Random Musings| What else can I post about?
I've heard writers complain of "writer's block". Which is a word that describes a phenomenon where a writer is unable to continue writing a piece, or can't even start something new. I'm not a writer per se, but I can write when I want to.
The major setback for me is my inability to come up with fresh ideas to write about. And that's what makes writing difficult for me.
For photography, it's pretty easy. I see things everyday, and these daily occurrences form images in my head that I can create. Those images are what I've been sharing for a while now.
I've tons of photographs that I can share everyday. But as I've progressed on Hive, I don't want it to be the only thing I'm known for. I want to write cool stuff too. And I tried to. I started a series called "Now you know". It's a series I setup to share stuff about me. And I was only able to publish two episodes.
Two factors ensured that I was unable to continue the series.
- Not knowing what to write about.
- Lack of traction.
Those are the two reasons why I couldn't continue writing. The second point is the major reason though.
The first point can be rephrased as "not knowing interesting stuff to write about". But even after I'm able to find something cool to write about, it doesn't seem to attract anyone. Few people that I've related to non photography content that I've written are;
I appreciate them checking my stuff out. However it seems people react to my photographs more than writing. But I'll love to show there's more I can do than just share photos.
Unlike my photographs, where I don't exactly mind if people like it, I want people to like the stuff I write. I feel it is the best way to connect with people on a personal basis. So help me please.
What can I write about that you'll find interesting?
I figured writing about myself is boring. So I need to know what else I can write about .
Oh! And this post would serve as a determiner to know if people check out my articles or are only attracted to the photos I publish. Would you be interested in software reviews? I'm pretty good at that. Or should I write about what my dream house looks like? I guess those would be boring too 😩.
well the thing is, to write about things you want to write about. first you need to enjoy doing it, than sharing it with others. hive is still small community, but i find it that there is more engagement then on other social networks. and generally i found no rules, sometimes i get a lot of engagement on something random, and something that i think is good is just missed by everyone :)
For example, if you wrote this yesterday, i would most probably miss it as i had no time to spend time reading posts.
!ENGAGE 50
ENGAGEtokens.Well said and very relevant; Enjoying what one does is the key to doing it well.
you can push something for a while, if you are doing good with it, you can push it longer, but if it fills like "work" on first post, you will have hard time to write tenth.
I agree. One has to enjoy thing for it to flow with ease. When I curate I'm looking for three things: Passion , personality and effort. Posts like that, with some supporting outbound engagement on other people's posts, will pay dividends in the long-term, and bring greater satisfaction.
@bil.prag yea. I get your point. I've really learnt a lot from all the comments shared so far. Thank you very much.
Figuring out what to write about is a difficult task. Stay in your comfort zone. If software is something you like to write about, then find a community to share that content to and you will find an audience for it.
You also need to make sure you are engaging people in their posts. Spend some time writing comments, so that the people you want to follow you know you exist. HIVE is a small community, but there are still a whole lot of posts being put on the chain daily, so there's a lot of stuff to work through to find the gems. Especially when you post in a big community like OCD, you have to draw people in with your cover image and title.
It is easier to find posts that you like and comment on them, then hopefully the author of that post, and maybe some of their readers come and check out your blog, and maybe even follow you.
It takes some work to build your community. But keep at it and you will make progress!
!ENGAGE 50
ENGAGEtokens.Thank you for taking the time to offer this excellent advice for this user. Engagement is the key, as you say.
@mikepm74 thanks for your comment. I'll take engagement more seriously now.
I remember you writing a post like this a while ago and when I responded you told me that you'd rather do your photography. Here you are writing about it again, saying you'd rather do photography.
So, here's my take on it.
Above you cite lack of traction for your major reason of not continuing to write more...Well, you're not going to get traction simply because you're here on hive. You have to earn it. How?
Engage more on other people's posts with interesting and relevant moments and consistency. Do that more and you will find you attract more activity to your own posts. Do it not and you'll be writing another post like this in the future still wondering why you gain no traction.
Want an example?
Last week you commented on my #weekend-engagement post...
