Hi guys… long time no speak. You might have noticed I have been weirdly absent on here lately and posting even more sporadically than usually. I’m here to explain why a little, but mostly to ask for some help.

Where do you turn for recommendations when you’re stuck for reading ideas?

I have been in that awful funk of a reading mood where you know you want to read something but for the life of you you can’t figure what book your brain is hoping you’ll read next (which has impacted my blogging some).

I have always been a mood reader and the unpredictability of my reading mood can be frustrating as hell but the past few weeks it has been out to get me. It’s a serious personal attack because I have no clue what I want to read. not even an inkling.

As a mood reader I find picking my next book to be the worst kind of struggle. Sometimes I am eager to read the same kind of book over and over until my brain rebels, and sometimes each read must be the polar opposite otherwise a funk will set in. I can find a book which is perfectly fitting for my mood one day but is exactly what I don’t want to read the next. It’s a constant struggle to make sure I stay invested in whatever I read and lately it’s been more of struggle than I’m used to. I am getting bored for no reason and really finding it hard and just curl up with a good book. If I don’t read them fast (and I don’t always have the time for that) then I won’t finish it at all and I’m hating how many books I feel like DNF-ing recently.

Some might say don’t force yourself to read and you’ll come across the perfect book when you’re ready. I laugh in the face of such logic, I want to read now god damnit! I will force myself to read everything until the prefect book appears.

I have tried to read old books gathering digital or actual dust on my shelves. I’ve tried turning to bloggers whose opinions I trust to see what they’re enjoying lately. I’ve tried looking at popular books lists and latest releases. But to no avail. I don’t know what I want to read and I fear I will never find it and I’ll be stuck putting down books left and right for all eternity. (No, you’re being dramatic).

So tell me what you do when you don’t know what to read next? Is there a tried and true method which works for you or are you utterly confused by the mere concept of mood reading and have your future reads written down as a nice orderly list?

What are words?

Sometimes I find myself asking this question both when I'm talking too fast and I essentially just start making noises instead of forming actual sentences. But also when it comes to staring at a blank screen all ready to write a blog post and then find I have nothing to say.

2018 has very much been the year of the slump. From blog slumps to reading slumps and everything in between. I don’t think there’s a single blogger who hasn’t been saying they’re in a slump at one time or another and that is a whole other  conversation but this recurring slump problem has reminded me of one very important thing: blogging is hard. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. It’s not just thinking up ideas but it’s finding words which are original and accurately get your thoughts across. You have to create, format, design, code, the list goes on and on. It’s hard and exhausting and bloggers burn themselves out.

You’d think being a book blogger would be easy. I mean, you read a book you talk about it. It’s not rocket science! Except, I don’t want to talk about the books I’ve been reading (even though they’ve been totally awesome) because it’s a known fact reviews are the least popular post you’ll write. Why do we bother when no one will read them? Not the foggiest but I still like writing them… except when I’m in the blogging slump to end all blogging slumps. It seems to have come as a direct result of my reading slump which I’m sort of past (I hope). But blogging slumps are so much more difficult to shift than a reading slump. I have a tried and true method of trying to give myself a boost out of a reading slump. Rereading and reading those books which have been gathering dust on my shelves for too long always works, but is there a tried and true method for shifting a blogging slump? There are things you can do to try and kickstart the reading mojo but how on earth do you kickstart your urge to blog? It’s not like you can reread or whatever, you have to do all the work yourself.

Sometimes I think the biggest hurdle in a blogging slump is actually getting words onto a page. Once you start writing words, no matter how rubbish they are, you start to get back into the rhythm of things and you can clean it all up later. Hell, sometimes that’s just you sorting the word blockage and you end up writing a whole new post later on which is the exact post you’ve been looking for. But regardless, one method I’ve had work for me is the word vomit approach because a post with words is far less daunting than a blank page. That’s where the idea for this post came from in fact, thus there is proof it works (for one post at least).

