Blogging

7 Tips For Getting Out of a Blogging Slump

11:00


Blogging slumps. It seems like every single blogger gets into them sometimes (if you don’t, are you even human?), and when you do, it’s one of the most frustrating feelings. I know I absolutely hate having no inspiration for my blog, because I love my blog - it’s my baby! Blogging is one of my favourite things to do, so if I can’t... it’s not fun! I think I’ve seen a lot of people recently who feel like they’re in a bit of a runt, so here are some tips to help you out:

1. Have a design make over
This might sound like a weird one, but for me it really works. If for a while you feel like you’ve had no inspiration, you could drastically change your blog design. For me, this always makes me feel so excited to blog again, because I want to see what my new content looks like! Because my blog feels so pretty again, I tend to fall in love with it, so I want to work on it, which usually gives me so much motivation.

2. Read some of your older blog posts
When I’m feeling like my blog isn’t special to me anymore, I like to go through the archives and read the posts which I’m most proud of. For me, this reminds me of what I can write when I want to, and how great I can make my blog. Something that also helps is reading the comments on these posts - often when I’ve published a post I’m really proud of, other people like it too, and their kind words motivate me to carry on!

3. Hire a co-blogger
If you feel like you’ve been stuck in a slump for ages, something you could consider is getting a co-blogger to join your blog. Obviously I don’t have a co-blogger, but I’ve seen it work for a few people, since you’ll have someone else to share ideas with. Also, even if you do get into a slump whilst you have a co-blogger, you don’t need to worry! They’ll be able to post whilst you’re away, so they’ll be no pressure on you. I think this would mean that you’ll be able to get back to blogging quicker!

4. Chat to some blogger friends about it (thanks Emily for this tip!)
For some people, talking to blogger friends can really help. You could have a chat to some friends about your favourite parts about blogging, share tips, or even just have a good moan about how annoying blogging slumps are! If you want someone to chat to, I love making new friends, and my DMs are always open!

5.  Participate in a meme (even if only once)
Don’t get me wrong - I’m of the opinion that I don’t want to participate in a blog meme like Top Ten Tuesday (I think they’re repetitive and often unoriginal). But, because they’re so easy to make (someone thinks of the topic for you!), it might just help to get the inspiration flowing. I think the topics for TTT are really interesting (I just don’t like reading 20 of the same posts every week!), so they could inspire you to write your own post, or put your own spin on the suggestions.

6. Keep a list of blog post ideas
This tip isn’t really a way to get out of a blogging slump; more of a way to prevent one in the future. I have a word document of all my blog post ideas, so whenever I think of one, I can add it to the list, and then when I have time, I can come back and write it. I have hundreds, so if I feel like I don’t have any inspiration, I can check that list, and I’ve got a totally original post to write! I know some people do this in a journal instead, which is a super cool idea too.

7. Just wait it out
If all else fails, sometimes you’ve just got to wait until it passes and you get your blogging mojo back. You could publish a post telling your followers that you’re taking a break, and then just do something else completely for a couple weeks/months. Sometimes just completely taking it off your mind is the best thing that you could do, so then when you do feel like blogging again, there’s no pressure and you can come back in your own time.


If you're in a blogging slump right now, I hope this helps! Do you have any tips for getting out of one?

Bookstagram

How I Edit My Book Photos (using VSCO!)

08:00

As you may know, as well as blogging, I really love to use Instagram to share pictures the books I'm reading and loving. In almost all of my recent blog posts, I have included some pictures from my Instagram page, because I find my aesthetic there is pretty similar. Today I'm going to share how I edit all my photos for free!


When most people share how they edit their photos, it's systematic, and almost definitely, they use Photoshop. I don't have Photoshop (all of my banners are made using Fotor!), so I edit all my photos on my phone, using free apps. Obviously this is a lot cheaper, but it's also more convenient for Instagram, because I can upload them straight to Instagram from VSCO. You can get VSCO for free on most phones/tablets, but if you're really serious about it, you can pay extra for some filters (which I don't). I think this would be pretty pointless, because the free filters do look stunning!

When I first started using VSCO, I was totally overwhelmed, and so confused by the UI. It's very minimalist, so the icons can be very confusing because they don't look like what they do (in my opinion, anyway!). I upload my pictures to VSCO straight from my camera roll because honestly, I have no idea how to do it from the app.

I always edit the colours/structure of the picture before adding a filter, because then I can get it exactly how I want it.

Just a quick heads up: this post has lots of images in, so if you're reading this on mobile, I'm sorry if it's trippy!

Some people here would do the edits in a special order, but I just do them in the order of the icons! First I will change the exposure. I usually do +1, and that's what I'm going to do for this picture, because it's a little dark.


Depending on the lighting, I would -1 the contrast if it's a particularly bright day, but I took this photo on an overcast day, so I don't think the contrast needs changing. I then skip a few of the icons until I get to the sharpen tool, which is probably one of my favourites! I take all my photos on my phone, so the quality isn't that great, so the sharpen tool makes them look so much clearer.

I had to reach up high to take this photo, so my phone was probably wobbling around a bit, and it's not the clearest. So for this photo, I've changed the sharpen to +7 to make it seem clearer and to get the full detail of the book! (because come on, this cover is so pretty!)



I then use the saturation tool. Most people hate this, or only use it in negatives, but it's actually one of my favourites for editing photos. You have to be careful how heavily you saturate your pictures, but I find it makes them feel warmer and brighter, if you use the right amount. I use saturation on all my photos!

I find it works best with reds, and this photo has a lot of red in it, so I've used quite a lot: +3.


I then fiddle around a little with the highlights save, and shadows save, I don't really know what they do, just that they change the lighting a little! I find the shadows save tends to make my pictures feel calmer, which I really like, so I usually do +2/+3 of that.



Next I alter the temperature. This is so important, because the saturation makes my photos feel too warm, so I usually make them feel colder. It loses some of the brightness, but the colours still pop, which I really like! The combination of these two tools work really well for me - it's important to find balance because they're so strong, but I love how they work together.



I then use the tint feature. I don't really know what it's actually meant to be used for, except it makes the photo a little more blue-ey. I really like this! I usually do +1 or +2, so my pictures feel a little bit more mellow and calm.


The final things I do are add a filter, and crop my photo! I've tried out all the filters, and my favourite is HB1. I tend to do around +5 on this, so all my pictures match on my feed. I will then crop out the bad bits, so make the book more central!

How do you edit your photos? Are there any tips I need to improve my editing? Leave me your Instagram too - I'm always on the look out for new accounts to follow!