Are good bloggers suffering from burnout or just losing interest in blogging?
In the last few weeks ive noticed a lot of blogs i subscribe to add less and less posts every week. This seems to be very common, particuarly with blogs less than 6 months old. Perhaps this is a huge assumption on my part but it seems that a lot of good bloggers are either suffering from burnout from their posting routine or just losing interest in updating their blog on a regular basis (For the record, i know my posting frequency has reduced to one per day however this is because im currently travelling in Japan and it will increase once i return home on July 2nd 2007).
Here is an example of some blogs i subscribe to who have reduced their posting frequency. All of these bloggers use to post on a daily basis :
Fuzzy Future - Reduced posting to around every 3 days
Brian Heys Writes - Was on holiday in venice for a week on holiday but there have been a few times when there hasnt been a post for 2 or 3 days (more than likely just a temporary blip due to work or whatever).
Time for Blogging - No post in the last 9 days.
Ask Shane - No post in 2 months, can only assume their are no plans to post again.
Shane looks like he’s thrown in the towel but i’m sure that isn’t the case with the first 3 bloggers i mentioned (and i hope it isn’t!).
The 3 blogs i mentioned may have reduced their posting for other reasons. Brian Heys works full time in the IT industry and Chris Stark from Fuzzy Future runs other websites so could just be working on a new project. Josh Dorkin from Time for Blogging hasn’t posted on his other blog since the 11th as well though so i hope everything is ok with him:)
I’m sure this post will get the attention of the bloggers i mentioned and we will know why….it stops me from making wild assumptions 
Are good bloggers suffering from burnout or just losing interest in blogging?
I do believe that a lot of good writers get sick of writing for some of the blogs they run. I’m no different. I have never had problems updating Blogging Tips and, touch wood, i hope i never do. However, i have lost interest in blogging before. Take the blog ZuneZag for example. I bought the blog because i was planning on buying a zune, i love music and because im interested in mp3 players etc but updating it always felt like a chore and im not sure why.
I am planning on relaunching a tech based blog soon and i hope that the variety of lots of different subjects will keep me interested. Maybe the title of this post should be ‘Are good bloggers bored with the subject they’re blogging about’?
I’m interested in your opinion on this subject. Have you dropped a blog because you just lost interest in the topic?
Amit | June 23rd, 2007 at 4:07 am #
Kevin,
They suffer from ‘lack of content’ which results in ‘lack of interest’. A direct relation - as simple as that!
Kevin | June 23rd, 2007 at 6:21 am #
mmm perhaps but im not so sure. The blogs i mentioned all write good posts - i assume you mean the blogs are running out of ideas?
Amit | June 23rd, 2007 at 6:48 am #
Yes, Kevin!For example, with everybody nowadays blogging about making money online, you need something ‘different’ to tell your readers to keep them hooked. Its a pity that even today, I find good bloggers posting ridiculous articles like “adsense now allows 3 link units” or “blogger is out of beta” or “mybloglog gets a facelift”!! I’m pretty sure that an avid reader of money making websites also usually subscribes to official blogs of adsense, blogger, and mybloglog. Now why would a reader come to your website if he can get the same information in detail from the official blogs? A blog is not a newspaper. Its a personal diary which is open to public. It should contain only ideas, and not news! When bloggers run out of ideas, they start posting such stupid news! And by doing so, they lose precious readers, and eventually let their blog to die!
Ankesh Kothari | June 23rd, 2007 at 7:10 am #
Thanks Kevin for raising a valid point.
Writing is hard work. Consistently good writing - more so.
One problem that very good bloggers face is distraction because of better opportunities. A good blog will attract offers from many people. And many bloggers will jump on these.
I know I stopped publishing one of my blogs a year back because of that.
People who are relatively new to blogging stop blogging for a completely different reason though. They don’t see a “quick” return and give up.
Kumiko | June 23rd, 2007 at 9:08 am #
I think there’s a six month “wall” for bloggers. A lot of blogs were started around christmas (vacations, need money, winter) and that six month wall is hitting. Those who break through it will be the “experienced” ones in the next growth period.
Tejvan Net Writing | June 23rd, 2007 at 9:15 am #
I’m struggling at the moment to update my blogs. Unfortunately I’m marking 1000s of exam papers. I just keep telling myself this will be last year. Next year I will be a pro blogger (hopefully anyway
Chris Stark | June 23rd, 2007 at 11:56 am #
Hey Kevin,
For me, blogging has always been a bit of an experiment. Fuzzy Future was my first real blog and the first one I set out to update regularly. As time has gone by, I’ve been working on more and more projects and my lack of posts has been more a product of not enough time rather than burning out.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to proceed with the site. Even with my change in posting frequency, Fuzzy Future still maintains its readership and fairly active community. I’m not quite sure where I’ll go with it, but I fully plan to keep it going as long as I can.
Kevin | June 23rd, 2007 at 12:47 pm #
chris - glad to hear your still gonna update it
Amit - i have to disagree with some of what you say. I dont believe that bloggers should not cover a subject because it was covered elsewhere - you cant assume that all of your readers subscribe to as many blogs as you do. For example, i posted about google changing the link units to 3 - im sure a lot of readers already knew about it but i know that a lot didnt so its still worth posting. Even the top blogs on the net get a lot of their stories from smaller blogs and websites. Also, i dont believe that a blog has to be restricted to a personal diary - take engadget, gizmodo, problogger for example
Mack Collier | June 23rd, 2007 at 7:34 pm #
I think it’s mainly a summer thing. Same thing happened last year, in fact I remember seeing a few blogs start ‘announcing’ in May or so that they’d ‘be back in the fall’. I think it’s mostly seasonal.
A Tentative Personal Finance Blog | June 23rd, 2007 at 10:42 pm #
Newbie blogger here… two months in and there were a few days I felt like throwing in the towel. I think it’s the pressure to make content that’s killing me. I feel stressed and out of it. I had to take a few days off to think. It’s not easy pumping out quality content everyday.
Brian Heys | June 25th, 2007 at 4:29 pm #
Hi Kevin. Wow, I knew my ears were burning!
Whenever I go to Venice, I always end up a little messed up. I don’t know if you’ve ever been, but it can have that effect on you. It’s the getting used to seeing cars again that always hits me!
Since coming back from holiday, I’ve also been a bit disillusioned with a lot of the latest tech news announcements out there, so I’ve struggled to get myself motivated into posting every day again. I’ve also been pretty busy at work.
I’m hoping to resume a ‘normal’ service, soon.
Kevin | June 27th, 2007 at 1:26 pm #
sorry for the late reply Br
glad to hear you’ll still be updating the blog
Joshua Dorkin | October 10th, 2007 at 11:51 pm #
I certainly have not burned out, nor have I lost interest. Sadly, I have so little time on my hands because I run a huge website called BiggerPockets.com full-time. I will continue to post on TimeforBlogging when I can, but it has become tough lately.
This is the sad reality of things