What about finally getting around to reviewing those books you’ve been reading? I mean, I know I said reviews are one of the least popular posts of any blog but people do still read them. Everyone appreciates a good review and it’s another case of getting words onto a page which may hopefully help you get back into the rhythm of things. I know this is one method I’ve had work before… but sadly I have to reviewing motivation despite all of the amazing books I’ve read lately. Hopefully, I can try that next.

What about doing a tag or participating in a meme then? There’s a set format there for you and some posts, like Top Ten Tuesday, come with themes to help target your writing. It gives you direction on where tog o with your blogging but still gives you enough freedom to be original. Surely that would be fun and they’re great posts to help generate traffic because you get to link up to others. This is where I go when I’m literally drawing a blank on what to write.

Another great thing to do is go out and get reading those posts from the other blogs you’ve been avoiding (I’m sorry guys, I had no intention of avoiding you but the blogging envy was real, why could you all write words and I couldn't?) because sometimes seeing other people’s creative genius can help inspire you. It does also inspire blogging envy to the extreme but hell, anything is better than nothing.  Seeing other people being bosses and rocking their blogging can help motivate me to get back typing words. It’s not a perfect method but sometimes it works.

And there’s also the whole reading comments on your own blog method. Look, when I’m slumping I feel a little bad about it and kind of avoid my own blog at all costs so my comments backslide into having no responses for a month (I know!, Trust me, I know). It’s a terrible idea and a habit I need to get out of because for shame! I need to stop but when I get my arse in gear and actually start replying I often feel more motivation to write another post because seeing everyone’s lovely words on other posts gets me back wanting to write more words to get the lovely comments. It’s a thing.

And finally… if all else fails… I think redesigning/revamping/touching up your blog design can be great for getting you excited to write words. Sometimes it can be as simple as a little makeover to get you feeling happier about blogging. Don’t ask me why, it’s like when you buy a new outfit, you feel better for having something new to wear so you get excited and want to make plans to go out so you can show it off to people. You get a new bounce in your step and feel that little bit more confident because you know you’re rocking that outfit and you can get the same kind of feeling from revamping your blog. I actually did all my blog myself (can you tell.. I’m guessing you can) but sometimes trying out something new can be really fun.

Anyone else got a tried and true method for shifting a slump? Better yet, are there ideas I’ve not thought of because I have this horrible vision of being stuck in a slump for about two months at the rate I’m going.

This, in fact, isn’t even the post I intended to write when I sat down in front of my laptop. I was going to play review catch up tonight and then sort out a few discussion and tag posts for my blog (because this place is beginning to look neglected) but then I realised I had no clue which books I had and hadn’t reviewed on my blog. One book I had three separate drafts written up for reviewing it and none of them had the same things on there! I even thought I’d reviewed a book but hadn't and started to draft up ideas for another which I reviewed a couple of weeks ago. It’s a serious case of where is my mind?

And thus this post was born as I question whether or not anyone else finds themselves losing track of blog related things? I know half my issue is that I have been away, I’m not following my old mental blogging schedule so I’m left questioning what day it is. Also, I’ve stopped using my bullet journal because I’ve simply not been sat down for five minutes a day to fill it in and that used to help me plan out my days and my blog. I simply don’t know what I have and haven’t reviewed because of it, I used to have a lovely little list that helped me out. Instead, I am left staring at my Goodreads read shelf hoping I’ll remember if my little Goodreads review has been adapted and posted on my blog. Don’t even get me started on Amazon reviews.

Do you lose track of the books you have and haven’t reviewed as well? I want to know how you keep track of the books you’ve reviewed on your blog. Do you even bother? I mean, I’ve done a couple of rereads and I don’t know if I’ve reviewed those before and I know I can search my blog but I want an easier way to know if I’ve reviewed it before. It’s bugging me. I am not traditionally organised and tidy (seriously, I am a bombs gone off, organised chaos kind of girl) but usually I can remember the important things (like what books I’ve got left to review) but currently I feel like Velma when she loses her glasses, my brain is gone and I don’t know what’s going on.

Give me all the blogging organisation tips and make me feel less lost and confused, please? How do you keep track of your books? I want to know your secrets!

