Blogging: The Dark Side

Posted July 21, 2015 by Andi in General / 16 Comments

blogging

I started Andi’s ABCs about 2 and a half years ago and I have loved doing it. I have loved getting to know all the wonderful people it has brought into my life, getting some of the opportunities I have had because of it, getting to spend a glorious week with a bunch of other book nerds, getting to read and share my love of books with the world. But there is a dark side to blogging and it is The Review Burnout.

As a book blogger there is one part of the “job description” that comes before everything else. We are supposed to read and review books. We are supposed to tell people what we love about a book, what didn’t work for us, what was our favorite parts. We get the oppurtunity to share our thoughts and to made shape someone else’s thought on a book. And for the most part that is fantastic. But it also can be a struggle, especially if you are in a “read all the books” mode.

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Lately this is all I can do. All I want to do is read one more after another. I want to jump from world to world, from author to author, from book boyfriend to book boyfriend. I want to immerse myself in words and settings and personalities and character quirks. I want to find my next favorite book and hold it close to my heart and hug it. And this is what I have been doing for months. And because this is what I have been doing I have a problem. I am behind on my reviews!

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You have read that right. I am 12 reviews behind. Now I know this isn’t a huge number to some bloggers out there, but for me this is out of control. I mean I read some of these books in April and May and it is now half way through July. How am I going to get back into the mind space I was in when I read them? How am I going to explain all the things I loved and hated?

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Honestly I have tried to sit and write a review. I have taken out my laptop and sat at the table and tried to write words and yet nothing will come. I have thoughts on every 12 of those books. I want to talk about The Heir, my book crack. I want to tell you all how fabulous Three Day Summer was. I want to explain my thoughts on The Wrath in the Dawn. And yet I can’t. Instead I will put my lap top away and will read another book and just add another title to my “To Review List”, the list multiplying like Gizmo with water.

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This is review burnout and I have it.Ā  I don’t want to have it. I swear I don’t. I want to relieve that stress from my life. I want to look at my Wunderlist and see nothing listed. I want to get my thoughts out their to be able to share with all of you and yet I can’t.

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So yes, blogging has been a fabulous experience that I love. It is fun and rewarding and awesome. But it can be a struggle. My name is Andi and I suffer from Review Burn Out!

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*all pictures were found on Google images.

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16 responses to “Blogging: The Dark Side

  1. I feel like I’ve been suffering from review burnout for all of 2015! I’ve been reading plenty, but I end up with writers block almost every time I sit down to write a review. Sometimes its because I wait too long before trying to write the review and the details become fuzzy. Other times I’m just… blocked. I need a trick to get out of this funk!

  2. 1) you are not alone….my blog has pretty much been a dark wasteland the last week or so as I just can’t muster the energy to write a reivew.

    2) If it makes you feel better my review backlog is now at 24….I was almost caught up not long ago…then books happened. Oh those evil books that giver reviewers their purpose but also distract with all the pretty words.

    3) call me…we can plan a lets tackle this TBR (to be reviewed) list over tea and emo music at Starbucks.

  3. Review writing has never really been “fun” for me . It’s definitely necessary as a blogger but I can get burned out on it quick. That being said, I used to be, like, 15 reviews behind and I said no more. It drove me crazy. So now I try never to be more than 3 or 4 behind (I’m at 4 right now…. yikes). I usually try to review the book I read the next day, and then start a new book.

    Danielle @ Love at First Page recently posted: Top Ten Books That Celebrate Diversity
  4. I totally get this! Review Burnout is totally a thing! I have 23 reviews to write… #BLOGGERFAIL – I tend to hoard book reviews and then just sit down and write five in one day. I’ve accepted that this is just how I have to do it. the worst is when you are on a tour and have an actual deadline to get something done! LOL

    Happy Tuesday!

  5. Awwww tired kitten!!!
    I totally hear ya. It’s been harder for me to write reviews lately but I think that’s because I have a lot going on. But it’s SO SO SO hard to write reviews when you’re just not in that head space! If you’re in a reading mood, it’s all reading all the time!
    Hope you figure out your review jam soon! Just do a ton of mini-reviews ;D

    Brittany @ The Book Addict's Guide recently posted: If You Liked… Harry Potter!
  6. Review burn out = the struggle is real. If i don’t immediately put down my main feels about a book i lose them when i go back to review. That has happened to me for the pat 5 books making my reviews sound so generic to my ears. i am not stuck in the exact opposite problem of you where I can’t read anything. i am loving Rebel Mechanics yet is has taken my almost a week and im still at 70%. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?! I am blaming the hot weather and moving on.
    Post Scriptum – your adorable and i love your face
    <3 Britt

  7. Aww you’ll get back into it! I’m pretty far behind too but it’s so much more fun to keep reading then to stop and write once you’ve finished something. I think because I have an iPhone note TBR list I’m even more eager to jump into something new so I can delete it from my list! Talk about book anxiety!

    ā™” Kristin ā™” (@SuperSpaceChick) recently posted: Four Things
  8. I am eternally behind on review writing, but, I’m okay with that! Sometimes it takes me ages to write my thoughts down.

    Even though it used to bother me on getting behind on reviews, in the past 6.5 years I’ve learned that it’s okay to be behind and just enjoy reading, and, only then when able to write my review write it.

    I’m sure you’ll catch up and get past the “dark side”. Just try not to let it pressure you. =)

    Orchid @ The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia recently posted: Teaser Tuesday: Betrayal
  9. There’s some value in letting your thoughts simmer on a book. I’m two behind right now but I also schedule so far ahead that it’s not really a big deal. When I don’t feel like writing a post but know I really have to get on it, I sometimes try to write it in pieces. One session I’ll do tags. Then pairings. And so on until it’s done. You got this!

    Emma @ Miss Print recently posted: Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls: A Review
  10. haha read all the books mode. I love it. And I am so in that mode too! But I do know what you mean. Review burnout is real, which is why I can’t read more than two books at a time without writing a review for them. I just won’t remember enough to make my review any good. Now I don’t have a big buffer between my read books and my scheduled posts so this helps. I need to write the review right after I read the book because I need it for my posts that week. But in my fantasy world, where Ih ave months of posts scheduled I would still like to keep up with my reviews, because I know I won’t remember details like names.

    Haha I can tell you every little thing a character did, but I am so not kidding when I say, I will finish a book (even a book that I LOVED ) and I will sit down to write the review the next day and I will blank on the darn names!

    Great post!

  11. I totally get into those moods too! Sometimes, all I care to do is read and read and read some more – and not stop and take the time to review whatever I’ve been reading. I honestly just indulge in the reads; while I am a blogger, I’m first and foremost a bookworm, and that means reading usually trumps all in my case šŸ˜‰

    But I do hope you recover from your review burnout! I’m sure you’ll bounce back eventually, and write reviews for the books on your list šŸ™‚

  12. I find the only time I suffer from review burnout is when I’m reviewing three-star books after three-star books. It gets frustrating because how many different ways can I explain how I just liked a book and the is met expectations? If I don’t have the occasional book to rage at or a book to fangirl over, I kind of…get bored writing about books.

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