Finally, I decided to go for it, and the blog came first - putting words out there without ever really including my face felt like a safer way to get started! I started to post intermittently, and my blog went through two name changes within the first few months. I was writing about beauty, because that's what I was interested in, and the other blogs I read tended to be centred around beauty. Eventually, in April 2012 I plucked up the courage to upload my first YouTube video, and after putting it off for so long, I discovered I LOVED it! I had nothing to edit on, so naturally I rambled on for far too long (not much has changed there!) but I started getting comfortable in front of the camera, and having so much fun with it! Again, I was talking mainly about beauty and makeup - I named my channel "lynseymacmakeup", which made sense at the time, and filmed many a video discussing my latest drugstore purchases, or my top five mascaras.
As time went on though, I started to realise that I was losing my love for what I was writing and vlogging about. Don't get me wrong - I'm still a total beauty product addict, and I love nothing more than going for a browse round all the makeup counters in House of Fraser, or Boots, and looking longingly at every single brown eyeshadow that has ever been created. But when it came to the content I was making, I realised I was taking breaks between videos of weeks, sometimes months, because quite honestly, I didn't have anything new to say! What I always had something to say about was film and television. I studied Film and TV at uni for four years, and I'm a self confessed television addict. I could talk about my favourite shows all day, every day, and never get bored. I started to make the odd TV related video, but I couldn't help but constantly think "I hardly know anyone who blogs regularly about TV - who's going to read this/watch this?"! It definitely influenced the amount I chose to post, and I found myself trying again to swing things back round to what I thought people wanted to see - beauty related content! As time went on, I started drifting away from my blog and my channel again. I felt uninspired, and coming up with posts started to feel more like a chore than a fun hobby! Weeks would go by with hardly a post or video in sight, which wasn't helped by the fact I was super busy at uni, and I felt guilty for hardly posting. It became a bit of a vicious circle!
Towards the end of 2014 though, something clicked. I can't explain it, but one day I just woke up, looked at my ever expanding collection of DVD box sets and thought "this is what I want to talk about!!". I thought about the fact that all the blogs I love to read, and vloggers I love to watch have one very important thing in common - they are really passionate about what they're talking about! That passion shines right out of their content, whatever the topic, and that's what keeps me watching it. I made the decision then to stop letting nerves or the idea that no-one would watch or read my content hold me back from talking about something I love this much. The whole point of my blog and channel was to have a creative outlet that was mine - trying to force myself to create content that wasn't for me was sucking all of the fun out of it! Six months on and I upload pretty much weekly television related videos and posts and I couldn't be happier. Not a week goes by that I struggle for content - in fact, sometimes I have to actively hold myself back from filming another video gushing about some new show or another. Not only that, but by posting regularly, I've had some really fun opportunities come my way, like the chance to take part in a blogger conference call with the cast of Outlander! I still post about beauty, and books, and anything else I fancy chatting about at the time, but having taken the pressure off in terms of what I think people want to see, I'm so much happier with my content!
The lesson here, really, is to always remember that your blog is just that - it's yours! It's a little space on the internet for you to talk about the things you really care about, and if that means changing the direction of your blog or channel, don't be scared to do it! When you've built up a following, of any size, it can be daunting to make a change to the type of content that you're making. But if you're unhappy, or you've lost the love you had for a particular topic, it might make you lose your love for blogging altogether, and your readers or viewers wouldn't want that! So if you're finding that you're lacking inspiration, and there's something new you fancy writing about, give it a go!! I did, and it totally reinvigorated my love for my blog and channel :)
I hope this post helped to reinspire you if you've felt like you're in a blogging rut! You can find me rambling away on twitter at @lynseymac1 if you fancy a chat!
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