Time For a Change?
The Blaugust 2022 blogging event is entering its final week and the writing theme for this climatic period is “lessons learned”. According to the event schedule “this week is a reminder that the goal of Blaugust is to refresh the content creators out there for the coming year, and not to burn them out in the process. Some folks are going to cross the finish line and immediately go dormant and others will want to process their thoughts about the proceedings. This space is reserved as a bit of a cooldown lap so that you can share your own experiences”. For me Blaugust has not only reinvigorated my enthusiasm for blogging it has also improved my writing schedule. Furthermore it has given me an opportunity to consider some potential changes to Contains Moderate Peril. Changes that I now need to decide whether to implement or not.
Within a few years of starting blogging, I found writing about one subject extremely limiting. So I opted for a so-called “variety” blog to allow me to pursue a broader range of subjects. This has served me well for many years but I am now finding as I get older that I am not quite so enthusiastic about certain subjects. My interest in gaming is not as strong as it used to be and I find it difficult to wax lyrical about many aspects of the industry. I prefer writing social commentary, discussing the major social and political talking points of the day. I also still have a passion for films and can happily write film reviews or longform articles about aspects of filmmaking, till the cows come home. It is this change of focus that has got me thinking whether I should run two separate blogs? Or alternatively put all my energy into one online project and focus solely upon that.
Change can be very tempting at times. As can planning for change. As someone who considers themselves organised I love to draw up a plan and prepare everything required for it. Implementing it is another matter altogether (insert Airplane gag here). Preparation can be fun. Actually “doing” is not so enjoyable. So setting up another separate blog sounds initially like a good idea. I get to choose a new blog template and tinker with the look and feel of the site. I can also hire someone from Fiverr to design new logos and branding. But upon mature reflection, the realities of maintaining two different websites also means twice as much work and possibly producing half as much output. It also means incurring further expense which is something I am cautious about in the current economic climate.
As ever in life the most pragmatic solution is to compromise. Rather than relocate specific blog posts to an alternative site, perhaps simply segregating them on the existing blog is a better alternative. I shall investigate to see if it is possible to have a submenu under the blog button on the top toolbar of Contains Moderate Peril, so those who want to read only movie related content can do so. Vice versa with games and any other relevant category. I’m sure the template can be structured in such a fashion to make this possible. Maybe then, someone who is visiting the site to read a film review may investigate further if only shown material of a similar nature? And somewhere in the back of my mind there’s another voice reminding me of a very old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. These changes I’m pondering have not been requested by any readers. Perhaps I should just leave well alone and move on.