Photo by Helaina Thompson
Every once in a while a cartoon will come across my Facebook feed. It’s of a person sitting at a computer screen, reading a food blog. The reader is looking for a recipe, but first, they are assaulted with a story about the blogger’s grandma.
By the time we get to the last cartoon panel, the reader is nothing but a skeleton and the recipe still isn’t present.
Without fail, whenever it gets shared there are always numerous comments underneath it, agreeing wholeheartedly with the sentiment. I’ll see friends and strangers liking the cartoon or chiming in underneath with comments like:
“Why don’t food bloggers shut up and get to the recipe?”
“I don’t care about their grandma!”
“Get to the food!”
It isn’t long before I see the sentiment repeated in one form or another on Twitter and forums, and everywhere that people go to share their pet peeves (i.e. the entirety of the internet).
I’ll tell you something – it’s not my favorite criticism. It hurts my feelings.
As a person who has been blogging for 9 years, I’ve seen the world of blogging change a lot.
One of my early food photos in 2010.
What started as a web log (hence blog) of people documenting their lives with simple snapshots and slice-of-life stories has become an industry.
With that, the expectations along with it have changed as well. Pictures have to be “Pinterest worthy.” There’s a growing demand for better lighting, more shareable recipes, and a pressure to grow all of your social media channels if you want your work to be seen, and to get more opportunities.
And of course, you want your work to be seen. It’s fine and good to make something in your own kitchen, but the whole point of putting it on the internet is that you hope other people will engage with it too. Otherwise, you could have just left the recipe in the notepad in your junk drawer.
So why don’t bloggers just get to the recipe?
I blog because I love writing.
When I started blogging, it’s because I’m a writer by nature.
I wrote a magazine as a kid for my International Pen Pal Club. (The name of my club was a bit of a misnomer since the vast majority of my readers were in the greater Des Moines area.) If only you’d had a subscription to Stickers & Stuff Magazine circa 1986, you may have seen it mentioned there.*
It was all about writing and pen pals. My mom printed it out at work, and then I stapled the magazine together.
I had pen pals throughout my childhood, teens, and into my mid-twenties. I wrote the restaurant review column in my high school paper. In college, I minored in English. I literally spent over a decade working for a company called, We Tell Stories, in which I visited schools and performed plays for kids.
So for me, blogging was about storytelling first and foremost. Before the food, before the photography, before the recipe creation, blogging was a creative outlet to share a part of myself. It was like pen palling with a megaphone.
I could talk about why I choose to be vegan and to help others who have similar concerns. Through searches and shares, people who are curious about that kind of information could find me. I could share some of my favorite foods, and hopefully find other likeminded people who are interested in the same kinds of things.
I want to hear other people’s stories too.
And when I went looking for other blogs to read, that’s what I was looking for too. I tend to not be as interested in a recipe alone. I want a good story. I want to know why it matters, and who you are, and why you needed to make this recipe at this moment in time.
It’s no coincidence that the blogs I read religiously are long-form and detailed about their travels, home cities, relationships, and personal struggles.
Because let’s face it, I’m not going to actually make most of the recipes I read. I might read 5 or 6 different blog posts in a day, and there are only so many meals. Since I am usually in the process of creating my own recipes for this space, my cooking leisure time is limited.
But I do have time to read about recipes, and that doesn’t require more grocery shopping. And since I am a food enthusiast from birth, I can still learn something when I read about someone else’s passion, experience, or expertise in a food.
When a favorite blogger in Paris, Berlin, or Abu Dhabi talks about the food market stalls in his/her town, it’s transportive. I see a part of the world I might not otherwise.
And even though I still haven’t visited Memphis, I don’t miss a post about the burgeoning vegan food scene there and the Southern food that a favorite blogger is cooking. I want to see all of the cute doodles of another favorite’s furry family.
And I feel catharsis when I read about bloggers who have faced challenges and are brave enough to tackle those things in an online space, where I can glean insights from their struggles.
So if I were making a cartoon panel, I’d actually be more likely to say, “Can you please tell me MORE about your grandma? You got to the food measurements far too quickly.”
