Disenchanted with my Blog

So I am having a difficult time writing new posts. I am disenchanted. I started blogging with such zeal. Now, after four years, I feel stagnant and a bit tired of it all. About a year ago, I spent up to 12 hours a day working on the blog, commenting, doing blog hops, working with sponsors, etc. Back then, I got up to 30 comments with each post. I was on top of the blogging world. Except I was bitterly unhappy in MY world, my children made comments about mom never being off of the computer, my husband knew that in between cooking and cleaning I wouldn't be available to anything but the blog.

Then I got my head together and my priorities in order. I started spending lots of time with other people. I wasn't rolling in angst. Sure, there are worse days than other, but by and large I am able to manage my psyche pretty well. I quit responding to 50 blogs a day. I no longer participate in blog hops. Instead of writing posts about how difficult life can be, I write recipes and observations. And I've lost readers, comments are down, I have no sponsors.

At some point I had to face the fact that blogging simply is not going to pay the bills. God bless those who have been able to turn it into a career, but just like any form of media blogging is competitive and the people with the money like other bloggers more than me. So then if blogging isn't going to be my job it is a hobby and it should be fun, enjoyable, something I look forward to doing.

But lately it isn't. I realize I haven't posted for days and I don't have a problem with it mostly because it feels so "blah." I would like to get my blogging mojo back; I think I maintain a good space. So help me, my blogging friends. What do you do when you want to call it quits? How do you get the spark back? How do you banish the disenchantment and start with new vigor?

12 Dad Blogs That You Should Be Reading

There are some amazing Dad Blogs out there (and a few wonderful Dads who Blog, too) and I am guessing that you probably aren't acquainted with them. For some reason, being a Mom Blogger (even if you hate the term) is hot, but being a Dad Blogger is just a totally overlooked blogoverse category. And I don't get it AT ALL. Who better than a dad to help us understand our husbands, the fathers in our lives, and their thoughts on parenting and life in general?

The men listed below write wonderful, thoughtful, often hilarious blogs that cover everything you could ever imagine. I am so happy to have become blog friends with them and excited to introduce them to you.

Richard Monroe and Barry Silver

1. Richard Monroe writes The Butterbottom Blog, "the blog that is strong enough for a man, but made for a woman." He writes posts about the absurdities and humor of life as a husband and father. The word "lovely" comes to mind, but is that a masculine enough description for a Daddy Blog? Well, it's a lovely blog.

2. Barry Silver is my first Dad who blogs (but not a Dad Blogger). A Life Lived Well Concludes With A Smile records "life's small moments that create life's lasting memories." With posts on everything from family to technology, entertainment to life in general, A Life Well Lived provides the prefect mash-up of everything you ever needed to read.

John Willey and Ben Moffat

3. John Willey is the author of Daddy's In Charge? and one of this year's Parents.com Best Dad Blog Award Nominees. I love his Lego movies (starring everyone from Chuck Norris to Spiderman) which record his singular views on fatherhood. Read the bittersweet My Son is a Swinger to appreciate those days when your kids are dependent on you, especially if you have days like me where you wish they could do their own laundry and cook for themselves.

4. Ben Moffat is The Angry Scot, a Scotsman living with his family in Sweden. The Angry Scot is his place to write and rant about life, parenting, and all of the exploits that come with them. Ben is incredibly opinionated and not afraid to let everyone know (sort of like my Scotch-American hubs).

Justin Mannato and Dustin Christian

5. Justin Mannato's Daddy Knows Less is listed as Circle of Moms #12 Best Dad Blog. His post about Ikea (a store which I am DYING to shop at), "To Hell and Back" is an absolute must read. Absolutely hilarious and really showed me how my husband feels on our shopping forays!

6. Dustin Christian, author of Daddy Geek: Raising the Dungeonmasters of Tomorrow, is another blog author who writes about a wonderfully varied mix of parenting topics. Check out It's Okay to Hate Being a Parent. . . Occasionally. Dustin will be one of the dads guest posting over the next few weeks, so look out for him.

Todd Howard and Edward Staples, Jr.

7. Todd Howard's LessonMinder.com is an invaluable resource for homeschooling parents and any parent who wishes to help further educate their child. He has a real passion for teaching our children, and his website shows it. The blog is an adjunct to Todd's educational organizational tool available online.

8. Edward Staples, Jr. of FatherEd is a Christian father who writes insightful articles about child rearing. He has an evident love for his children and you can tell from his posts that he is intentionally raising them with honor and dignity. Oh, and his youngest is a William, too, and both are darn cute!

Matthew Peregoy and Alex Walsh

9. Matthew Peregoy of The Real Matt Daddy is funny, funny, funny. Did I mention that this blog is hilarious? Really, you've got to read his recent post on how to get a toddler to sit still. Where was he when William was 1? Also nominated for Parents.com Best Daddy Blogger of the year.

10. Alex Walsh of Daddacool can explain himself best: "What's there to say really? I am a father to two small children who haven't yet pushed me past the point where my sanity disintegrates and I turn into a gibbering wreck but that can only be just round the corner." Listed at #8 on Cision's list of Top UK Daddy Blogs; Alex has also been published in my go to English news source, The Guardian.

Derek Markham and Zach Rosenberg

11. Derek Markham writes Natural Papa, Treehugger's 2010 Best Health and Wellness website. This site goes beyond most eco-parenting sites which seem to be geared toward eco-deals by tackling topics such as home birth, parenting, and eco-living in an amazingly insightful fashion.

12. Zach Rosenberg is one of the Editors of 8BitDad: Paternity in Pixels, has appeared on radio on His Side with Glenn Sacks and written for publications such as Filter Magazine and The Los Angeles Sentinel. This wonderful blog brings together soundbites geared toward everyman about fathering, parenting, and being a man from all over the internet. Often absurd, usually hilarious, always entertaining, this blog is worth a bit of your time.

