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Getting Back Into Blogging And Reading

A photograph of the Japanese Garden at Kingston Lacy

From around December to just the last couple of weeks I’ve not had as much time or focus. I considered putting the blog on hiatus for longer than the Christmas holiday I’d set, partly because I’d been ill and not really had much of a holiday but also because I knew I was having this issue of focus. Mid-January I decided I had to push myself – I knew I didn’t really want to go on hiatus, it was more of a block between what I wanted and what was happening – and thought to push myself only a slight bit, gradually get back into the swing of things, and accept the missed posting days.

It’s worked – I finally started commenting on other blogs last week and the week before that got back properly to Twitter. I’d definitely recommend a very slow, lenient-on-yourself approach for those who are a bit burned out.

This has helped my reading. Whilst I’ve review copies ready for the very near future, I’ve allowed myself to read what I want, when I want, and in February I found my choices to all be good, which was great. At the moment I’m reading Charlotte Turner Smith’s Emmeline (I wrote last year about wanting to read her work) and whilst it’s not at all what I’d imagined or hoped it would be, the fact that I had a prior interest in it and that it’s another older book to add to my list, is helping. I’ll be covering the problems in it extensively enough in my review so I won’t go further here. What I am doing that I will mention, and it’s something I did whilst reading Twelve Years A Slave, too, is reading around the subject at the same time. Emmeline has created a few ‘eh?’ moments, so hearing the thoughts of others – both contemporary and modern opinions – is helping to add to the reading experience.

I’m enjoying continuing to use the Kobo; 3 books in succession so far, and I’m getting used to all the extra spaces Project Gutenberg adds into the texts. (Does anyone know why they do this?) And I’ve gone down a few research rabbit holes, reading up on classical authors and adding to my TBR. I just wish there was a way to turn off the page count!

Having had a weekend of flurrying blog activity I’m going to stop here; I’m still having to be lenient. But I should have a post on Wednesday, something I haven’t been able to say for definite for a while.

How do you deal with long reading slumps?

 
 

Jeanne

March 5, 2018, 4:04 pm

Glad you’re back into the swing of things. I’ve never had a reading slump, but I have plenty of blogging slumps where I don’t want to go through the bother of writing about what I’ve read. Often it’s because what I’ve read isn’t very “intellectually nutritious,” as I think of it.

April Munday

March 5, 2018, 4:35 pm

I didn’t realise that you’ve been unwell. I’m sorry to hear it and hope you’re recovering.

Kelly

March 5, 2018, 8:39 pm

Putting the TV on the back burner has worked wonders for my reading. Also, I’ve really slacked off Twitter, which worked wonders for my sanity more than anything else.

Sorry to know you were ill and hope you’re feeling well now.

Carmen

March 5, 2018, 10:41 pm

I hope you are feeling better and come back in full force.

I have been having some sort of blog burn out as well. Nowadays I post on Mondays, but if I miss the date I don’t feel as pressured as I used to. My reading has slowed considerably in the last two months. I have been reading an average of a book per month, regardless of length, which has messed up my reading plans for the year, but oh well, I suppose a little is better than nothing.

Andrew Blackman

March 6, 2018, 1:33 am

Welcome back, Charlie! It can be hard to juggle everything, and sometimes I find I just need to accept my limits. Something has to go, and it’s best if it’s something less useful like social media or TV watching, but there have been times when I’ve cut those back and still not had time to blog due to other work, writing, etc. I think as long as you’re spending time on the things that are important to you, that’s OK, and those priorities can sometimes shift over time.

Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness)

March 7, 2018, 2:45 am

Welcome back, I’m glad you’re starting to get back in the swing of things. I struggled with blogging for a lot of 2017, and finally decided this year I was going to just set a firm goal — one blog post a week — and put myself on a schedule to do it. And so far that’s been working really well for me. Reading slumps are harder because they can feel so overpowering for all parts of life. I usually try reading new genres — maybe more YA or comics — to see if that sparks my interest again.

Tizzy

March 12, 2018, 8:10 pm

It’s great that you’re getting back into reading and blogging again. I had a slump too recently but things are picking up again now. I think it’s important to look after ourselves and not stress about posting or reading frequently if we are feeling burnt out. Reading and blogging should be fun and if it’s feeling like a chore then we need a break.

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