Sunday, March 29, 2015

The One Where Jamie Takes A Break

When it comes to a blog, what is failure?

Is it having almost 20000 page views in three years?
Is it having 52 comments (that aren’t my own) on 142 posts?
Is it having four followers?
Is it having no entries for the giveaway I posted last week?

No, none of these things makes my blog a failure. In my opinion, this blog isn’t a failure. I posted 143 times over three years. I’ve written thousands of words on a weekly schedule for over two years. None of these numbers tell me that Jamie, Write Now is a failure. Because to me, failure isn’t in the stats, it’s in the lack of connection.

Even with the comments, from family, friends and a few prolific YA bloggers, I feel as though I’m writing to a void. I know I’m not. (Shout out to my mom, boyfriend and a couple close friends who read weekly!) I appreciate the family and friends who check in; your continued support and readership means so much to me. But I've come to realize that I want to connect with the bookish community primarily as an author instead of as a blogger.

So I'm going on hiatus from Jamie, Write Now for the time being. I don’t know yet if this will be a permanent hiatus. I simply haven’t decided, and I want some distance from posting weekly before I do.  Mostly, I want a few months away to focus solely on my WIP.

I’m going to spend all my writing time on Aspen, my WIP. Right now I’m in the midst of editing, and it’s tough. It requires time and focus, which hopefully I’ll have more of in these upcoming months. And I’m going to read A LOT, and not just YA. Next on my queue is Shane Dawson’s I Hate Myselfie, which teens are buying like crazy at work right now. I hope to learn a little something about what teens are reading, and about being successful on social media from Mr. Dawson. I also plan on reading Tribes by Seth Godin, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. And of course I plan on diving into my stack of YA novels that are strewn across my room, bookshelves and desk.

Jamie, Write Now taught me a lot, and it’ll be tough (so tough!) not to post next Sunday. But deep down, I know this is the right choice.

I will return, whether it’s here or with another project, in one or two or five months, probably closer to the latter. (I’ve already written a Six Star Review for Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson, which releases in early July that I want to share!)

Until then, I'm still Jamie, Write Now, even if I don’t post here weekly.
Twitter: @jamiewritenow
Instagram: jamiewritenow

To those who read this post, whether this is your first or your 143rd, I truly appreciate you for reading. Thank you for listening to this crazy-eyed writer’s words. You being there, no matter when or where you’re reading this from, means the world to me.

Until we meet again.
 

2 comments:

  1. Yeah I certainly understand about posting into the void. I took long pauses between posts until recently deciding to do weekly posts (at least until I got sick—yay flu!) for the first time ever. I just figured I'd post for the heck of it, just swapping subjects and teasers. Even if I never get a response, if I help someone out like I needed help when I started, then it's worth it.

    Keep that WIP going, though!

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    1. Yeah, in the end (which I say even though it might not be the end) I like to think of this blog as something that helped me grow as a writer. I wrote weekly, posted on a schedule and honed my voice.

      I've seen the occasional post of yours, but now that I know you're posting weekly I'll keep an eye out for them!

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