So this post is going up a week later than intended and it’s not even going up on the day I intended but it’s getting posted and if that isn’t a prime example of what I’m trying to say with this post then I don’t know what is.

This is the time of the year when we start creating expectations for the year. We decide on the challenges we wish to take part in for the coming year and we make resolutions for ourselves as we have once more started a new year and as a whole, we create expectations for ourselves. This then leads to us putting pressure on ourselves towards the end of the year and for some, it can cause undue stress.

I am here to tell you that we need to stop doing that to ourselves! We might not complete a challenge but that is ok! Unless you know you can take the pressure don’t push yourself to do something just because that’s the thing bloggers do. Don’t set yourself a high Goodreads total if it’ll stress you out when you fall behind (why does that website feel the need to rub it in when you’re behind… I know I’m two books behind don’t keep telling me it just pisses me off). Also, don’t take on a bunch of challenges if you don’t think you can keep up (or don’t announce you’re participating in a challenge so the only person who will know if you don’t complete a goal is you then, it still sucks but less pressure).

One of my goals for the year is apologising less. I am late in posting always (although I don’t have a schedule so the only person who knows I’m late is me until I let you guys know that fact too). I think this is something we all need to learn. Less pressure. Fewer expectations. And no more apologising. 2018 is the year of being ok with what we can do. I’m all for stretching yourself and challenging yourself but no more shall we lost sleep over things. I know I’m making it sounds simple, I know I still feel annoyed when a post isn’t ready when I hoped and continually want to apologise when I’m not doing what I want to be doing as a blogger but I am trying and so I want this to be the reminder that it’s ok to be a bad blogger… I know Nereyda said that one best here. Even so, it’s true, we all suck at blogging sometimes and we all suck at reading and I know we all fail at challenges from time to time but it’s totally ok. The only person making you think otherwise is yourself so make this the year you’re nicer to yourself about these things, ok?

Anyone else stress themselves out over challenges and blog goals and question why they’re doing it? Who’s with me in being ok with failing?

As you may have noticed (because I remind you every Sunday) I have been a little absent around the blogosphere of late. Both on my blog but also visiting other folks and it sucks because I never feel like I can have a chat as it takes an age for me ever to see or respond to anything. I’ve been feeling bad about it but it’s one of those things. Real life and other interests have just plain old got in the way so I haven’t been blogging. I love blogging, I’ve been doing so for three years now and it’s seriously the best hobby… expect for reading of course.

I want to keep you informed about why I’m not around. Some reasons you guys will know if you read my Sunday posts, and some things you’ll just be surprised at because it’s not just me having real life getting in the way, I also have other interests!

I am not going to keep apologising for not being around because we all get busy but I want to share what’s keeping me distracted of late and you guys can feel free to do the same because we all have lives, I don’t think any of us are full time bloggers so we shouldn’t feel bad for having other plans.

As anyone who reads my Sunday posts will know, we have moved my nan into a care home recently. It was a tough (and expensive) decision to make but she has been needing to move for a good long while and this was the best decision we could make. It was a touch and go process over whether we could get her in the home and we are still concerned she isn’t settling in but it was something which needed to happen. now she is in the home we must start the lengthy process of trying to sell the home she has lived in for forty years and it’s heart-breaking. She loves that house, she raised her children there (my dad and uncle) and that is the only home I have ever known her have. I get sad just thinking of selling it so as you can imagine that’s been emotionally draining and I just haven’t always had the mental will power to blog with all of that going on. That has been the most depressing reason why I haven’t been blogging as much and so I thought I’d put that out there first. There are other more fun reasons.

Guys, I know I don’t mention social outings and stuff all that much on the blog and I never name friends from my real life just because they haven’t signed up for me broadcasting their life on here, not like me who made the decision. But I have actual real live friends and I have been seeing a few of them a lot more recently and I’ve loved it. Some I see often and have just not seen in a while as they live down south, others I lost touch with and am now seeing and reconnecting with and it’s rocked. I saw once girl I’ve not seen in ten years and we spoke like we hung out just a few weeks ago. I saw another I have seen in about a year and laughed hysterically with for a night like we hung out just the other day. It’s been a great time for seeing friends and I’ve had the best time but it has meant I’ve not been sat in front of a computer screen. I’d apologise but I’m not even sorry, I love that real life friends are the reason for me neglecting online friends for once.

