Snapshot Musings: Instant Blogger, Just Add Coffee

One of my blogging goals for 2013 was to have more discussion posts. I've said this for a long time, but somehow never quite write them. Having Snapshot Musings will hopefully encourage me to post more than just book reviews and regular memes. Some posts may be long, some short, and some mainly asking for opinions of fellow bloggers. If there's any topic you'd like to see featured, feel free to email me with the idea!



I've been thinking a lot recently about staying energized as a blogger. As much as I can joke about reviews and other posts being fueled by coffee, the truth is that sometimes it's hard to keep energy levels up. I go through periods in which I get excited by a new idea for the blog, a new feature or the chance to do things differently in a new year, but if I can't implement things right away, the excitement fizzles out. There was even a period at the end of last year where the activity here was very low, for a variety of reasons. At the time, I was reading books that I probably should have set aside and moved on from, and when my posts got sparser, I told myself that I'd fix everything when 2013 started. But even when the new year came, my blog was not suddenly full of posts.

Then two weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend ALA Midwinter in Seattle. Being surrounded by other bloggers who were excited about what they were doing, as well as listening to publishers and editors talk about spring titles they were very excited for, was completely rejuvenating. Because I am excited for so many of these upcoming titles too, and that excitement was contagious. I found myself looking forward to talking about books on my blog again, to diving into favorite trilogies to find out how they end and exploring new worlds in debut novels. I also went to the Montgomery County Book Festival last weekend, where I saw some of the great local Texas authors again. This reminded me of the other reason I started blogging - to help authors promote the books on which they worked so hard.

Even though coffee might help with energy, I've found that being around other bloggers as well as authors really motivates me to keep going, despite any slumps. I still love talking about books and being part of the YA book community, and events like those remind me why I do.



What about you? How do you stay energized through reading slumps, periods of blog inactivity, or general burnout? What tricks have you found that work for you?