Blog Fright

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Congratulations my friend!!! You just wrote a brilliant post! It's funny, creative, and well received. Your friends and fellow bloggers rave about it. Your post gets re-Tweeted multiple times, and you proudly congratulate yourself for being awesome. You're on top of the world it seems. Invincible! Nothing can stop you now. But wait! Don't celebrate too soon! You set the congratulatory donut down and pick up a paper bag to breathe into (or vomit in).

You re-read your plentiful comments and pure panic sets in. Comments like, "I can't wait to read more". Oh dear God, they expect me to write more? Panic turns to terror. What in the hell am I going to write about this time? What if it sucks? What if i'm a one blog wonder?

You quickly rack your brain for new ideas. Let's see, what's happened to me lately?

I was late dropping off the kids again…boring.

I spent the morning plucking grey hairs out of my head and crying…pathetic.

My youngest kid just said "dammit" again...but i've already blogged about my children's foul mouths.

That's it you think. I'm done, finished, over! You bang your head against the desk and begin to contemplate other options. "Perhaps i'll start one of those giveaway blogs", you think to yourself. Desperation has set in and you'll do anything at this point to keep on blogging!

You completely avoid your computer like the plague, which is funny because your computer has actually been infected with a virus. It's called blog fright and don't worry, it happens to the best of us! Nothing is scarier than blog fright. It's as if it takes over your mind and sucks out any and all creativity. You can't even think about writing, and if you are brave enough to try and write something you re-read your post and think, "Wow, this blows. My 4 year old could've done better than this".

So how do you combat blog fright? You drink. No, not really, but hey if it helps you, then by all means go for it! I actually choose to embrace my blog fright head on. I put on my comfiest pajamas (okay, so I do that regardless) and I avoid the computer. I don't even think about blogging for a while. Instead I find other ways to occupy my time. I chat with friends on Twitter. I re-Tweet my brilliant post a few more times just in case it really does happen to be my last good post. I read other blogs and complement my friends on their brilliant posts. I catch up on missed television shows, and if my hubby is really lucky, I even throw a load of his socks into the wash, as I caught him digging through the dirty hamper the last few mornings and grumbling about having to wear smelly socks to work.

The next time you write a brilliant post, or even if it's not brilliant but just a post that you're really proud of, enjoy it! Don't allow those feelings of blog fright to creep in and ruin your moment. Enjoy your 15 minutes of bloggy fame. You earned it! Blogging is so difficult sometimes. You don't have anyone telling you what to do, or how to do it. It's all on you, and you can either fold under pressure, or use that pressure to just push yourself further. You can't be brilliant all the time, and sometimes you're going to fail. But so what? Who cares? No one is going to judge you. Okay so some will, but they don't count. Your friends, fans, and fellow bloggers will still be there for you, cheering you on, through good posts, and bad (like this one for example).