Don’t Panic.
I’m not going anywhere, neither is this blog. No one here is taking a break.
Do you know why no one here is taking a break? Because it’s our job.
Being the editor of this blog is my job.
I do it for the paycheck and I earn the hell out of that paycheck.
Of course I do it for other reasons, too. I love my readers, Manolo is a doll, and Twistie and Raincoaster (you’re visiting them at Ayyyy, right?) are great colleagues. Most importantly, I believe in this blog, its message and our eclectic, size-inclusive community.
BUT
If you think for one hot-buttered second I’d do this for free; you’re drunker than an acolyte on Easter.
I know a lot of people –many of whom I haven’t even killed– who, upon finding out that I’m a writer and blogger tell me ZOMG!!! they’re writers and have a blog too and it takes a great deal of teeth gritting and counting to ten to not throttle them while they tell you allllll about their uniformly grim “poetry” and mommyblogs (there is exactly one mommyblog I love) because God forbid the world doesn’t know about little Aidan and Madison’s opinion of the artisinal gerbil milk smoothies they were forced to glug down because of some twee made-up allergy conceived just to illustrate the speshul speshulness of your “gifted” little snowflakes.
Which isn’t to say you shouldn’t keep a blog if you want to, or write bad poetry, but let’s have a little intellectual honesty here: keeping a hobby blog –while a worthwhile thing to do– is just not the same as a “content-rich” blog with thousands upon thousands of hits a month full of readers wanting you to dance, monkey, dance.
Uh, great Plumcake, so what’s the point?
It’s this:
For those of you who follow Style Spy –and you should– you’ll have noticed she’s been on hiatus. You can argue back and forth whether you ought to announce in advance when you’re not going to be updating for a while –ideally yes, but this isn’t an ideal world– but I was shocked and mightily ticked off at the emails devoted readers had been sending her harassing her for not updating.
Here’s a woman who parlayed a hobby blog into a professional blog with all the demands but none of the benefits (read: profits) and people have the gall to threaten her to update more frequently or they were going to O NOES take her off their favorites list? Unacceptable.
Now fair play: it is frustrating/disappointing when one of your favorite bloggers takes a hiatus. I get it. I check Style Spy every day too, and a sign of a good blog is when your readers become emotionally invested.
But therein lies the danger. It’s shockingly easy to think we know our favorite bloggers, especially when their blogs offer a peek into their daily lives.
We don’t.
Bloggers, even indiscreet ones like your pal Plummy here, show what we want to show and no more when it comes to our private lives. Once a close friend called me after months without contact, horrified to find out from a mutual acquaintance that I’d had six deaths in my family over the course of those four months. She hadn’t realized how long it had been since we’d actually seen each other since she read me every day and just assumed we’d spoken. She had literally forgotten we didn’t talk. I didn’t take it personally because I know it’s just a hazard of the industry. She assumed that if something major happened in my life, naturally I’d announce it on the blog. Whoops.
The fact is, we don’t know what’s going on when a non-pay blogger takes a break.
They could be working on other projects, burned out, uninspired, busy with family, school, friends or work…heck, they just might be getting laid regularly for the first time in years (Aims, if this is the case, call me immediately. I miss you and I want to know everything!)
Whatever it is, it isn’t about you. They don’t owe you anything. Blogging is a hard gig and everyone deserves a sabbatical now and then.
If you want to encourage your favorite non-pay blogger to pick up the virtual pen, send them an email of support, encouragement (DON’T ask them for advice) heck even email them a gift certificate or donate to their server fees if you’re feeling generous, and let them know you miss them.
If they come back, it was meant to be.