People have strong attachments to food precisely because food has history and memories attached to it. There’s sentimentality, tradition, and ritual. More than anything that’s why food speaks to me and continues to inspire me.
So to take that part out of it really strips away not only the pleasure, but also the motivation.
Why do bloggers write long posts?
Photo by Helaina Thompson
First and foremost, because it’s their creative space.
Whenever you create something, there’s no guarantee that the audience is going to want what you’re sharing. That’s the risk of creativity. It may not be what people want, understand, or desire.
But as a creative, that’s not on me.
There’s no way that I can please every person – especially in the age of the internet where everyone has an opinion on everything, and it’s frankly often not that positive.
If pleasing every person was my goal, I’d go mad. It’s impossible.
The only thing I can do is create a blog that I’m proud of, that represents who I am and what I’m about. At the end of the day, if I can put up recipes that I think are worth making, writing that I took time and care to craft, and photographs that meet the goal post of my creative eye then that’s a good day.
So the “shut up and sing” attitude that I see in the comments section of cartoons like the one above rub me the wrong way, but they’re not going to make me change what I’m doing. I may not have the biggest blog out there, but it’s one that I’m proud of and reflects who I am.
Second, Google likes thorough content.
There’s a joke that goes something like, “Where’s the best place to hide a body? On the second page of a Google search.” That’s because like it or not, Google has a monopoly on what people see. (Don’t ding me for saying that, Google gods!)
And after I’ve spent hours and hours testing a recipe, photographing, editing the photos, writing, posting, and sharing on social media, I would really like someone to come visit my blog.
The way a lot of people find blog posts is through Google searches like, “air fryer pickles” or “what is nutritional yeast?”
Google then uses an algorithm to rank how useful that content is and how well it answers what people are looking for. If Google thinks you answered a question well, you may find yourself on the first page of a search. If it doesn’t, you may be withering away on page 5, never to be found.
A couple of ways Google measures a post’s value is by seeing how long people stay on the site – did they get what they wanted? Or did they leave right away? And another is by searching the text to see how thoroughly it answers questions that people have.
If you have fewer than 300 words on a post, you’re going to have a hard time getting seen at all. Google is going to bury you under loads of pages, because it thinks that a long answer is more likely to answer the question. There are also stronger odds that with a lengthier post you used language or keywords that Google reads as helpful.
So with Google as the gatekeeper, chances are bloggers are going to keep writing lengthy posts, because “here’s the recipe!” is suicide when it comes to keyword searches.
Third, long posts pay the bills.
While people read blogs for free, they are not free to create. There’s hosting to pay for every month, website design, plug-ins to keep your site safe from hackers, photo editing software subscriptions…
There’s the food, of course, which often is much more than I’d typically make for my personal use.
Because a vegan tomato soup recipe, for example, may take making multiple times before it’s just right… (Hence, that’s why I have huge containers of soup in my freezer.)
There’s cameras, lenses, lights, food props… And it all costs money.
For over 8 of the 9 years I had my blog, I had no to minimal ads on my blog. And from a purely aesthetic perspective, that would be my preference. I’m not crazy about having a space that I spend a lot of time and energy curating interrupted with ads that I don’t get to pick.
(I do have settings to not allow certain types of advertising, but it’s not a perfect system. Sometimes ads get through that I would prefer not be there. I flag those specific ads to stop them from reappearing, but until there’s a designated vegan ad agency, it just won’t be a foolproof system unfortunately.)
Anyway, for many years I tried to find other ways to pay for the costs of blogging, and hey, maybe also things like rent, insurance, and save for retirement… I kept ignoring the most obvious way of making money, which is through ads on my site.
With ads, if people were going to see my recipes, they covered some of my costs by scrolling past ads.
I thought about writing an e-book that I sold to generate income. But that’s a bit like saying, “Hey, why don’t you sell movie tickets to pay for your play?” I’m already working to build recipes for a blog, and so making another separate thing for moneymaking, is that much more additional work.
And then there’s sponsored posts. That’s another way that food bloggers generate income. I do some of those, but as a vegan food blogger, I have to be pretty choosey.
