Friday – JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

~ John W. Howell
Twiggy and Lucy
“What is that noise?”
“Friday just pulled in.”

Another Friday in the hopper. I’m looking forward to the weekend. There is college football on Saturday, and unfortunately, I don’t get the Pittsburgh Steelers games regularly. (Yes I’m too cheap to pay for an NFL package) There is plenty of Texas football on Sunday, but my problem is I don’t follow the teams. So a quiet Sunday it will be. For the views of the neighborhood feature this week I’m going on a Heritage Tour on Friday. I hope to get some lovely photos of some of the heritage of Lakeway. I have to hope also that I haven’t already photoed a lot of the stops.

My WIP is coming along. Last week I was at 74,500 words and this week I finished 82,000. This means two weeks from now the first draft will be in the can, so to speak. Shows to go ya that a steady pace can produce results.

I have seen a declining trend in the number of views for my posts. Although the quantity is respectable, it is still off from the early part of the year. This always concerns me because I like to continue to put out good content. I have been wondering about my formula posts and think maybe it might be time for a change. Since I value your readership, I would love to get your opinion. Maybe a poll on what to keep and what to let go. I’ll think about it and let you know.

Today’s JohnKu talks about change. I hope you have a great weekend.

Change by John W. Howell © 2019

When the signs are there,

Do not ignore the message. . .

Might be time to change.

 

58 thoughts on “Friday – JohnKu – AKA – TGIF”

  2. I try to swing by every morning. I will admit that I’ve been having trouble with most WordPress sites when I visit by phone. It always comes up as me not following or unable to reblog/comment until I hit refresh a few times. Even my own blog does this to me. For content, I’m not sure what you can change. Are any days weaker than others?

    Liked by 2 people

    2. WP has been a b*** lately. Some sites I can comment on my phone, others, I cannot. Those I cannot, no matter how many times I type in my info, I give up and go through the Reader. Or wait until I have access to my computer.
      It has become rather annoying, I admit.

      Liked by 1 person

        1. I don’t know what the heck happened because it was from one day to the next. Why some I can and others I can’t (and ironically, the ones I am a faithful follower to are the ones I can’t access) is beyond me.

          Liked by 1 person

  3. As a fellow stat watcher, I know the feeling. It’s possible that some of your regular visitors are no longer blogging or on a hiatus of some sort. On the other hand, I wonder about the actual meaning of the stats because of bots skewing the numbers. But hey – maybe a change would be good. In summary, who knows. Good luck to your Steelers this weekend without Ben.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Great Haiku, John. As for making a change, I don’t have any suggestions. My one thought is that folks are overwhelmed by social media and everything they’re expected to read or would like to read. I know I can’t keep up as I would like to, but heck, I’m old. 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  5. I think many of us are seeing a slow down in the blog world. I’ve noticed an uptick now that school is back in session, so part of it might have been summer vacations. Change is usually good, so I won’t discourage you from that. My baseball season is bleeding out now. Football doesn’t seem to hold much hope either with the Steelers. Maybe I’ll just write something this winter.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. The blogosphere is changing. People have more ways than ever of getting their content out there, so it could have something to do with that. Also, WP has been funky lately. I think it’s a bunch of things, but I’m not sure you should make any wholesale changes unless you feel like you want to.

    Liked by 2 people

  7. I’m with Marc on this one. You have to go with what feels right to you.
    You ain’t gonna get rid of me that easily!
    And I believe there is an ebb and flow to the readership.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. The search engines are in a constant state of flux. Perhaps that is the reason, John. I am planning to migrate from WordPress soon, as I’m fed up with its limitations though it has got lots going for it too. Have a good weekend.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. I enjoy each day you post so I won’t be of much help. It is harder for me to read blogs on weekends, but I usually get it done. I have had problems with WordPress stop sending me notices of posts, because I depend on my email notifications. I just figure someone is taking a break and I find out later they aren’t. It can be overwhelming sometimes to read all the blogs I want to, but this one is a must read for me.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. You have great post content, John. WordPress shenanigans have hurt most of us — particularly since it’s been an ongoing thing for well over a year…
    I’m gobsmacked at how much you consistently write on your novels. I seem to do everything at a small fraction of the speed that everyone else has. Shine on, my friend.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. I’ve not had any problems with WP, but I have had readers who suddenly weren’t getting email notification of posts. When I chatted with WP, that person looked at my readers’ sites and discovered they all had checked a box that said “Don’t let WP send me any emails.” Who knows how that happened. I asked if that box could have been checked by default in an upgrade, and she said she’d ask the developers to take a look at the back end and see if that might have been the case.

    Otherwise? I’d say it’s ebb and flow. Reasons are harder to pinpoint — that’s going to differ for every person. I do think blogs generally are suffering from people’s overexposure to social media. My only connection to that world’s Twitter, and I’ve pared down to a group of nineteen that I follow: mostly weather information. I have read a number of recent articles from people who are leaving social media to go back to the blogging world, where content and interaction are more substantial. It would make for a great evening’s conversation over a nice wine!

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Sorry I can’t offer any suggestions, John. I know my blog readership numbers have dropped somewhat too. I thought I was posting too often and cut back, but that didn’t seem to make much difference. Maybe the newness of blogging has worn off for some folks? I try to pop by your place most days (not Saturday — too many other things going on!). I enjoy blogging, and it does tend to prime the pump for other writing. I know you’ll decide wisely!

    Liked by 1 person

  14. I love the JohnKu! And Congrats on the WIP steady progress!! As for the blog, it’s hard to say, John. It’s like we all see each other at the same blogs over and over, so it’s like recycled water. We need a way to keep getting new followers. Whatever you change, please keep the story Wednesdays (at least until we know the ending to this story) and the Thursday Twiggy and Lucy features!! 🙂 That’s my two-cents worth.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. You have put a good question, dear John. I find attractive your own classical style: 10 things not to do, Twiggy & Lucy’s adventures! How can we live without them? No way! The rest is on your demand. 🙂 (I wonder if Twiggy might guess what a star she has become) 🙂 🙂 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  17. I hate change and I love your blog, so please don’t change anything. How can you improve on greatness? Enjoy your tour on Sunday. I’ll be glued to the Patriots football game. Hubby will, of course, be glued to Penn State football today.

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