Finding Our Own Angles
I would like to believe that most bloggers follow a definite pattern in their blogging journey and the middle phase is, for most of us, the one with less production. This is a phase characterised by heavy self-introspection and self-doubts. A blogger's midlife crisis. This is also when you realise you have not been writing unique posts on your blog but have only been writing about things that have already been said in thousands of posts by other bloggers. You want to be original yet the overwhelming feeling is you’re only creating rehashed content. You’re way off your target for the number of posts to be written but this time you have hit a mental wall that is stronger than all that you have encountered before. The inspiration is severely weakened. You take a break, start exercising, spend more time with friends, read books, listen to music, yet nothing seems to work. Sounds familiar?
It is almost a forgone conclusion that everything has been said already. Every topic has been covered and discussed from every angle by every authority.
I read an interesting article a few days ago where the writer likens the web to a giant echo chamber. In it, everyone is reading the same blogs and books, and everyone is listening to the same podcasts, which discuss very much the same things as those blogs. We hear the same things in webinars or conferences. The same issues, the same techniques, the same tips, the same solutions.
I think most of the struggles in the online journey are centred around our efforts at finding our own angles for our posts. Nobody likes to sound contrived. I’m not an expert but there seems to be some definite ways to find our angles:
- Try reading books related to writing. You might just stumble upon the angle that you have been looking for.
- Try exploring the edges of your niche. You need not always write on how to make money online. Everyone’s writing on it and instead of the steps in creating online income, you could write about how successful online entrepreneurs are some of the happiest people around or such stuff. You know what I mean.
- Dig deeper for smaller topics within your niche. It is seen that these seemingly small topics are some of the most popular ones in searches.
- Share your personal experiences. People connect better when you write about your personal experiences – mistakes, fears, motivation, struggles. Tips, they find everywhere. If you write on tips, then reinforce them with your own experiences.
- Write for yourself. Yes, you heard it right. Try writing for yourself.
We are all unique. We have different experiences, different struggles, different viewpoints. We all have unique stories to tell. They are original. Let’s share them with our readers and help them. Cheers!
Recent Comments
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Super helpful posting! ... thanks kindly for sharing....all the very best for every success.... cheerio..... :)
A brilliant blog Sukumarth - I particularly like sharing your own experiences and writing for yourself. I think both of these approaches will help people to understand your ideals and motivations and they will learn to trust you.
Best Wishes
Hazel
One should avoid writing beyond one's brief. You cannot be expecting people to like your posts when they were written without a perfect knowledge of the things described.
Reading this felt like you were describing me at this moment lol. Glad to know other people go through these patches of loss of confidence and inspiration. Great post, thanks for sharing. :)
We all go through these lows. I'm mostly describing myself here. This is a thinking-aloud post :)
You are right we all go through these writing troubles but your advice is spot on. Always be yourself and put your own slant on things.
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
The problem for a beginner in being himself is the nagging doubt if people will read his writings. After all, we are made to believe that people tend to read authority blogs mostly written by...you know, the know-all experts. I guess, we have to find that perfect angle where we can be ourselves by creating content on stuff that we know and where we need not just pretend to know them and project ourselves as experts.
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Great advice for both the beginner and experienced blogger. Thank you.
Colette and Philip