Friction Fiction (#19): On Creativity, Blogging, and Plateauing

These posts are meant to bring about some conversation, discussion, and perhaps even a debate. These discussion posts can occur at varying days of the week, mostly depending upon what's scheduled on the blog and what I feel like discussing.

So I've been in a rut lately. I'm back into blogging pretty fully now, even though I'm not really reading much still. The first few weeks back I felt really great, and I was really happy with my blog and getting back to it. But as I've gotten back into the swing of things, I've started to feel kind of mehh about it all--not about blogging but about my blog and what I'm doing with it. 

I should explain. I like that I'm getting reviews out there again, although most of it is for books I read while on hiatus. (Again, I haven't read much lately, so I'll need to do that soon or I'll run out of reviews to write.) But I'm also feeling like things are getting monotonous. I feel like my blog doesn't have any creativity to it. It's just me, reviewing and sometimes plugging in one or two other types of posts. I'm not engaging with the blogging community because I can't make the time to do that at the moment, and so I feel out of loop and I wonder if anyone's even still reading my blog. Because I don't know if I would. The thing is, as much as I post reviews, I'm also the kind of person that doesn't read most of other people's reviews either. Once in a while I'll read a review if it's for a book I felt really passionately about, whether good or bad. So I feel like my blog doesn't reflect what I want out of a blog. 

But I don't know what to do about it. I think I've been plateauing. I'm not really getting many views, but I don't like focusing on stats. I just feel like few people read my blog, and I want that to change. I just don't know how. I don't have the creativity to think of new features or types of posts that I want to put out there and that I would want to read. I don't want to share too much of my personal life or whatever on my blog-that's not what it's here for, per say. I have so many interests, but I don't know how to make it cohesive and how to not make them overwhelming. I know I should do more with TV shows and movies and music; my blog has basically become a book blog, though I wanted it to be a mixed blog. 

I got into bookstagram but have found it hard to take picture (time-wise) lately, and I also feel like I don't have ideas as to how to set up pictures so they have the aesthetic I'm searching for. I've always prided myself in being a creative individual, but I've come to question that lately because I feel anything but creative. And I don't know where to go with this blog. I love blogging here, and I like what I'm doing, but I can't help but feel that something's missing. I don't know that I'm getting across to readers--my interests, personality, etc--other than through my reviews, but even then, it's more about the book than myself.

So yeah. I don't know if other bloggers are feeling this way. It's not something that's new for me, but it's been feeling stronger than ever lately. I still feel like I'm out of the blogging community and out of the loop. I feel like it's only going to get worse when I'm in college. I'm also working on a lifestyle/personal blog that I want to launch this summer as I travel and as I prepare to go to college. But that'll have a different aesthetic. I just don't want that to turn into something like this blog too. So I'm trying to figure out where to go from here. I like this too much to stop; it's like a part of my routine now. However, I don't know how to continue to grow as I move forward. 

What do you think? Have you had similar issues/thoughts? If you have and have gotten out of it, what helped you to figure it out? What's your advice for me?