I only promote products that I actually like and use. You’re not going to see me promoting foods with meat, dairy, eggs, or animal byproducts in them. And very often those are the companies with larger marketing budgets.
So that takes a lot of sponsored post opportunities off the table. I don’t mind that my options are more limited, I’m choosing this lifestyle for a reason after all, but it does affect my bottom line.
Ads are the main way that I make money from blogging. Longer posts means more space for ads, which means more money to put towards creation costs. Scrolling is payment for that free recipe. As costs go, I don’t think it’s an outrageous one.
Like I said, I’ve been writing long content for the entire time I’ve been blogging, so that isn’t the reason I write long-form. However, it also means that I don’t see any benefit in switching over to 300 word posts anytime soon.
But what if you really don’t want to scroll for a recipe?
Buy a cookbook.
For many of us, a lot of our days are spent scrolling – through a Twitter feed, Instagram feed, Facebook feed, text chain… So when people complain about scrolling some more to get to a recipe, it seems like a seriously small price to pay for free content. You just have to show up and there it is.
But if you don’t want to scroll, buy a cookbook. The blurb is short. You paid for the author’s time and costs by purchasing the book, and now you don’t have any of those annoying memories to sift through.
And if you don’t want to buy a cookbook, hey, libraries are free. Lots of them have vegan cookbooks right on their shelves ripe for the taking.
One food blog has many audiences with a variety of needs at a given time.
Look, I get it. Sometimes a person is just looking for how to air fry a baked potato, and they need that information now. It’s time for dinner, they’re hungry, and the potatoes are ready to go.
It isn’t the time for a thousand word dissertation on the history of Russets. At another time, the person may have the inclination to read about your trip through Asheville when you tried boiled peanuts for the first time. But right now? Time and temperature, please.
Needs and desires are always shifting. What works at one time won’t at another. That’s life.
Be kind.
Sometimes on the internet, it’s easy to forget that there’s a person on the other side of the screen. There’s someone who has spent a lot of time and energy creating something. And it may or may not resonate with you or be something you want to make in your own home.
I can’t stop people from being annoyed about lengthy posts or anything else on my blog that doesn’t suit them – like what I chose to call a dish or that I used an ingredient they don’t like. That’s their prerogative.
But when they do get annoyed, I hope they’ll remember that there’s someone on the other side of the screen just doing their best.
*Funny story. As I mentioned, most of the subscribers to my pen pal magazine were friends and family. But one girl on the East Coast subscribed after hearing about it in Stickers and Stuff. I was so excited! She paid her whole dollar to get a year-long membership.
After she received her first copy, she sent me a handwritten letter telling me that she wanted to cancel her subscription. She didn’t need her dollar back. She just didn’t want any more copies of my magazine coming to her in the mail! Haha!
I guess that was an early lesson on writing for the public. You can’t please everyone… In retrospect, maybe I shouldn’t have written so much about my grandma. 😉
Kate
I’ve never had a problem with a blog – I absolutely enjoy reading them and end up learning a lot about food culture and techniques! If I’m in a hurry, it’s not a huge deal to skip ahead to the recipe, so I don’t understand whining about long blogs. My complaint is about those readers who post comments such as, “Oh, this looks great!” and “I’m going to try this,” etc. These comments add nothing, and I don’t tend to return to the sites where these are the only comments posted. Instead, I value the sites where readers overwhelmingly have followed the recipe and comment on their own experiences with it, such as “I made this and wouldn’t change a thing,” or “I added more garlic and salt,” or “this was a little too sweet; next time I’ll add less honey,” or “this was dry and tasteless,”etc., because if there are enough comments of this type, it’s easier to evaluate the recipe. With so many bad recipes on the web, these comments are very helpful to the home cooks who are deciding which recipes to try. I know you can’t control your followers’ comments, but maybe bloggers should do more to encourage readers to try the recipe before commenting on the recipes.
