My Writing Journey: Juicing the Blog

Juicing the blog…
When I started blogging, my original intention was to only write young adult book reviews. I thought I could easily pump out a couple of reviews a week. Boy was I mistaken! Finding the time to sit and read every single day become impossible and daunting. I actually started to dread reading because it became something I had to do instead of want to do. My allotted reading time was not nearly enough to produce frequent review posts. My needs as an aspiring author evolved. The mere book review was no longer working for me.

Stripped with book reviews only, my blog reeked with the mundane and mediocre. It was drying up and needed to be satiated with content–good content. My blog was screaming for the proverbial content steroids. I needed more from my blog. My blog needed juiced.

When an athlete is referred to as “juiced up,” his reputation becomes infested with negative connotations. Is it the same with a blog?
In 2005, Jose Canseco released his book, “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big”. Canseco divulged the role he played in developing performance enhancing drugs and how he assisted fellow MLB players with customizing drug doses so that exact desired results could be reached. Players achieved more and baseball fandom sprouted. And then what was really going on leaked out. Baseball hit the fan, so to speak.

But when it comes to writing, is it necessary to go “balls to the wall”? Should our blogs be ‘juiced up’?
I am an avid follower of writer and blogger, Nick Thacker. Here is a writer who keeps me guessing and wanting him to deliver more, and frequently. His writing inspires me to keep searching for the ‘writer’s fountain of youth’–the well that will keep my writing alive, fresh, and free from the stench of writer’s failure.

One of his latest posts was titled, “Does Your Blog Taste like Chicken?” The instant I read Thacker’s post, I thought, “Yes! This is exactly what I have been wracking my brain over. This guy gets me. Dude can write!” If you are an aspiring writer, you need to ‘have at it’ from all sorts of angles. In other words, you have to draw in your audience and keep them craving more. Either write big or go home.

I consider published authors to be ‘the lucky ones’. Yes, they are making money. They are published. They are known for great content, and their sites can easily survive on ‘teasers’ alone. But for the aspiring writer, she cannot survive on mere teasers. The content needs to be there. The writing needs to exude creativity and ingenuity. There has to be a hook. And these hooks need to be generated often to keep the readers coming back for more. So yes, I believe the aspiring writer needs a blog that is ‘juiced up’.

We don’t say, “Variety is the spice of life” for nothing…
The fact is, if you are bored with your blog, your readers will also be bored. If it needs to be satiated with enhancements, do it. But keep in mind, too much is never a good thing. Thank you, Nick Thacker, for inspiring me to enhance my blog with a little ‘juice’.

My plans to ‘juice up’ my blog

*The Monday Book Match-Up (My own creation)
1. Pick a book-choose one that you are reading or one of your favorites

2. Pick a character-Take a character from the book and match him/her up with a real actor, explain why.

3. Pick a song-When you read the book, what song could easily be added if made into a movie?

4. Add a little zing-What did you eat/drink when you read this book? What did you see the characters wearing? Where could you see this book taking place? (Add some photos. Feed our visual appetites!)

*Teaser Tuesday (Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.)

*The Friday Factoid (My own creation)
Pairing my need to research (for my ‘one-day” novel) with the desire to learn more and help others learn more as well–be it a brief history or writing lesson, or a random, odd fact.

*The Subconscious Mom
I have been tossing around the idea of starting a “parent blog” to Reading En Vogue, but it will focus on my life as a mother and wife. Perhaps a few podcasts and videos of my boys will pop up in this one. This is still in the works. 😉

Finally, I will keep reading and I will keep writing reviews. But, there will be a bit less CON to my content and a bit more tenacity 😉 . My blog needs it. I need. I will not let myself drown in the sea of mundane.

So, is your blog juiced? Or do you need to inject it with a little something, something?