Blogging 201: Write when inspired… ride the wave!
Given that I no longer have the time to blog as much as I used to, I have decided to schedule time for my social media work (and by that I don’t mean the consulting I do, which is scheduled for during the week, but I mean instead the work to promote my blog and share relevant stuff with my followers on Twitter). I have come to the point where I don’t have time to blog during the week (despite the fact that I reserve most of Thursdays for social media work on my personal stuff and meetings/social media events), and thus I have scheduled time to work on my blog over the weekend (particularly Saturday). For some bizarre reason, this past Saturday (and a little bit of the morning of Sunday), I felt incredibly inspired and thus cranked out 5 blog posts (and scheduled some tweets).
I then scheduled throughout the week and the following week. I did prioritize the blog posts related to reviews of theatre productions and films showing right now. So my suggestion is – if you feel inspired (and you may have read how I jump-start my writing), just ride the wave and crank out as much content as you can. Then you’ll have an opportunity to have enough content and not worry about what you are going to publish!
Related posts:
- Blogging 201- Write your blog entry ideas on paper
- Taking my blogging as a job
- Blogging as a learning exercise (Blogging 201)
- Blogging 201 – Keep a file for ideas
- Blogging about blogging, Twittering about Twitter…
I disagree somewhat. Sure, if you’re on a roll you can crank out a bunch of stuff at once, but even if so, I’d publish your best or most relevant piece first and spend some time on it. For the rest of your ideas, just jot down key points or a rough start and leave them as drafts or notes.
I say this because learning to write well includes writing when you’re not inspired. If you have the germs of some ideas sitting around, that can help you when you need it, rather than having exhausted it all during your burst of creativity.
Also, I find the stuff I produce when I’m really on a roll isn’t as good as I think it is at the time, needing plenty of editing later. Again, if you have some ideas in reserve, you’ll subconsciously think about them and improve them, and maybe come up with a great metaphor that ties a particular piece together and pushes it to the top of your queue.
My best results come when I have time to chew on a topic, to figure out how to structure it, how to add to it, and (most importantly) what to leave out. A blog post that’s been barbecued low and slow often turns out tastier than one that’s been flash fried.
Derek K. Miller recently posted..Blown away by the grainy red Sun
Derek,
I agree with your view, and love how you phrase it – slow cooking the blog post so that turns out tastier. And also, that being a good writer requires writing good copy even if you are not feeling inspired. I was just making the case – if you got the inspiration, milk it while it’s fresh!