Acooba Scott
This was actually very moving. Thanks so much for articulating all of this so beautifully. Funny, I’m a recipe creator, and it hurts deeply that my “work” is so devalued, and ppl feel completely entitled to the fruits of my labor – it feels like a personal assault at times. I love how you say there are “people” on the other side of the screen – very good reminder! This was my first visit to your blog, and I love the depth of your writing, the crafting of language, all the nuance and attention to detail! I’m grateful that you seem to take the time for the stories and meaning, not just the recipe, and I can’t wait to settle in to read some of your features (maybe with a cup of coffee). 😀
Jacklyn
These are all valid points but why not post the recipe at the top and then your story?
Cadry
Hi Jacklyn, I don’t put the recipe at top because of what I cover in point 3 of this post. It costs money to maintain a blog. There’s food to buy (much more than what I’d typically use for my family of two), camera equipment, lighting equipment, backdrops & props, site hosting, Adobe & other photo editing subscriptions, people who fix my site when it needs fixing/upgrading, and so much more… It’s hard to break even, let alone make a profit for the work I do.
One of the main ways I make money is by having ads on my site. If people don’t scroll past the ads, I don’t make money. If I had the recipe at the top on all of my posts, I would earn exponentially less. It would be like showing an entire TV show, and then showing all of the commercials afterwards. By interspersing commercials with the content, people are more likely to engage with it. That’s what pays for TV show production.
So like I said, scrolling past some ads is hardly a huge ask for a free recipe. And if bloggers aren’t making money for the free content they are providing, what’s the impetus to keep going? Over time, they’ll move on and find other outlets.
Anks
Oh I can relate to this. But am so glad someone put it out there that bloggers began blogging for their love of writing. It is like a trip back to basics to be reminded of this…
Cadry
I’m glad to hear that you can relate, Anks! Thank you for letting me know.
Puspanjalee Das Dutta
Thank you Cadry for writing this. I am often accused of sharing my personal thoughts and stories on my blog. But I guess, its my space and my keyword at the end! Loved reading it
Cadry
So true! It is definitely your space. If you can’t share your stories and personal thoughts there, where can you? Thank you for stopping by, Puspanjalee.
Kalyan Karmakar
Absolutely loved reading this post. I began blogging ten years back because I loved writing. I used to work in the corporate world then. I moved into food writing as a career a few years back and still blog because I love writing. Yes, one can’t please everyone and reading your post was so reassuring. Here’s wishing you and your grandma a big hello from
mumbai, India
Cadry
Thank you so much, Kalyan. I’m really glad that the post resonated with you too. Hello from the States! 🙂
Amanda
This was such a great post, Cadry! I found your blog, and this post specifically, through a comment you made on Dianne Jacob’s site, and I’m so glad I did! I couldn’t agree more with everything you wrote, and I’m bookmarking this post for when I need to be reminded of why I write longer stories behind the recipes on my blog… even when–especially when!–it seems no one (besides my dad and my husband–HA!) is reading them! 🙂
Cadry
Thank you, Amanda! I’m so glad to hear that the post resonated with you. I’m also happy that it encouraged you to keep writing long posts. After all, if all of us change to fit some preconceived idea of what “the public” wants, how will the people who would really connect with our authentic posts find us? I look forward to checking out your blog!
Cinci Vegan
Just found you!
Had not heard of you before or of ” black salt”
before and think both will be wonderful additions to my ( vegan) life
Cadry
That’s so nice to hear! Welcome to my blog and the delicious world of black salt.
Kristin
People can be the worst. If they don’t want to read, then just scroll to the recipe! It’s your blog and your voice. I always enjoy reading your stories. Thanks for sharing them with us!
Cadry
Thank you, Kristin! I’m glad to hear that.
Alina
Way to go, Cadry! I think if you’re speaking your truth (even if it’s long form 😄), it will always come off more genuine and attract readers who will want to come back for more. Long form posts rule!
Cadry
Thanks, Alina! That’s a good point about the importance of speaking your truth. That’s what keeps me coming back to your blog!
Linda from Veganosity
You nailed it, Cadry! I don’t have a lot of time to read blogs these days, but the title captured me and I had to come over and check it out. That darn cartoon has terrorized me. As a blogger I want to please everyone, obviously, that’s impossible. You’ve made me realize that I need to get back to more storytelling. Thank you!