I ignored it...Why? Because it wasn't an entry, you chose not to enter for some reason...Also, it was boring, unimaginative, and not really relevant. It was a comment telling me why you weren't entering. It was uninspiring. I would have been more interested big you scribbled a stick figure in front of a box that represented a gaming console...Or more pleased to have seen you comment with vigour and interest on all the other entries.
Essentially you chose to comment about why you weren't entering and engaging rather than enter and engage!. Boring.
So, here's the thing...You lost the opportunity to engage and build some rapport with me and potentially build some sort of relationship and relationships are what you need to gain consistent traction here. If you don't build and nurture relationships then you'll get nowhere with posts that break out of your normal topic, as you are finding. It's got nothing to do with what you write about.
Everyone is a photographer mate, literally everyone. It's difficult to be noticed for that reason. The same with writing...Like those two legit users mention below...It's hard to get noticed...It's even harder when no effort is put into engaging on other people's posts.
Had you entered my #weekend-engagement thing each week for the last seven weeks and commented on other entries I can assure you that you would have built relationships...But you've missed that opportunity, chosen not to be involved. I guess you've not gotten involved in other concepts also...And received results commensurate with your lack of engagement.
No one owes you anything, and no one owes me anything...You and I have to earn it and that means engagement. There's no magic wand to wave around and all of a sudden you get traction. It's hard work, effort and consistency that will make it happen.
If you get a response you're happy with from your photos then just do that. If you want to build relationships in other areas though, like you say in this post, you'll have to branch out. That will mean building relationships and that won't happen simply by writing some words and sitting back...You have to be proactive and get some engagement happening. If you don't want to do it that's ok, just stick to photography and what you like and know.
@mikepm74 and @bil.prag make some very good points...They took their time to give you some great advice...You should take it.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.
If you want to progress here and are not content with where you are at this point then it might be time to try something new, something different and something that is tried, tested and proven to work well towards building relationships, gaining followers and traction on one's account. Of course, you can ignore what I say here, discount it as useless drivel and that's totally fine...That's the good thing about being you...You have the choice to take the actions of your own choosing...You have the choice.
Good luck and all the best with your ongoing endeavours.
This is an impressive amount of feedback. You have said more in your comment than the OP posted. I just hope he appreciates the feedback and takes it to heart!
I work hard at trying make people see the benefit of engagement; Some will and some won't. I've done a few engagement concepts and have been running the #weekend-engagement for seven weeks which I post ever Friday. Had some great responses and given away hundreds of hive to many accounts...And yet some don't enter.
One can lead a horse to the billabong, but can't make it drink. (I'm an Aussie hence the word billabong which means watering hole or pond.) 😂
Engagement is the key here.. Some get it and some don't want to work that hard.
Thanks for your comment. I greatly appreciate it.
I'll definitely work on my engagement levels by joining the #weekend-engagement program
Good work mate...And good luck. I hope to see you out there engaging like an engagement-ninja!
@mikepm74 I absolutely appreciate Galen's feedback. It's not the first time he's done this, and I'm grateful.
this 👆
🙂
Wow!!! I'm amazed by the amazing level of feedback I received. Thank you so much @galenkp for taking time out to leave a lengthy, yet very useful feedback.
As you did the last time I made a post similar to this one, you encourage me with your words.
Also, I'll be honest to say that since our last discussion that I've tried to engage. Lemme just say that prolly I was expecting the work to yield fast results. But after reading your posts, I've realized that building relationships on Hive isn't an automatic process.
Well, I'll keep it at. I'll figure out what I'm doing wrong and will make corrections. I promise this is the last time you'll see me complain about this.
Thank you very much. I appreciate the time you took to send me a reply.
Hey mate...Thanks for your honest and candid response.
Engagement here is the easiest thing ever but building, and nurturing, relationships is a little more tricky. It's not hard, but requires consistency and effort and many simply don't want to apply those two things. For those who do, and do it with relevance and interest, will do well over time...Consistency and patience is required though.
My response to you was borderline-terse meaning it may have been a little sharp; That was sparked by the slightly complaining tone of your post. Don't worry, I don't judge you for it. It's just that the blockchain isn't the place to air out that sort of feeling. It will get you nowhere fast and so it's best not to do it. You're better to invest your time and energy into more positive pursuits like outbound engagement and posts written with passion, personality and effort. You will get greater results.