Look, I adore the Sims and I fully blame the Tumblrs I follow who are sims based and Kristen for my renewed love for Sims. It’s an addictive game and I love it. I sadly lost my supernatural themed neighbourhood I was going to grow and explore when my old laptop kicked the bucket but I am now deciding to have a very OTT neighbourhood filled with dramatic things like affairs, family feuds and some full on soap like drama. I am looking forward to it because if you can’t give a family grief on the Sims where can you do it? I am thinking people sleeping with the maid and a womaniser who everyone hates. i also want a grumpy old woman to live somewhere. It will be epic so let’s hope I don’t get bored before I finish the neighbourhood.

I don’t know if you guys know this about me but I actually really love playing video games. Like, I know I play The Sims but that’s a game everyone plays. I do actually play proper games as well and the one taking up most of my time of late is Final Fantasy IX. They released it on PS4 and it looks like it’s a straight port from Steam from what I’ve seen but I don’t care, it’s awesome and addictive and was one of my favourite RPGs growing up. I definitely think it helped grow my love for fantasy as well. It is just as good as I remember it being when I was 11 and I am so glad I got a copy on my PS4. It will suck up many hours of my day and I don’t care. It does mean I’m reading less, though.

The final reason for my absence is pretty simple. It snowed here in the UK and I am full on distracted by the white powdery stuff outside my window. It began snowing on Friday where I live and it was distracting for me then because I wasn’t sure I was going to get home from work and so my motivation to blog was low. Then it really snowed on Sunday, my prime blogging day, and once more I didn’t have the motivation to blog as I was stressing about getting to work Monday. I can’t drive and the buses were all cancelled Sunday so I worried i wouldn’t make it to the office. The temperatures have also plummeted now the snow has settled so the is the risk of ice. As pretty as the snow is it totally stressed me out when it came to work and it meant I was completely distracted writing blog posts. I haven’t typed a single word and it was only writing this Monday night I’ve managed to get anything finished. I had all these grand blogging plans for the weekend and a few flakes of snow threw that idea out of the window.

***

Basically, real life has worked hard to keep me distracted lately. My mind hasn’t been totally on blogging and reading whilst it sucks I’m okay with it. It’s Christmas and I have interests outside reading and blogging. I won’t apologise for not being around and I don’t know why we insist on doing so. Real life happens and it’s totally okay for us to do other things. It’s always nice to hear what other folks have been getting up to when they’ve not been about on their blog much, though. I am trying to post a couple of times a week because sometimes writing words on a screen are the best way for me to unwind but that hasn’t always been the case in the past couple of weeks.

What keeps you distracted from blogging? Any real life things interrupting your plans or is it just me? And why do we insist on apologising when real life gets in the way like we’re at fault in some way?

I am like a million miles behind on my ARC reading, it’s crazy. I didn’t intend for it to happen but it did. I actually used to be a really good reviewer. My Netgalley rating was in the 90% range and I only ever had books on my shelves that weren’t published yet. I was totally in control and ready to conquer all the books. I would request and be confident my review would go up on my blog around the time of publication. Then something happened this year and I don’t know what. I got into some reading slumps. My mood reading got crazy. I just didn’t feel a strong urge to read. Whatever happened my ARCs got out of control. I think I requested books I wasn’t totally convinced I wanted to read. I gave into hype pressure and then avoided reads. I waited until it was too close to the publication date and I am the worst about reading when the pressure is on. My brain gets all contrary. ‘Oh, you need to read this book by next week? Don’t you want to reread that book you read five years ago instead?’ because yeah, my brain sucks.