I’m going to link to this on my blog. I’m sure that my readers would enjoy it and I couldn’t explain why we do what we do any better.
Cadry
Thank you, Linda! I’m so glad this post resonated with you. I totally hear you on how blogging in a public space really challenges the people pleaser in us. It’s completely unwinnable! When I was a kid, I never wanted my mom to come to my dance classes on the day it was open for parents, because I dreaded the thought of being publicly criticized. It’s ironic then that I’ve repeatedly chosen professions that are all about public criticism! Haha! Thank you for sharing this post, and I always look forward to reading your stories!
Mandy
This post is EVERYTHING!! I loved reading this, Cadry!! And I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this just might be my favorite post of yours yet. So perfectly stated and relatable. Over the past year, I have unsubscribed from a bunch of blogs…ones that lacked engagement and/or emotion – ones that felt robotic. Call me crazy, but I love reading about how creators get to the final recipe or how they’ve overcome struggles….it brings a sense of normalcy and community. I want to get to know the creator! I know it’s not quite the same, but it’s how I am with books…I want to feel a connection to the characters. I want the details! Whenever I sit down to read your latest posts, I feel like I’m chatting with you over a cup of coffee. You are incredibly genuine and your passion for creativity and writing truly radiates through your words and photos!! I may not always comment on your posts, but I want you to know I read them all. I really enjoyed learning a bit more about you here! Happy weekend, Cadry!
Cadry
Mandy, this comment made my heart swell with joy! I feel the same way about your posts. They’re always so newsy, honest, and filled with your zest for life. I know what you mean about unsubscribing from blogs that lack that human spirit. In the push to make blogs more professional and polished, sometimes that real human underneath can get lost in the shuffle. It’s too bad, because that’s what really makes a blog unique to me – the individual underneath it. Thank you again for the lovely, heartfelt comment. <3
Shell
It seems like just yesterday that I was sitting there typing on my mom’s typewriter. I’m sure she will let me borrow it again for my next issue. It’s going to be a great issue – I’ve been working on it for about 30 years!
Cadry
Haha! You know how to build up suspense. Now I know what I want for my birthday! I bet the girls would be happy to help. 🙂
Shell
As a proud member of the International Pen Pal Club, I would like to thank you for connecting me with Andrea Thorne back in the 80s. I’ve enjoyed reading your writing for decades, and I hope to do so for many more.
I love your blog for the recipes and photos, but mostly because I can hear your voice when I read each post.
Cadry
Aw, I love this comment, Shell! It brought tears to my eyes. You’ve been such a good friend over these past THIRTY-EIGHT years! You’ve always taken an interest in the things I care about, and that really means a lot to me. By the way, I’m still waiting on my next copy of Surfin’ Stickers. When is your mom going to let you use her all caps typewriter?
Lysette Stevenson
Weirdly I was just thinking along a similar line this morning before I read your post. I was mulling over how when I first got into vegan blogging I was more interested in how other vegans around the world were going about their daily lives. I have four shelves of vegan cookbooks, I don’t need another recipe but as I live in a town with no other vegan friends I looked online to find community and food is something we all can bond and engage over. This is wonderfully written (as always) Cadry xo
Cadry
That’s such a great point about finding community, Lysette! In my real life, I spend regular, one-on-one time with 3 other vegans. But I never feel alone or isolated since I have loads of vegan friends online! It’s a wonderful benefit of the internet that we’re able to find others with common passions, interests, and beliefs. Thank you for the kind words. I really appreciate them. <3
Pat
I like the stories also. I often learn more about the recipes and food in general from reading the narratives. I follow blogs to learn about the experience and perspectives of the author. If I’m searching for a specific recipe I’m smart enough to scroll down quickly and find it and if I’m not enjoying a blog I stop following it.
