You know what? Blogging is hard.
Not hard like curing cancer, or stopping your two year old from drinking the bath water, but still it's challenging.
I've started this blog more times than I care to count and reworked it a couple of times - each time the gaps between posts seem to be longer than anticipated. That's all fine and dandy for a personal diary, but its not exactly the kind of regular work that draws a crowd or keeps life interesting. Its not like I was out of town, or sick. I didn't have writers block or technical issues. It's just that like all things, making a consistent effort to blog takes focus and deliberate action.
So - what to do about it? I know that consistent effort is the key to successfully connecting with folks and to growing an audience. I've also been told that it takes 28 days to form a habit. So, in the interest of making this blog habit-forming, I am going to try to post regularly for a period of time to get myself in the groove. If all goes well you will see posts from me at a rate of 2-3 per week for the next little while.
What about you reader(s)? Any tips or pointers for staying consistent?
Update 30Apr2015: I've confirmed it - blogging is hard...and I failed at my goal of posting more often. Oh well there's always tomorrow.
I just never tried to stick to a schedule... felt too much like work and rules and societal order, all those things we were trying to avoid ;) Instead, I write when I feel like writing, and I try to write *what* I feel like writing. None of those "sorry it's been so long" posts, or "let's catch up on the last 3 months"... just "here's where we're at today".
ReplyDeleteMind you, my goal was also never to grow into a top sailing blog... just to post a small record of life, as it happens, where it happens, for any who care to follow along :D
Can't WAIT to keep reading your guys' adventures!
Thanks for the feedback. I like your approach and have to remember that we're writing for us and our family and support team - not to be a top blog (lord knows that my writing is not good enough for that).
DeleteI understand this as I've tried it several times myself.. growing a serious readership and following is a time investment unto itself.
ReplyDeleteA neat tip I picked up from a pro was a regular old scrap piece of paper that you keep in your wallet (if you try to lug around a notebook, you won't do it), or with iPhones these days, simply keep a Note; with topics! The trick is to write down ONE or TWO words that can jog your memory later about something that interested you that day, something you learned, saw, ate, technical details, etc, and you will accumulate endless topics this way and always have fresh content.
The blog posts will grow shorter; but more frequent. Soon everyone will want to check back to see what happened "today" or "this week".
Good luck! Loving it so far.
I like that idea...turns out that the content was only hard when I wasn't telling people what I was planning and was just working towards it...now that I'm in the middle of it, there seems to be lots to write about - now I just have to find the time to write.
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