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(I realize Project M might not technically count as a niche blog because itâs not used it to market anything and it doesnât make me any money. But I donât know how else to classify a blog that has a defined topic, as opposed to a blog that is more like an online journal, used to document day-to-day thoughts and experiences without any single guiding subject.)
I wonder if other niche bloggers ever get as tired of their topics as I do.
I started Project M about a year and a half ago. At that time, I also began to read a lot of marriage blogs to familiarize myself with the niche and stay up-to-date on blogging trends, as well as to build connections with those writers and engage with their ideas.
One by one, I have slowly stopped subscribing to almost every one of those blogs. (Yours doesnât count, Mrs. Levine . . . I can’t quit you).* Many of these writers are wonderful, brilliant people who are excellent writers. Many of them are funny and quirky and thoughtful. But I am even starting to unfollow many of them on Twitter.
I am just sick to death of yammering about marriage and how to improve marriages. I do not want to read another marriage tip or hear another date night idea. I am so done with all that.
I recently started feeling like maybe I should kill Project M.
BUT.
1. I realized that Iâm mostly tired of talking about how to improve marriages, which is what most of those other blogs do, but which was never the focus of Project M. So I guess Iâm not necessarily tired of marriage-talk in general, just the particular strain that assumes weâre floundering and need/want help.
2. I realized that I can branch out a little more to broaden the range of things I discuss here.  Lots of other thriving and interesting bloggers wander from their primary subject with great success. I can also take the journaling route more often, letting you guys know what Iâm up to, as Iâm often intrigued to read the daily goings-on of bloggers I like. (I experimented with this in my previous post, showcasing my recent ultrasound. Is this something you folks want to see? Little pieces of my real life?)
3. I realized that this boredom with marriage blogs in general probably ought to reinforce my motivation to write rather than diminish it. I set out a year and a half ago to write something about marriage that, for once, didnât bore the pants off of me. I guess that still ought to be my aim, since I havenât found much else that has done the trick.
Iâm betting that most niche bloggers get sick of their topics sometimes, but it takes self-discipline to keep at it and find new inspiration. Good heavens, many blogs only become truly successful after a year or so, and go on for years and years after that. So maybe it’s worth sticking it out.
And Iâm still quite convinced that a blog needs a certain amount of focus â blogs without a guiding topic tend only to be read by friends of the writer, I think.
If youâre a blogger, have you ever gotten sick of your blog and considered killing it?
Do you get tired of reading niche blogs after a while, even if the writerâs great?
Do you think a blog actually needs to stick to a topic?
*(There are also one or two marriage blogs that Iâve picked up since then and havenât dropped).
Image courtesy of Selva.