I have plans on how to conquer my ARC pile (and books which have sat gathering dust on my shelf for forever). I will embrace DNF-ing with those which are way, way overdue and I’m not getting into and start focusing more on those books on my shelf. ARCs will be just those books I genuinely cannot wait to come out.

My question to you guys is: is there a point you give up on ARCs? Like, do you admit you’re never going to get that review up if it’s been two months after the release date or is it better to review whenever, regardless of how long after publication it is?

Obviously, if I receive a copy of a book and actually agree to take part in a blog tour or whatever I put the pressure on my brain and force myself to read, no matter how much I’m not feeling it. I make sure I get to the end and get my thoughts on screen or whatever, but those ARCs I requested off of Netgalley and then get approved for like three weeks later and am slightly less excited for so they then linger on my Kindle until well after publication. Should I still be getting reviews up for those? Should I spend my time reviewing them? Or should I just focus on current releases? I mean, I feel like it’s only polite to put the effort in and review. I put the effort in to request and it’s my own damn fault I didn’t read them sooner. I obviously want my Netgalley ratios to be good and for a publisher not to blacklist me (do they do that? I bet they do). I’m just wondering, at what point do you not even bother attempting to read an ARC? I’m planning to read, or attempting to read all those on my shelf but I wanted to know what your ARC attitude was.

Anyone else failing with their ARC reading? What do you do when you get behind? Do you still review all old ARCs and what about DNF-ing ARCs?

Currently, I am failing epically at thinking of posts which aren’t reviews unless I’m writing discussions. This means I am writing my discussions based on the stuff which goes through my head at any one time (case in point, one of my drafts is actually about how I can’t seem to figure out how to start writing a blog post… then my blogging block passed). Despite my blogging block having passed (it’s like writer's block but for blog posts), I do still have a problem with getting posts live on my blog.

I am forgetting to schedule my posts!

If you are a regular visitor you may have noticed my blog posts are going up a bit sporadically of late. I like to have a routine to posting (either Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Tuesday and Thursday) and that just hasn’t been happening lately. I try and remember to schedule posts (otherwise I will never remember to get posts up) but I’m even forgetting to do the thing which I do to stop me forgetting to post. What is wrong with me?

You’d think that this wouldn’t be a major issue. The posts are all there and ready to go so I just log on and click publish. Problem solved! But I’m both too busy and too forgetful to do this. The only post I post manually is my Sunday post because that one I don’t tend to finish until the last minute. I may not have a schedule which goes beyond the end of each week but a basic schedule is what keeps my blog running at any kind of regular pace. I am up at 6am during the week and don’t get home until 6pm. I leave the house at 6:45 and my morning routine is planned by the minute so until I get to work I have no time for even thinking about my blog until I get to work and by then I am thinking about work. It’s normally not until I get home that I think and remember a post I did or didn’t schedule.

The thing is, I am a totally forgetful person. I think I’ve mentioned before I am a procrastinator so I get insanely excited to actually finish a post in my drafts. I think that’s half the reason I forget to schedule stuff. The other problem is I am easily distracted. I will finish and if something even slightly interrupts my train of thought all hope of scheduling is gone and it’ll take me a few days to even remember I forgot to do something.

Basically, I am forgetful and my forgetfulness is getting worse. I am trying to remind myself to schedule every time I finish a post but fingers crossed. If you notice a post going up at a weird time at least you know why.

My question is how does everyone remember to get their posts up? Anyone manually post them? Or do you immediately schedule as soon as your draft is ready? Or are you so excited to have a post finished you simply forget, like me?

Recently, I have felt like I’ve been failing as a blogger. No matter how hard I try to stay on top of things I always feel like there is one aspect of blogging which I am letting slide. If I’m not behind on blog reading I’m behind on commenting. If I’m ahead on blog posts I’ve slacked on reading other people’s blogs. If I’ve conquered my emails I’ve probably not gotten to spend a lot of time reading books which is kind of the thing which made me want to blog in the first place. I feel like blogging is a juggling act and I’m failing at catching any of the balls.

