Where to from here..?

Although I created this blog in April last year, I’ve only really been working on it in earnest for the last 6-7 weeks, thanks mostly to the talented and supportive team behind the Daily Post’s Blogging101 course, as well as the encouraging feedback I’ve received from the blogging community along the way. I’ve learned so much in a very short space of time, and I continue to be inspired by my fellow bloggers.

Ultimately I’m happy with my efforts so far, but at times I worry that Confessions is another one of my ‘phases’ and I’m going to eventually lose my blogging ‘mojo’ (hereby referred to as blog-jo) again – particularly after the daily incentives provided by the Blogging101 (and now Blogging201) course comes to an end. I can already see myself not spending as much time on my blog as I did in early January, and I know that once my university study recommences in a couple of weeks, together with my full-time job, time (and motivation) is going to be even harder to find.

Blogging…blogging…

…ooh, look, a squirrel!

Hello squirrel!

While it may sound like I’m already admitting defeat, I’m hoping to try and combat the seemingly inevitable and keep my blog-jo going by considering the following (hopefully achievable) goals:

1. Create an editorial calendar of Confessions for the next two months based on my extensive archive of food and/or travel photos. By nature I’m quite impulsive and ad-hoc with my writing – I’m not very good with detailed forward-planning (alas this doesn’t bode well for me when it comes to university assignments, either!) Believe it or not, most of my posts to this date have been a result of coming up with the story behind the image/s on the spot. But should I not have the time or energy to spontaneously come up with something new, I’ll at least have some ‘pre-prepared’ inspiration to fall back on. Think of it like preparing a week’s worth of meals on the weekend so you don’t have to cook so much during the week (nope…I don’t do that either). An editorial calendar will also allow me to ensure that there is plenty of variety in my posts.
2. Post at least twice a week. Leading on from the first point, I know I will never be a daily blogger (I wish I had that motivation!), but I at least hope to keep posting on a regular basis. My ideal is to post something short and sweet in the middle of the week, and use the weekend to add more substantial posts and spend time exploring and engaging with my fellow bloggers.
3. Listen to feedback, and create a ‘You Asked For It…‘ feature. You, yes YOU the fellow blogger/reader, are my biggest inspiration, that’s why I’m giving you a say in what my future posts will be. What’s the use of feedback and constructive criticism if you don’t do anything with it? I’ve put together a suggestion box to get an idea for the kind of Confessions you enjoy the most, and would like to see more of. Depending on the volume of feedback I get, I hope to build the results into a regular feature where the ‘winning’ suggestion (as voted by YOU) becomes the post. Of course this means the suggestion box will be updated on a regular basis as well!

What do you think? Am I being too defeatist at this relatively early stage of my blogging career? Have I set myself realistic-enough goals? I’d especially love to hear from those of you who have fought a downturn in your blog-jo – did you get past it, and if so, how? Are you still dealing with it?

Please do share your wisdom (and confessions) below!