A couple of weeks ago, I asked if you were making yourself a better blogger. In the comments, there was a resounding call for “tell us how to be better bloggers!”
So here I am. I’m not sure I’m the right person to do it, but I’ll tell you what I think. Just because I’ve lasted as a Catholic blogger for over five years and 2,400 posts doesn’t mean I know what the heck I’m doing any more than you do.
But that does make a point: you have to stick with it. For longer than a week or a month or even a year.
Let’s talk about focus.
I don’t mean picking a category or description for your blog (i.e., Mommy blog, Catholic apologist, life on a farm). I don’t mean setting aside certain days for themed posts (i.e., Mary on Monday, Wordless Wednesday, 7 Quick Takes Friday).
Those things might help you, and if they do, GREAT! DO THEM!
By focus, I mean setting your sights on the long view.
Ten years ago, when I was a newly-minted Catholic, a DRE convinced me to serve as a catechist. Then she shared this quote at the catechist meeting. I think it holds just as true for me as a blogger as it did for me as a catechist.
It helps, now and then, to take the long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are all about.
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for God’s grace to enter
and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
FOCUS.
It’s easy to get burned out in this new media world, especially as it gets crowded with more good stuff. It’s easy to feel discouraged by the fact that you’re putting a piece of yourself out there for people to see and they don’t comment.
Does it help you to think about who your audience is? Or does that distract you from doing what you opened that blogging window for in the first place? (That’s writing a blog post, and then writing another one, and another, and on and on.)
Do you find yourself inspired by someone else? What do they do well? How might you put their underlying practices to use?
What’s your passion? What interests you? What do you know about, or wonder about, or think about?
Want to hear what others have to say about it? I found these articles interesting, and if you’re struggling with blogging and focus, give them a read:
YOUR TURN: Let’s talk about focus.
How do you use focus?
How can you use it to help yourself grow as a blogger?
What further questions does this inspire?
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Sarah Reinhard is the author of Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families. You’ll find more of Sarah at her blog, SnoringScholar.com. You can also connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.
Sarah Reinhard
When Sarah Reinhard's not writing online at SnoringScholar.com, she can be found on Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, Facebook, or Google +. She's the author of a number of books, including her latest title, Catholic Family Fun: A Guide for the Adventurous, Overwhelmed, Creative, or Clueless.
I found Oscar Romero's words very inspiring. Thanks for sharing them.
It's hard to write when nobody reads you, but I know that it helps me stay focused on my faith.
And, guess what, my atheist son is reading me! We have had many discussions since my conversion, but, as Paul Tillich said, it's impossible to win a debate with an atheist, because his argument is based on rationality. However, I think that I'm doing a much better job at explaining my faith to my son in writing than I did verbally, and this is important to me. My goal is to "provoke" him, so that one day he will look at Jesus in a different light.
There is also another thing that really pleased me: a friend of mine, who listened to my "Witness for CL" (which I posted on a page on my blog), made it up with her son, with whom she hadn't talked for years. If we can help one single person with our writing, well, let's keep on writing!
I love that quote…just beautiful, and it really speaks to me. This is a great post, and personally, I consider you a FANTASTIC blogger…don't doubt it for a second!
The focus of my blog is two-fold: Saint Theodora/Mother Theodore Guerin and my audience. I strive to post a point or thought relevant at the time to my audience and draw from Saint Theodora's writings to find what she might say on it. I support this with Scripture and Church teachings. Hopefully, this offers readers a point of view that is very human yet holy.
The hardest thing about focus for me and blogging has been finding something that really interests me that also interests others…and isn't already covered better by a dozen other people.
FabianSpace is really all about my writing and that's all right, but I'm getting tired of tooting my own horn. Maybe if I were a "big" author, I'd feel better about it, but right now, I have this feeling of "hey! Look at me!" in a crowd that (aside from friends) really doesn't care (and has not reason to). But I didn't know what else to do.
Now, however, Rob is talking about going into commercial space when he retires, and I feel I need to know more about it. Guess what! There aren't a lot of blogs targeted at intelligent ignoramouses** like me. I have a new focus and a new blog, Rocket Science for the Rest of Us (http://fabianspace101.blogspot.com). The great thing is that people are excited about this blog and are asking me questions. Also, I'm very interested. The down side–each entry is taking an hour or more to research, because, well, I'm an intelligent ignoramous, so I have to track down all the questions that I come up with while reading!
So…any suggestions on time savers?
**ignoramous, in this case means someone without knowledge, not someone stupid