Emily Brooks

So, first of all, writing a new blog post every week is hard, especially when I’m also writing a novel and a nonfiction book, revising another novel, editing a book for my dad, reviewing work for my writing group, teaching an online class, and podcasting.

I’m also making sure my husband and I eat well, that our animals are cared for, and our house is (moderately) clean. Jon and I also sew tags on shirts for my sister’s business, which, if you haven’t checked it out, is awesome. Besides taking commissions for shirts that need to be tagged, she also sews vintage patches onto trucker hats, and they are adorable.

If you look through my posts from the past few months, you might notice a lot of them are about prioritizing and other work-related issues. That’s because I’m busier than I’ve been since graduate school. But I’m loving everything I get to do.

It’s hard, though, to come up with new topics each week for the blog. I’m not necessarily having new revelations each week. Which is why this post is particularly short…

If you blog weekly, or daily (why?), you probably understand the problem. Bloggers and other content creators have to be continually coming up with new ideas to share, and, well, sometimes we don’t have much to say.

I was actually planning on transitioning at this point to a brief overview of why we need to fill our lives up with good things, but now I think this post has become about the writing life, so…I’ve copied and pasted all of that into next week’s post.

Creators, not every blog or poem or video has to be perfect. When I was new to blogging, I didn’t share anything unless I had some huge revelation to share. Now, I just sit down at my laptop, usually on Fridays, and pick something I’ve been thinking about.

Then I write.

About an hour later, I have something I think is worth sharing. I edit it, pick a photo, create an instagram image, add all my tags, etc., then publish it on Monday.

I’ve never been able to predict the posts that get the most attention. My most popular post ever is my review of The Hiding Place stage play, which gets about ten views a day through search engines. Seriously, search “waiting for your ticket” or “Corrie ten Boom quote” and see what comes up).

Other posts get practically no views for the first few months and then suddenly get two a day through Google (I realize these are small numbers to the blogging world, but I’m just starting to see these organic views).

My favorite posts, which are the more meaty ones like Your Hero’s Journey: How to Face Trials Like a Protagonist,” get fewer views (and yes, that’s your invitation to read this lesser-known post), but I don’t know why that is.

For awhile, I used to feel down if the posts I worked the most on only received ten views. But now I know that a lot of this is out of my control. Could I market myself more? Absolutely. But I don’t really have time for that right now. So I keep writing and decide to be proud of my work regardless of views.

Because I’ve committed to writing each week (in addition to my monthly newsletter) no matter how “un-inspired” I feel. If I do that, then that’s a win.

With all of that said, I do have topics I’m still wanting to explore. Things like what it’s like to see a therapist or research-based topics like the mental health benefits of breathing exercises, diet, sleep, or pets.

BUT I also want to serve you, so I want to know what you want to read about.

What topics have I not covered—or at least not thoroughly—that I should write about?

Let me know in the comments!

I look forward to continuing to serve you each week. If you’re not already a subscriber, go here to receive my monthly newsletter and my free ebook!