I’ve been searching for my blog’s soul that I lost over time.
-Will I find it with my car keys?
-Do blogs have a soul?
Questions, so many questions…
A nugget of curiosity rattles around in your head.
Do you have the answers? You might ask.
Yes, I might reply. I’ll tell you what I know and stop the rattle in your head, but not in your car.
DOES A BLOG HAVE A SOUL?
Yes, it does. You are the soul of your blog, the heart that connects you to your audience. When you inject your soul into your writing, it triggers an emotional response in your readers. Otherwise, they’ll be staring at meaningless words that fall off a page into the abyss.
My words slipped into oblivion when my thoughts wandered outside and hit a tree. “Temporary memory loss,” the focus doctor said.
“Do I know you?”
That was months ago. Yet, I still couldn’t find my soul.
So, I created this flyer.
Though hitting the metaphorical tree hurt a lot and sent my thoughts to the ER for a while, it put me in a self-analytical coma. During which time, I dreamed of what my blog could be and received a room full of metaphorical flowers.
Thank God, I didn’t pull the plug or incur hospital charges. Our insurance deductible is as high as the Washington Monument, where I stood, hypothetically, while my readers mingled on the plaza below.
DON’T PUT DISTANCE BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR READERS
If you stood with me at the top of the Washington Monument, you’d see that the people on the ground look like ants (and might be ants). But never treat them like ants, unless you’re in the habit of inviting ants to a picnic.
Now ride the elevator down to the plaza and look at the people up close and personal — No ants here. Just faces, smiles and hearts — the people you need to reach by staying emotionally in touch.
It took me months to realize that I was writing from a distant place. Rather than communicating with my readers up close and personal, I reached out to them from atop the Washington Monument, putting distance between us, losing the humanity in my writing — the soul of my blog.
Even though I knew where to find my soul, I still couldn’t ID it in the swath of people on the plaza. It looked like a fuzzy blob in the crowd of tourists snapping photos of my hypothetical situation.
While I squinted to see the details on my fuzzy-blob soul, two emails dropped in my inbox, asking for permission to link to older posts on my blog. Since the sites looked legit, I agreed to their proposals.
In the process of adding the links to my posts, I found the humanity and humility that linked me to my readers.
FINDING YOUR SOUL IN OLDER BLOG POSTS
I read the older blog posts that I wrote in 2013 and saw what I had lost over time — my voice and passion, glimmering like spits of waves on a moonlit night — the soul of my blog sparkled in something old, yet new because it was from the heart of me.
You can find your soul, too.
If you’ve been blogging for a while and feel stuck, go back in time and read older blog posts. It will help you reconnect with the voice that sings when you write.
If you’re just starting out, don’t be afraid to write something, anything, even if you feel it isn’t right. You might need time to find your voice. Don’t be discouraged. And never stop writing because of it.
These are the two posts that helped me find my blog’s soul:
Feline Cat Robot with Dog Death Ra
How did you find your blog’s soul?
I’ve been so busy writing other things, I’ve totally neglected my blog. Last post was at Christmas. Today I wrote an Easter post. Maybe I just need a holiday to goose me back to the blog. Good advice about reading past posts. I need to reconnect with injaynesworld. It always brought me a lot of pleasure, and good friends like you.
We should all be busy writing other things. : ) You’ve been busy having pieces published. I’d say that is a priority.
Balancing writing and blogging has always been difficult for me. I tend to get off focus with my writing projects. I’m trying to narrow my genres.
I’ve met so many great people blogging and have forged friendships (like yours) from it. I don’t want to ever lose that.
That is so true! I’ve even felt my soul reading old Facebook posts. I really miss writing. Thanks for keeping us in line, Lauren!
Blogging and FBing is such a great way to write socially.
I think I was writing this as much for myself as I was for others.
You’re welcome! Please write something soon.
You are blogger’s inspiration. If someone is seriously thinking about creating own blog and running it successfully these tips will be most crucial as a beginner.
Thanks for your kind words.
That is so true, Use your blog to allow your customer to dig a little deeper and discover your story and who you really are.
Your blog is the window into your brand’s soul, let them take a peek.
Hi Lauren,
Please allow me to cal you a poet.
On reading through your post, one thing that triggered my curiosity is the question you asked on ” does a blog have a soul?
Your analysis is touching and both inspiring.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much! I appreciate your taking the time to read and comment.
I got inspired after reading your post. You wrote it beautifully. Thank you for sharing this inspiring post.
Thank you! I really appreciate that. I’m glad you found the post inspiring.