Let’s Talk Bookish: Participating in Discussion Posts

✨ Welcome back to another week of LTB! ✨

I’m so sorry I’m late with post this week—I totally dropped the ball and forgot what date it was. I will be better prepared next month! 🫣

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and co-hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits and myself! In this discussion meme, participants get to talk about certain topics, share opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! Learn more about LTB, past topics and future topics HERE.

This week’s topic is:

Participating in Discussion Posts

Prompts: How do you prepare your posts when you’re writing a discussion post—do you have an outline or do you usually start writing in advance and work on it slowly over time? Do you prefer to have many prompts (like LTB), or do you prefer one question that you can take in whichever direction you prefer (like Fantasy with Friends by Unbound Pages)? Do you think weekly discussions are better, or quarterly discussions (like Literary Inbox by 24yabookblog)?

How do you prepare your posts when you’re writing a discussion post—do you have an outline or do you usually start writing in advance and work on it slowly over time?

As a serial procrastinator, I never end up preparing posts in advance or work on them slowly over time. 😅 Sometimes I think I might, but then all of a sudden I get distracted or I forget and next thing you know, it’s another Friday and it’s time to get the post up and I still haven’t worked on it yet, lol. That said, whenever I start writing, I always jot a few thoughts down per question, so that it’ll be easier for me to flesh out my thoughts as I work through each question. I tend to always start with the easier questions as well, and I particularly love preparing my answers for the prompts that involve sharing recommendations or books on my TBR! They’re the easiest and most fun to do.

Do you prefer to have many prompts, or do you prefer one question that you can take in whichever direction you prefer?

Something that I appreciated greatly when I first came across LTB (and years before I became a co-host) is the fact that there are so many prompting questions for each topic. For someone like me who tends to overthink and over analyze, having guiding questions really helps me shape my post, but it also helps to kick-start the thinking process. I’m not those “on the spot” type of thinkers, and it takes a while to get the brain juices flowing with my brain fog plus my Great Procrastinator™️ title, so having prompts really helps me with that.

However, I do appreciate discussion memes like the one hosted by Krysta and Briana at Pages Unbound. I think a lot of memes don’t focus on a specific theme, which makes their Fantasy with Friends more unique! I also think many people enjoy or even prefer having one question without prompts, as it gives them the freedom to take their post in whichever direction they want, and of course it’s always nice to have that flexibility.

Do you think weekly discussions are better, or quarterly discussions?

I think my preference in regards to the timing has really evolved over the years and that has to do with so many factors. While part of me still loves weekly discussions and having the option to create content weekly, I feel like the time and energy that I have to spare to think and write coherently about different topics has dwindled considerably —even if I’m talking about something I love and am so passionate about like books and blogging. Finding the balance with a full-time job, and time to read, blog and engage with others, while also being in the right headspace hasn’t been the easiest in recent times!

I think my preference has also changed after becoming co-host of LTB, especially when it came to continuously finding new and engaging topics that might not have been done before (or finding a new angle) that also keeps people wanting to participate on a weekly basis. From this perspective, I think quarterly discussions or having topics once per month works much better, but I know I’m definitely biased here. 😝

Don’t forget to check out the other bloggers who joined the discussion this week! 👇🏽

Elle @ Unwrapping Words
Nicky @ The Bibliophilian
Rachael @ The Green Tea Librarian
Briana @ Pages Unbound

If I’ve missed your post this week, don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments, and I’ll add you to this week’s list of community posts ASAP!