😅"
DeleteLOL, we do! But it's hard to settle for less and/or let go of what one has established.
While I can't structure a review to save my life, my reviews are chaos...pure chaos
ReplyDeleteI'd love to structure, alas
Haha, believe me, you wouldn't - not that much. It's a lot of pressure one puts on themselves.
DeleteI don't know how I missed your post for a whole week?!! I'll blame Feedly. LOL! I agree, visiting and commenting on other posts can be tough because it tends to get pushed aside for other "more pressing" things like writing a review. Then they build up and it can get overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a wonderful holiday season and enjoy some down time. See you in 2022!
"it tends to get pushed aside for other "more pressing" things like writing a review."
DeleteLOL, exactly!
Same to you! Thanks for visiting and keeping TMST going 🙂.
Blog-hopping - yes! I end up with a massive list of people's blogs to visit, and then I procrastinate because the list is so massive! Lol
ReplyDeleteExactly!
Delete