Life changes in the instant. The ordinary instant.
- Joan Didion, “The Year of Magical Thinking”
It’s funny how this quote resonates with nearly everyone, because we understand these life changes happen to all of us, and yet they come as such as a surprise.
We tend to think of things like deaths, illness, or natural disasters as the things that will upset our lives, but they aren’t always bad. Maybe you had quadruplets, or struck gold in your backyard, or were picked to marry The Bachelor (hey, I’m not judging).
I had my “ordinary instant” in this past month or so that I haven’t been blogging. I never meant for this blog to become one of the many, many abandoned blogs floating around. I still don’t mean for it to happen.
But that instant changes things; your focus must shift to The Thing, and the only “normal” things that remain are those that absolutely can’t be abandoned for awhile.
A month is a long time to not update a blog. Especially when you’re just getting things started, as I was before my instant.
For some rockstar bloggers, their blog would be one of the things that couldn’t be abandoned, no matter what happened. It’s a big part of their livelihood, and an unexplained, prolonged absence could cause more grief than it’s worth.
For others, like me, an absence isn’t such a big deal. Folks who have stopped by this blog don’t know me or my writing well enough yet to expect regular content, or to miss it when it’s not there.
But now that things are cooling off and I’m starting to return to life as usual, in my new normal, I’ve had a little time to think again about my blog.
And I wonder: what is the best way to handle a blogging absence, after that “ordinary instant” shakes up your life?
I don’t think there’s one right answer, and there are a variety of opinions out there.
One common recommendation I see is to always have extra blog posts ready, entries that you can schedule to go live in your absence. Your audience doesn’t know the difference–except when they comment and you aren’t there to converse with them.
Whether this is right for you depends on your purpose in blogging. I’d prefer not to post and then disappear. I want to be able to respond to comments, answer questions, and continue thinking about whatever topic I’ve covered in the entry.
Some blogs have multiple contributors or guest bloggers who can keep the trains running without you for a time. This obviously wasn’t an option for me, since my blog is brand new and I’m the only writer, but it can be a good approach. While your readers will eventually miss you, this still gives them new content, and the writer of each entry can respond to comments.
I’ve also seen bloggers make a short post notifying readers of an absence. This approach actually works quite well for me, as a reader. I tend to skim those entries, which don’t have to be specific (I don’t need to know you’ve had a life-changing event if you don’t want to tell me), and I’m happy to accept that I won’t see entries from that blogger for awhile.
Or, of course, there’s the approach I took: simply stop writing until you can again think about your blog. This can be fine, if you tend to be inconsistent with your blogging schedule anyway, but it can be disconcerting if you have a lot of readers who expect regular content and interaction with you.
So I’m curious what any readers still out there think about this. How do you plan to handle your blog when your next big “ordinary instant” takes you by surprise?
