Friday, August 17, 2012

There Comes a Time in Every Blogger's Life When She Writes a Post Like This

The blogger begins by apologizing for her extended online absence.  She then immediately qualifies this apology with a comment about how she would never be so presumptuous to assume that anybody noticed and/or cared about her absence.  But, she says, she has been absent nonetheless. 

Next she explains the reasons for her lack of recent blogging.  She has been busy with work, family, and all the usual trappings of modern life.  At the end of the day, there just wasn't time for blogging. 

Often in the ensuing paragraph(s), the blogger begins to question the motives behind her blogging.  Is she doing it for herself?  For her family?  To make money?  Sometimes she notes that she started the blog for one reason, but ended up writing it for completely different reasons.  Perhaps she feels she has gone astray.  Words like branding and social media are bandied about, along with a commentary on the modern state of the blogosphere and a call for blogging to get back to its roots. 

At the end of the post, the blogger often makes a definitive promise about the future of her own blogging.  She decides to fish or cut bait, as it were.  Deciding to quit the blog always comes out sounding way too dramatic and ominous, especially if the decision is explained with some cryptic comment about how there are some things going on in my life that I don't think I want on the Internet. 

If she decides to keep going, she makes a promise to blog more often.  She usually then attempts to quickly catch everybody up, in the course of one post or several, on everything that has happened since her last post.  For some reason, it kills a blogger to leave gaps in her coherent narrative, because bloggers feel some need to post all the news that's fit to print on the Internet. 

The post often concludes with a thank you to readers for hanging in there, or for being supportive, or for leaving such thoughtful comments.  The final phrase of the post is usually something jaunty like Stay tuned! 

And that is how a blogger explains her absence.

-----------------------------

As for me personally, I do not have any major life issues at hand, cryptic-sounding or otherwise.  I have just been busy with the usual daily activities, namely paid work and mundane chores.  I am neither going to fish nor cut bait.  By which I mean, I am not going to make a futile attempt to catch you up on everything that went on in my life since the last post, mostly because it's not that interesting.  But I'm also not going to quit writing this blog.  I know my motives for writing this blog.  It's a hobby, and a very cathartic one.  I like to entertain and inform.  I like your comments.  So, that's the state of my own personal blogosphere.  Stay tuned!

10 comments:

Heather said...

That may be the best "sorry I haven't been around" post ever! I think there needs to be a Mad Libs style post that you can just fill in the blanks. It usually comes out sounding jsut about as sincere!

eep said...

Ha. I saw your comment on Moxie this morning and thought, "Yay! Shannon is still alive." And then lo and behold, you pop up on my reader. It's been a good morning!

Lisa Noel said...

i usually HATE the sorry I haven't posted posts...but as usual you make it fun

Amanda said...

Wow. This is awesome. I've done this same post (less awesome of course)a couple of times in 5 years.

New Mom said...

I missed you and I'm glad you're back!

Generic ink said...

Welcome back Shannon.Glad to see your post after a long time.Missed your post a lot.Please keep writing about new ideas.

Melisa said...

Spot on! :)

Paula said...

I'm sure I've made one or two of those types of posts...

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

I LOVED THIS. I think my most hated posts of all times are when someone laments about their blog and then threatens to quit, even though we all know she won't. But then we all say "STAY! DOn't GO! We neeeeed you and love you!" (I do it, too) and then she usually stays.

:)

Shannon, you make me smile.

Lisa Hanneman said...

I've never threatened to kick the whole blog, but I have apologized fro not posting and yammered on about how busy I am. Totally guilty.