Get involved in some of the initiatives on the chain, maybe something like @abh12345's Engagement League which tracks your engagement stats each week. Head over to his post feed and hit him up to join you up. You don't have to do anything else, he takes care of it all. Tell him G-dog sent you over. Here's a link to the EL so you can take a look at it prior. It's a good thing mate. Join the Engagement League
Get out and about man, engage on people's posts...If you don't know who, just go to my follow list and see who I follow...Hit their blogs and say hi, read their posts, comment and engage. If you do that they will (may) take a look at your posts and maybe comment back...That's when relationships start. With continued effort you will find that relationships will for and if nurtured, will pay dividends. It will also increase your enjoyment-factor here. Trust me on that.
Forget rewards, focus on engagement, good and effective engagement, and the rewards will follow. I built my account from nothing. on June 13th 2017 I was brand new...All I did was write posts with passion, personality and effort and engaged a lot. I know it works...It just takes time.
I am not here chastising you mate, I'm trying to help. It makes me happy to help people, but they have to help themselves too, you know?
No rewards will come from me to anyone unless they show effort first...I am this way in real life too. Reward for effort is a focus. I am a generous and (I like think kind) man however I do not reward people just because...I need to see effort and that the rewards I offer people are deserved. I think you can see, by my lengthy responses to this post, that I happy to offer some help, give some direction...The rest is up to the individual.
I hope this makes sense.
You're from Africa (Nigeria?), right? Maybe write about Nigerian society. Many of us here in the west know little about African society, so that could be something to capture our interest.
Ikr! I could do that. Thanks for the idea.
Yep...Good point; Thanks for your input.
!ENGAGE 25
ENGAGEtokens.Hey! Thanks for mentioning me! Your work is great, you just have to continue to be awesome and people will come.
Well, I really do understand what you feel to an extent because I've also been there too. Knowing what to write about can't really be decided by someone else. Just as most individuals have said, it need to be something you love doing and something you're comfortable with and that's the only way you can find yourself doing it on along run even though there isn't traction at the first but still you'll be able to keep that momentum to keep doing it.
Like a friend of mine once advised. If you find yourself selling shoes and clothes and you advertise them on your WhatsApp status, you should just post pictures of the shoes and clothes only on your status. She advised that one should also learn give explanation on things like fashion, styling, how the outfit could be worn, when to opt in for such dressing and all, rather than just boring the viewers with the picture of the item and keep emphasizing on them to come and purchase what you're selling.
As for you also, if you feel you don't want to break your comfort zone which is photography, you can begin to spice your photography contents with making videos of yourself going on a shot, making videos with your client where they share there thought concerning your works and experience working with you. Something more like a feedback video from them. You can also share about some of your own personal discoveries in making a shot stand out. Teach others on the block something about photography. Yeah, you've been doing that and I've benefited from it. Scout for other photographers on the blocks and share your thoughts on their works. Suggest some things that can make them do better or make their work looks more outstanding, compliment their works, and so on. There's almost no limit to what you can write about in regards to photography. Engagement just as virtually everyone has said is the key. It will give the that traction you're seeking for even though you post about photography only. Engagement also inspires you on what to write about.
As for me I know I can write to an extent, but when it come to technical things such a s blockchian, crypto, trading, investment, and so on, those are my weak points. So what I did was to remain in my comfort zone and continued to spice up what I knew how to do best and I kept on adding more effort to it in order to make it stand out. All I've basically written about throughout my journey here has been about my lifestyle and what ever I'm involved in. Talk about anything I find interesting, it doesn't necessarily have to bee something I want to keep talking about throughout the rest of my journey here. It's all about doing all I love at the present moment.
So the real work now is for you to work more on yourself. Lot of individuals have spoken well and given awesome suggestion on how to get better with your journey here. See to them and watch the magic happen. Cheers brother.
Special thanks to @galenkp for leaving an awesome feedback in which I was able to benefit a thing or two from also.
Whoa!!! I just read this now. Very insightful
Lol. I'm glad you found it insightful 😄