Cadry
We’re on the same page, Pat! I’ve learned a lot about new foods and techniques by reading other people’s blogs.
kelly
For me, I usually find food bloggers because I cut straight to the recipe…then after I realize this is like the 4th or so recipe of theirs I’ve looked at, I start reading. I guess it’s a bit backward. In the past and now with our new blog, I typically just post the recipe with a brief intro, BUT, it also contains a YouTube video…with the stories and such.
I just recently found your blog…loving the recipes!
Cadry
That’s interesting! You go in through the backdoor on blogs. Thanks for the kind words, and I look forward to visiting your blog!
Amey Mathews
Such a great post. I love reading people’s stories too!! I love how much we can learn about each other and about each other’s lives through “food.” A bit part of why I came to blogging was to build community and I love really making friends and building friendships (like with you!!!) Xoxoxoxo
Cadry
I couldn’t agree more! Reading other people’s stories from around the world really brings the globe to life. And of course, food is a major part of the way we express our cultures and family histories. It always makes me happy to see a slice of your life in California with your furry family.
Victoria
I enjoyed reading your post and the realities of food blogging. I love to cook – and read. I am subscribed to multiple food blogs. I love reading the background, the funny stories, the description of the recipe; all convincing me to try it. Food bloggers are true artists. Even ”back in the day” before online food blogging when I just had cookbooks, I always went for descriptive- in pictures and words. I loved ones that told a story, that described the food and made it come alive. When I search for a recipe, I am way more likely to try one with a great description, than one that’s just a recipe, even if it has a great picture. I for one appreciate your artistry and all the work that goes into your creations! So don’t shut up.
Cadry
Thank you so much, Victoria! What a lovely, heartfelt comment. It really touches me.
Pixie @ Cheerfully Vegan
I love it! You have totally nailed it.
I can see both sides of the picture. I love writing in my blog, but for the past 2-3 years, time to do that has been just about nil. So, for that matter, has been time to read lengthy blogs. (I believe that is changing, thankfully! I miss it.) I don’t mind scrolling, but sometimes I have been known to wonder to myself when reading some blogs as to why there are so many photos of the same plate from several different angles…and where IS the recipe? But I will never complain about the backstories. I’m one of those weirdos who used to check cookbooks out of the library just to read them for fun and relaxation back when my only job was raising little ones. The best cookbooks were ones with stories or some sort of lead-in at the top of the page telling about the recipe, or how it was created. That is what is amazing about well-written blogs! I don’t even mind one simple picture taken with a smart phone as long as I can get an idea of what it should look like. Often the whole point to reading a cookbook/recipe blog is to get my own creative ideas going. (Although, the giant pile of printed recipes in my file under my desk says otherwise…..)
So, write on, Cadry! Some of us will keep reading – and on days when there is no time, we’ll skip it. 🙂
Cadry
I’m the same way about cookbooks. I often have a pile of them on my bedside table, along with a dozen cooking magazines. I also like to read cookbooks as if they were novels. I totally get that there’s not always time to read a lengthy blog post. I often save reading lengthier posts for when I have time to savor them.
Dan
There’s a big difference between people who compose well thought out stories to go with their recipes, and the legions of blogs who just pad their stolen recipes with sentences full of buzzwords for SEO purposes. I’m sorry that people occasionally lump you in with the latter, when you are clearly the former 🙂
Cadry
I’m definitely not a fan of stolen recipes, and people who seek to profit over other people’s hard work. Thanks for the supportive comment, Dan!
The Vegan 8
So perfectly written Cadry! I totally agree with you. Whenever I get icky comments or complaints about having to scroll or not liking an ingredient, I’m baffled because I’m doing this for free, they are not paying at all for this free content that I work so hard to create and spend my own money keeping it all up, so complaining is rude and disrespectful. And since there are a billion blogs out there these days, just easily google what you are looking for instead of condemning a blogger who doesn’t their needs. Like you said, people need to remember we are people on the other side of the computer.
Cadry
Thank you, Brandi! I always find that baffling too. For obvious reasons, I’m not visiting Paleo or Keto blogs. It would be pointless & frustrating for all involved to go there and expect them to meet my needs. It’s a much better use of everyone’s time to just go to blogs that work for my lifestyle. So when people take the time to express outrage over something small like not approving of, say, coconut oil, it seems like their time and energy could have been used in more fruitful ways. Plus, no one likes opening that comment in their in-box on a Monday morning! Thanks for empathizing!