How Do You Deal with Writer's Block?

So yesterday I was on Twitter and one of my contacts was suffering with a huge case of writer's block. I told her that they way I deal with it is just to sit down and write anything, as long as you are writing. That's been my strategy for as long as I can remember.

And then today came. I woke up and my brain, which is usually brimming over with blog ideas, is sluggish and dry. I have writer's block, which seems somehow like some evil karma coming back to slap me in the face. So I am doing what I told my Tweep to do and writing. Anything.

When my brain freezes up like this it's like one of those natural dams. Things have been flowing along quite nicely then all of the sudden silt and dross and decaying leaves block up everything (because it usually is the silt and dross in my life that clogs me up). The pressure of the flow builds up, but though it yearns to break free, there is nothing that can break the dam. Until one day, a huge swell comes through and the ideas flow again. You never know when that swell will happen, so, like any writer, you fret and continue to claw away, begging for any spark of inspiration.

I went to several different writing prompt sites today, looking for that spark. A few prompts were, quite frankly, ridiculous, and a few informed me that it was free writing day. How's that for a slap in the face? If I could write freely, would I be looking for a prompt?

So I took my own advice, and here's the result. I can't say that it freed me in any way, but at least I've gotten some words out and the page is no longer blank.

What do you do when you have writer's block? Is there a process or a piece of advice you follow? Do you have a muse, a fail safe? Millions of writers would love to know.

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Living the Surreal Life

I've been talking a lot with Tim lately about how surreal it feels to me to be content. To not constantly be in a state of self analysis and depression. The interesting thing is that I had become so used to being in this state that feeling "normal" is anything but.

I know I haven't talked about this much, but one day I just woke up and "POOF" I felt better. My mind was quiet. I looked around at my life and I was okay with it. My laid back hippie vibe suddenly returned. And I have no idea why or what happened - well, except for years of therapy and trying to get my psyche to cooperate - but there it was.

I won't tell you that every day is a bowl full of cherries. I still have my moments, still have self doubt, but it just sort of goes away. Dissipates away into the wind.

So then I think about the great writers throughout history, and how the majority of the real legends were total headcases. How their angst and illness fed their writing - I understand! I have to tell you that since I've been happier I've suffered for deep writing material. I guess I'll have to be shallow for a while as I'm enjoying my newly found bliss.

I'm Grateful: Free Speech

I don't really know what to write about today. I've spent more time in bed with my case of strep throat than I ever did in the past. Then William, my poor Boo, got it and I had to doctor him while trying to recover myself. I got out of the house today, but now am dizzy with a bit of a headache to show for it. But I got out and am no longer buggy with cabin fever.

Today I am thankful for the ability to write in a public forum about whatever comes to mind. For free speech and the opportunity to share faith and happy times with those that choose to read my words. And I am grateful for those that do read, who make me feel that my words have worth and weight, and for letting me know that my experiences can help others get through their days.

Working on an e-course!

So I've talked a lot on here about being yourself on your blog, letting your authentic self shine through. I have lots of new readers who are relatively new bloggers and who seem hesitant to get beyond the superficial stuff with their blogs for fear that they'll tick someone off or lose readership. So the idea came to me to write up a course on a series of writing and art exercises to take place over a three week period to help bloggers dig deep, to give them the skills and confidence to write the type of blog they want to write.



I also thought I'd include a few of the things that I do when I have absolutely no idea what to write. It would give a break from some of the deeper stuff and help develop some skills to use then the old writer's block hits.

This is going to be based on how I've approached my blog. But I'm certainly not trying to create Erin clones - one of me is quite enough, thank you very much!



So what I'd like to know is if there is interest in this course. I'm going to charge a bit for it, but I'm thinking like $30, not the $150 that you'd usually pay. A girl who can't find a job's gotta find a way to make a living (by the way, have you seen my shop? I've been giving serious thought to donating 10% of all profit to a rotating list of charities that my readers can choose. My first one would probably be some Salvation Army effort directed toward the Gulf, but I think what I'd like to do is a poll every three months or so and the readers can choose from a list of pre-selected causes.) K. So if you are interested, please let me know! And if there's enough interest, I'll start writing!


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Building a Better Blog

I'm constantly striving to improve my blog. While killing time during Kendall's 3 hour marathon that is synchronized skating practice I happened upon the newest edition of Artful Blogging. I generally read it and leave feeling overwhelmed at the huge number of amazing blogs that are out there - which then leaves me feeling shut down as a writer. This time was different - there were so many blogs that I connected with, writers that seemed to be expressing the ideas and thoughts that I want to get across. I started making lists of ideas, wrote what I can only call a journal entry (which is totally out of character for me - while I'm keeping up with the blog, I could never journal - I know, it makes no sense), and started to formulate a path for where I want Dropped Stitches to go. Here's a bit of what I came up with:

* Reveal my authentic self
* Quit trying to build numbers (while still trying to market) - embrace the readership that I have. People are reading. Focus more on the process and less on the numbers.
* Watch the world around me with more focus
* Try not to be so analytical - don't let my brain get in the way so much
* Don't worry SO much about offending - don't be overly PC (which refers back to the authentic self)
* Let it flow


photo by karlatina444, photobucket.com

So this isn't the whole list and I haven't really elaborated (I may in the future) because I want more time to reflect on what these thoughts really mean. I started this out, quite frankly, to make money. I found a way to express myself, talk about knitting, family, cooking, and whatever else came to mind, and I'm feeling now that even though I still want to talk about these things, there is so much more of the world to explore.

So that's all. I've got to think now, which is the difficult, and sometimes painful, part. But that's what Imitrex is for!