Thank you for joining us for another installment in our our ongoing Journalism Tips series. We started this column as a way to help aspiring writers get their start in music, but over the couple months we have been evolving into a place writers come to have their questions about life in the business answered. Today we are continuing that effort with a response to a question posed by multiple reader in regards to taking time off. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Several weeks ago I wrote in this very column about the benefits of learning to disconnect from the digital world and embrace the chaos of reality. My intentions at the time were to address those that feel unable to walk away from their digital efforts for even a few hours, but a conversation with a relatively young writer this week made me realize I completely neglected one of the biggest causes for young writer panic: Vacation.
We have all been raised to believe that vacations exist so that people are able to disconnect from their work life and spend time with people they love doing the things they enjoy. For many young writers, especially those who have chosen to start their own music blogs, what actually happens when these so-called breaks occur is the furthest thing from rest and relaxation. Writers today are growing up in a world that has a never-ending demand for content and, thanks to the internet, a source to supply said content whenever the spirit desires. For bloggers, this means there is always a potential to win over new readers, and the allure of all those possible clicks can be too much for some to resist.
Here’s the thing too many writers do not seem to realize about those random clicks: They will still be there tomorrow. The anonymous IP address might change, but the likelihood of some random person coming across your site or content today is as high as it will be tomorrow, and the same goes for the Tuesday three weeks from now. More importantly, those clicks don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things unless they are converted to regular readers, and very few people have ever been swayed to regular subscribe to any one site just because a four sentence news story was posted within five minutes of a press release going out. Passerby to subscriber conversion happens when a connection is made through the content being shared. Time is not a factor.
When the opportunity to take a vacation presents itself it is easy to understand why many young writers begin to fret over what kind of negative impact any type of extended break may have for their site/content/brand. These are the same people have come up in a world where they know what all their friends are thinking as fast as those people can post their thoughts to Twitter, so of course they are going to feel pressure to share any new content as soon as it breaks. Getting the first or second post out about a major news items can be great for single day traffic bumps, but the shelf life will likely not extend past three or four days. News is disposable. Any one story is only hot until the next news item breaks, and then it’s forgotten almost as fast as the accompanying embed code was copy/pasted into the initial blog pot. Writers know this deep down, but for whatever reason they convince themselves continuously feeding the news machine will eventually result in a strong, dedicated following. That is entirely a possibility, as there are sites right now who thrive on such efforts, but for the vast majority of individual writers there is little-to-no benefit in forcing content creation efforts. It’s exhausting and offers little reward, especially over the long term.
Becoming a professional music writer requires individuals to be okay with taking breaks from the internet. The digital world changes quickly, but it does not move so fast that disconnecting for a few hours or several days will cause someone to be forgotten entirely. Will your traffic dip? Probably. Will they miss a few big headlines? Almost certainly. Will they also begin to think more creatively and have an easier time brainstorming ideas, which will ultimately lead to better content for their readers? Guaranteed.
Creative people need breaks. Writing content, even brief news posts, forces the brain to work incredibly hard. Over time that constant push to create results in mental exhaustion, which leads to lazy writing and bad grammar. This can be avoided, or at least made to not be as much of a threat against a young creative mind, as long as individuals can learn to step away from their work. They must embrace the true idea of vacations and disconnect fully, including shutting off their phones. The best ideas come from experience the world and determining what can be done to make it a better place. What do people need to know? Who do they need to listen to? What song will be the next to save someone’s life who is currently contemplating suicide? Individuals hoping to be professional writers do not have to seek out the answers to these questions as much as they simply have to spend time in the world, contemplate what they experience, and then share those observations with anyone willing to listen. That is the purpose of being a writer, after all. To take on the responsibility of not only keeping people informed with what they want to know, but discovering what they need and bringing it to their attention.
Take vacations. Seriously. Take them. There will always be a big story about to break and another two or three big headlines in the works no one sees coming. No one news story is going to make or break an individual’s career, but setting a standard for consistently strong and original content will lead to a prosperous career in time. The key, at least for those starting out, is accepting the fact success is a process and learning to settling in for the long haul. Work as hard as possible and take breaks whenever needed. Make the most of the time allotted for creativity and learn what can be done to allow the mind to relax. Success comes to those who are driven, patient, and capable of taking care of their own mental state.
