Taking an impromptu break

Some of you may have noticed I haven't published a blogpost recently, and this was by design. I decided to stop writing for a week, mainly for three reasons:

• I wanted to focus on my studies instead of agonising over what I should publish the next day. Whilst I don't think my revision has necessarily gone up, I have managed to answer more questions, and this is a solid base to build up from.
• I have been wanting to draft new ideas for blogposts. My main issue has been coming up with ideas on the fly, and if I can't do that, then I likely end up writing an uninteresting blogpost just to make up the numbers. I now have an entire list of post ideas which I'll be attempting to add to, and maybe even finish, by the end of this year.
• I wanted to see if anyone would notice. No one did.

On the last point, that may be because my publishing schedule is generally erratic. I strive to publish every two-three days, but this doesn't always pan out - often four or five day breaks can occur. In the past, these breaks would have been even longer if I didn't plug the gap with a poem. So there are some questions which I would like to answer, which I have drafted:

• Am I pleased with the upload schedule? 

Not entirely - I'd like there to be more consistency if I was to claim I have one. Some bloggers, like Diamond Geezer and Starbreaker, can almost seamlessly publish something new roughly everyday - if not daily, then close enough. This is also how I started out, though it's much easier when you're new to the game and want to maximise your odds of winning before getting burnt out. 

There are bloggers who also stick to a rigid schedule that isn't daily, like Bus and Train User. This is somewhat how I blog, with posts expected to come out at a certain time. I say somewhat because Bus and Train User have a schedule written up on their about page, whereas I don't - I merely claim to publish every two days.  

The final approach, however, is just writing and publishing when you feel like it. I sometimes do this, but not as the main tactic; I reckon the majority of bloggers follow this approach, to the point that there are debates on platforms like Bearblog about whether or not you should publish your drafts. This is how I work on -b, which is my second blog, and I think I should be leaning towards this approach more often.

I say this for two reasons:

• It means I can spend more time writing blogposts to a higher quality and which are also more enjoyable;
• It reduces the expectation that content will come out at a certain time, as if this is a job or something.

Admittedly I wouldn't be surprised to continue publishing every two days regardless, simply because this has become a habit. Yet with my A Levels coming up, I really should prioritise my studies so that the results don't look too embarrassing. But don't worry, I will still be likely to review In Rainbows by Radiohead in the midst of that.

The second question:

• Am I pleased with the blog's content?

Yes, I think it's quite good. However, there are some posts which I won't look back on with as much joy as others. For instance, I'd argue January was a rather average month, with some occasional highlights (Norwich, bismuth) surrounded by filler (crescents). The reason why I'm dismissing the post on crescents is possibly because it took less time for me to write, so I thus have less of a meaningful connection to it, and could therefore be biased against it. However, someone did tell me that their favourite post by me was the one about the 118, which to me was a bit of a throwaway for a similar reason - so getting positive feedback was heartwarming for me.

However, I suppose the most important aspect out of everything is the writing process. I started this blog as a writing outlet, which eventually became a way of discussing chemistry, which eventually smothered my personal statement almost entirely. Sure, Oxford rejected me, but I still regard this blog with some pride.

And I do think that breaks are good to have and should be encouraged. I haven't had a break from posting for more than five days until now, so to go beyond that was refreshing. I might do it again soon, for the same reasons as I listed at the start of this post.