I have never been brilliant at organising my time. Even though blogging is something I enjoy I still procrastinate about doing it. A review I’ve half finished and needs an hours clean up will take me three hours to do and it might be three hours spread over two days depending on my mood. If you email I’ll either reply straight away or in a weeks time for no reason other than that I didn’t feel like doing it straight away and it somehow felt like an effort. I don’t know why I procrastinate from blogging but I do. And so anything blog related because a daunting task because even when I knuckle down and do things I know it’ll take longer than I want because that’s who I am.

Anyway, I’ve realised my current non-routine is unsustainable. It’s gotten so bad I no longer even know what books I’ve finished reviewing and those I haven’t. My drafts are overflowing. It stresses me out constantly being behind on things and since I’m not reading as much It’s bothering me that I’m wasting so much of my time on blog related things when all I want to do it curl up with a good book. Something has got to give!

I realised I didn’t know what had to give, though. I mean, what facet of blogging is less important than the rest?

I’m obviously not giving up blog reading. It’s a source of inspiration and I want to see what my online friends are reading and talking about! If I gave up blog reading I wouldn’t be part of the community anymore and it kind of defeats the point of blogging. I do find that I am constantly playing catch up with blog commenting. I am never on top of it I am always behind and there are so many posts up every day!

What I can do is cut down on the number of blogs and read and follow. I’ve spoken before how I want people to follow me who are genuinely interested in what I blog about and I’ve spoken about how I follow a lot of blogs for a lot of reasons (not all of them good reasons). Well, I’ve realised I need to make my blog feed manageable. There are at least five blogs I follow as they’re big names in the blog community but I never read their posts anymore. EVER! I’ve got to admit I followed them, to begin with, as they helped guide me but I know who I want to be in my corner of the internet, it’s time to let them go. It makes me sad to let go of blogs but it’s necessary. Instead, I can slowly introduce in those blogs I am interested in.

I am bad at replying to blog comments. Much as I put off blog reading as I know the reading/commenting thing is time-consuming I put off replying to comments because it’s time-consuming. I will never not reply to blog comments. I love seeing people’s thoughts, why would I have a blog and not read the comments?

I will start making set times to do so. I’ve actually started replying to blog comments on my way to and from work. It gives me half an hour or so of time to read people’s thoughts and reply back. I still have to sit in front of my laptop for an hour or so some nights but I’ve already found a way to cut down some of the time I spent doing so. I find responding in small doses is better because I don’t get bored (don’t worry, it’s not your comments which bore me but my replies).

Over the past few months, I’ve started getting more and more emails in from publishers/authors/random people I’ve never spoken to. And I’ve found I am now signed up for all the author newsletters (some I don’t recognise, how did that even happen?) and I also have all my Disqus notifications for blog comments every where and any other response notifications for other people’s blogs. My inbox is a mess and it scares me to go in it a lot of the time. Emails die there. Every publisher who emails me ever gets an email which begins ‘sorry for the delay in replying’ lately.

I saw a post a little while ago over at Howling Reviews about email bankruptcy where you delete your email from a certain date then go through the rest. I hope I haven’t gotten to that point (yet) but I do plan to look back and if I’m going too far back those things are getting deleted. I also plan to start unsubscribing myself from author newsletters as half I am genuinely not interested in. I can then just keep my actual favourite authors on the list who I want to be notified on. The biggest thing is creating folders which work for me. Currently, everything goes everywhere so I am going to start adding things to folders I’ve named and get proactive with my inbox going forward.

I seriously stress my self out with how much time I don’t have to write blog posts. Like I said, a lot of the things above really eat into my usual blog writing time. Sunday’s (and part of Saturdays if I’ve not got much on) will be spent writing up blog posts. I finish off reviews from what I typed up on Goodreads to make it an actual post. I write those discussion ideas which have been brewing. I even do the tags which interest me from around the internet. I don’t have enough time in the week to write a full blown blog post, I can edit and tweak at most so I need my weekends to work for me and lately, they don’t.

