Simplifying In 2012

It’s no secret that I’ve been in quite a blogging/reading slump the past few months. Part of it was because I was busy with the holidays, finishing one job and starting another, and becoming a puppy mommy, but part of it was simply because the thought of blogging didn’t excite me anymore. In fact, it made me downright tired. Even reading became a chore, and you know when reading becomes a chore that it’s time to take a break.

So that’s exactly what I did. I took a little bit of an unannounced and unplanned hiatus. I took time to figure out what I really want to get out of my blog, and to remember what made me love blogging in the first place. I came to the conclusion that I started to blog (and continue to love blogging) for three main reasons.

1. To share my love of what I’m reading with other bookworms.

2. To document my thoughts about books and life; to have a place where I can go back and remember how I felt during a certain time about a book or situation.

3. To meet other people who have similar interests; to be part of a community.

So, this year, I’m going back to the basics. Simplifying, if you will. Here are a few of the changes you may see around Cover to Cover:

-I will no longer be writing my own summaries for books I review. I know many bloggers have strong feelings about writing their own summaries (and believe me, I used to be one of them!) but I’ve realized that writing a summary usually takes me longer than writing the review itself. I dread writing summaries, and realized that there are official book summaries for a reason. Plus, I realize that when I read other people’s reviews, I generally skip over the summary portion and right to the review, so I’ll be focusing my efforts on writing reviews. I’ll now be using summaries from Goodreads.

-My reviews will likely be shorter. I spent a lot of time in 2011 trying to write beautiful, articulate book reviews. Each review took way longer than it should have to write. In 2012, I’m going to attempt to be much more concise and just flat-out share what I think, without trying to be too prose-y.

-I’ll be writing more about my personal life. I realize that first and foremost this is a blog about books and writing. But, this is also my little corner of the Internet, and I’d like to write more about my personal life and my goals and dreams. You’ve already seen some posts like this, and they were pretty well-received, so this year, I’ll be writing more personal posts. You’ll get to know a little bit more about the girl behind the blog.

See? Not so bad. Just a few small changes that I think will make a big difference in my approach to blogging. I’m so ready to take on 2012!

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18 thoughts on “Simplifying In 2012”

  1. Hey — These sound like great goals! I like how you realized you don’t need to write your own summaries… And making the blog more personal can only bring good things! Keep up the good work 🙂

  2. Yay! I’m glad you’re back. Those short breaks are definitely necessary and we all need them sometimes!
    I like your idea for posting Goodreads summaries and then just reviews. I do the exact same thing and waste way too much time trying to write the perfect summary.

  3. I did notice that you weren’t around as often but I’m glad you’ve come back and with a renewed interest for blogging! It’s strange how we fall easily into the trap of forgetting that we blog for fun. I’ve had that happen a few times throughout 2011, I’m afraid. But anyways, good for you for simplifying things! 2012 will be an awesome year 🙂

  4. I totally agree with you about writing summaries being a huge time-suck… I decided to reevaluate my blog for the new year, and part of that took the form of starting a separate book review blog. I’m working on reviews for it now and the summaries are Killing. Me. If you don’t mind I may follow your lead and just use the Goodreads summaries. Why reinvent the wheel?

    Glad you’re back. 🙂 I’m a terrible commenter (new year’s resolution) but a constant reader.

    1. @The Avid Reader, Haha, of course..it’s not like I’m the first person to ever use the Goodreads summary 🙂 Thanks so much for the sweet comment! Need to check out your blog!

  5. I think whenever blogging gets to feel a little too much, you need to go back and reevaluate. After All we all started blogging because it was something we WANTED to do, not because anyone force us to. And my opinion is that as long as what you write makes you happy, it doesn’t really matter what others think of it.

  6. New Follower 🙂 Excellent goals. I just started my blog in November about my books featuring twenty somethings and I’m quickly getting swept up in the other aspects of the book blogging world and less on my journey as a new writer. I can’t wait to follow your journey. We are doing the same thing in our writing,. Yeah for 20 somethings!

    Twenty Something Fiction Writer
    My Book Giveaway!

  7. Way to go! I love the idea of the new mix of personal stuff mixed in with the book reviews and what not! My grade school/high school friends and I recently started a book club back in September. It is going to be my “turn” to pick the book soon and I definitely will use a book from your list!

    ps…When a blog becomes work, you are doing the right thing by “making it fun again.” I feel like my blog is my creative outlet. We all need one 🙂

  8. Sometimes you need to just step away and take a little break – I fully support doing this! And I can’t wait to read your personal and book posts coming our way this year 🙂

  9. Jess I think those are all reasonable changes to make to your blog. I definitely agree about writing summaries and lately I have had a hard time doing them and have been using pre-written ones as well. And I also rarely read the summary. I normally go straight to the review and for some books, I just see what rating people give them to determine if I want to add it to my TBR or not. I’ve also thought about doing more personal posts. I try to throw one in every now and then. I have one scheduled for Wordless Wednesday this week, with a family picture, to honor a family member who passed away. I like seeing into the personal lives of my blogging “friends” and want to share a little of mine too. I hope you have a wonderful 2012!

  10. I’m happy that you’re staying around and think you made some great goals and changes. I’m glad to see you’ll be posting more personal things too – love getting to know my favorite bloggers better!

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Meet Jessica

I live by the saying “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone” and help others do the same to reach their biggest, brightest goals. Read my story here.

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