Barb
All so true! And we share some favorites (Memphis and pet doodles haha!)
Cadry
Yay! Of course we do! 🙂
Michael
Well said Cadry! Not every blog is for everyone. Sometimes I like reading the story behind a recipe, sometimes I want to just get to the recipe. In the latter times, I scroll to the recipe. You can’t please everyone, so you just keep doing you.
Cadry
I totally get that! Sometimes there’s no time for reading when your stomach is grumbling. Thanks for the support!
Becky Striepe
Thank you so much for writing this!! It puts words to so many of the feelings I have when those memes make the rounds. Sharing this everywhereeeee!
Cadry
Aw, thanks, Becky! You’re the best!
Debra Maslov
Thank you for this informative post Cadry! I am not a blogger but learned a lot about how they work. Personally I love reading all the words & seeing all the gorgeous photos much more than collecting the recipes at the end. You are so right that we are all different with our desires & expectations, & it would be impossible to please everyone. Keep on being true to yourself as you are totally delightful! And thank you for all the smiles!
Cadry
Thank you, Debra! I’m so glad to hear that the post was informative about the behind-the-scenes of a blogger’s world. When you do something everyday, it’s easy to take for granted that other people know the ins and outs, but of course, how could they? I’m happy to hear that it was useful for you! Thank you for the sweet words, as always. They do my heart good!
Susmitha - Veganosaurus
Amen to this Cadry! I read through the entire post and agree with each and every thing you’ve written. It’s all about the stories for me too. If there isn’t an interesting (well written) back story, I just don’t find the blog/recipe worth my time.
Funnily, one of the main reason I stopped blogging, though I now have so many more recipes in my arsenal is because I don’t have time to write out good introductory content anymore. I just can’t bring myself to simply slap a recipe and a few photos on my blog and leave it.
I feel the same for videos too. 🙂 There just has to be a personal touch. No two ways about it.
Cadry
I miss your posts! All the more reason I need to visit India and sample some of your food at Carrots Restaurant. I always loved your voice in your posts & videos. (Figuratively as well as literally!) But I totally get that you must have so much less time now when you’re already giving so much of your creative self at the restaurant.
Dianne
Thank you for putting into words what so many bloggers have been thinking. That cartoon that makes the rounds on social media makes my blood boil. “But I want that free thing you’re giving me for free faster!”
When I started blogging, I rarely posted recipes. And people seemed to like my posts! So to have people now complain about the writing is mind boggling.
And also, I would have totally liked to have had a subscription to your pen pal magazine!
Cadry
Yeah, my heart sinks when I see it too. I know to the people who are posting or head nodding on that cartoon, it’s not personal. But for people like you and me who spend so much of our lives working on that very thing they’re dismissing, it feels very personal.
I used to do a lot more non-recipe posts too. It feels like expectations have changed, and there’s more focus now on posts with clear value to the reader. But on the other hand, sometimes when I do just share slice of life stuff, people respond to it. It really can be hard to guess what is going to click with people.
I so wish you would have been a subscriber to my pen pal magazine! Since you were likely living in England in those days, it really would have legitimized my “international” claim. 😉
Jenn
LOVE THIS!
Cadry
Thanks, Jenn! I’m so glad!
Kristina
THANK YOU Cadry. I also love reading blogs and the connected community there. Vastly different from 2010 when I began, but still there.
our recipes are free, and even more importantly, you’ve wonderfully illustrated the WHY so many of us do this, and how much work it is.
Cadry
Yes, it’s a very different landscape from 2010, but it’s also spread out to other places. Instead of blog comments alone, we’re also finding each other on Instagram and Facebook. The feeling of community is one of the best parts for sure!
I think people don’t always realize the time, effort, and energy that goes into even a single post. When I tell friends or family members, they’re often surprised by how much time it takes. It’s a labor of love, of course. Thanks for the kind words, Kristina!