This isn’t as easy to solve. I mean, I can’t make more time but I do hope if I do the above it will mean less time spent doing all that at the weekend. The next key thing is sticking to my own mental blog schedule (and keeping planned posts written down in my bujo). I like to post Monday, Wednesday and Friday and have my usual Sunday post. I will change this from time to time, I have no aversion to posting Tuesdays and Thursdays, I just like my three times a week plan. I will also make sure all posts are finished on a Sunday and attempt to slowly build a few posts as back up for my lazy weeks. I want to stay a couple of reviews ahead of where I am and have back up none review posts on the go. I want to be able to plan ahead. I will also go on hiatus when I know I won’t be around so I’m not catching up on everything when I’m back. That means my holiday will be a hiatus. I’ve got to accept my human limitations.

This one is the one which has been stressing me out the most. Any regular visitor will know I went through a reading slump recently. It was a major reading slump. I lost motivation to read even though I was enjoying reading and it threw me for a loop. I managed to get back to reading when I stopped stressing out over it and I may not be reading as much as I was but I’m reading again and looking forward to reading and that makes me happy but with every other blog thing taking up my time I don’t have as much time to read. It happens at weekends, with the time I put aside for blog writing I’m not reading and it sucks.

This is something I’ve tried to implement for myself before but I want a technology disconnect on evenings when I’m at work. I try and switch my laptop off my 9 pm at the latest (but ideally earlier so I can have a cosy couple of hours reading). I try and set aside that hour or so before bed as reading time so I can get lost in a good book for a little while. It doesn’t always work but that is my plan for reading. I need to admit defeat and accept that by a certain time there is no more blog related things I can do.

***

And there you have it. There are plenty of other problems I have when it comes to blogging (don’t speak to me about social media, I do not get it I will use it as I please) but these are the ones which have bothered me most and I’ve mostly thought of solutions for them.

Are there blogging problems you haven’t been able to face sorting? Do you find writing a plan of action helps you relax about things which have been bothering you? And would you have different solutions to my problems?

Welcome to another discussion post presented by me. I haven’t had a nice discussion in a while and I intended to have a different post up about how I am getting far too free and easy with my Netgalley requests… but then I realise I had something far more important to talk about.

We need to talk about how long you leave a post languishing in your drafts before you accept it isn’t getting up there on your blog?

I ask this question because currently I have many a heading typed out and a few key points written up for some posts which sit gathering dust only to be forgotten about. And that’s not even counting the reviews I’ve copied over from my Goodreads all ready to be edited and posted on my blog that get to spend three or six months for me to get my butt in gear. I don’t know why I do this. It may be because I have a short attention span. Or it might be that I get distracted with my enthusiasm for some new idea that takes over. Sometimes, it’s simply that I can’t be bothered adding in the images and hyperlinks and the usual business I like to have on a post and so I think ‘I’ll do that later’ only to not go back to it.

Now, I can’t be alone in this lazy habit of mine, right? I cannot be the only one who gets distracted by a sparkly thing. Or who finished a post and rewards themself with a good internet browse only to not go back and finish off that post ready for adding into the queue. Please, tell me I’m not alone!

Now, I know I do this and so I have a lot of unfinished drafts. Apart from comforting me that I’m not the only person hoarding unfinished drafts I also want to know how long you leave it there unfinished? Do you have a time limit before you go ahead and delete them? Or do you finish every draft you have? I’m curious because I’ve recently gone through and gotten rid of a few, and you will have noticed this week I also went and published a few. I am trying to tidy up my drafts folder. Whilst it’s nice to have a couple of half-finished posts to fall back on it also means that sometimes a post misses being posted at the right time when it felt most current to me. It means that sometimes when I had a theme in mind for my week of blog posts I instead end up posting that discussion which links to my reviews three months later and it feels a bit out of place. Basically, it may be nice it does have it’s downfalls and often I never end up going back to the posts and so they just sit there languishing until I put it out of it’s misery and delete it.

How long do you leave a book unfinished in your drafts? Do you have a limit to how long it stays before you abandon it? What system do you use for your blog drafts? Do you even have a system?