Here are few improvements you’ll be sure to make:

Your writing will get better

Much better, in fact. Having the discipline to write and publish everyday is just like exercise: you eventually get into shape. You start sounding more relaxed and the act of writing doesn’t hurt so much.

The first week is especially tough, I will admit. It’s painful to force yourself to do something that can feel so uncomfortable and strained. Getting past the second week is pretty rough, too.

But once you get to the third and fourth week you’ll start to hit a stride. After that, blogging every day doesn’t feel like such a task. It’s actually quite enjoyable

Perfection is no longer a constraint

Part of the reason I was such an infrequent blogger (one post per week, sometimes less) is because I really dragged and took my time to “handcraft” each post to what I felt was a state of perfection.

We have to remember that blogging is not like book publishing where a team of editors refine our work until it’s ‘perfect’ (*ahem* there is no such thing as perfect). That’s the old way of doing things!

Blogging is meant to be more rapid-paced and fluid. When you commit to doing it every day, it becomes “publish or perish.”

So no matter what kind of day you’re having you know a new post has to be live before you go to bed. That kind of pressure forces you to ship your work by making snap, creative decisions.

You’ll start to find your voice

This is by far the biggest benefit to daily blogging.

Like any novice, beginning bloggers tend to copy the styles of the more established bloggers because they haven’t yet discovered their voice.

But when you write every day, you get more comfortable with yourself and your words until it starts to feel like…you. Your blog becomes you.

Pretty soon your writing feels more natural, like speaking. Your personality starts to emerge, and people start to get comfortable around you.

That personal connection is vital for making friends and attracting passionate readers.

If I can do it, so can you

Rapid fire blogging is a lot like boot camp: you learn what you’re made of.

Today marks the the last successive day of my month of daily blogging (Monday through Friday). I just proved to myself that I am indeed capable of writing and publishing on a daily basis.

I’m also happy to report that it feels great!!

Despite that fact that the world doesn’t make it easy for you to write, why not drop the excuses and just give it a try?

Photo by kevindooley.

Here’s the problem: we still think we’re in college English class. Yes, that one: dialectic thesis statements, multiple drafts, red ink editing, rewriting and other rigors of academic perfection.

I’m now convinced there’s no such thing as a perfect blog post. We are not scholars pursuing an ‘A,’ but rather friends sharing interesting and relevant ideas.

Blogging is simply written conversation with value—stuff people enjoy reading by choice.

Try a Secret Blogging Exercise

On January 1, I started tiny personal blog project on the side where I try to write at least 100 words per day. So far it’s been a very helpful exercise in breaking through my stiff scholastic style (except I have yet to apply it here at Wordful).

One hundred words is just enough to share an idea without ever having to overthink or overwrite. You sit down, compose and publish, and you do it quickly. Words add up.

Granted, blogging to yourself is pretty easy because you’re not concerned about who’s listening, but consider my results: 30 posts average per month on my private blog versus 2.3 average monthly posts on this blog.

Give it a try. Quantity does count for something.

Take it From Chris Brogan

Chris Brogan is a prolific writer with a relaxed, conversational style. I get his RSS feed in my inbox every day and on many days, he’s crafted more than one post for me to read.

Granted, they’re not always the most hard-hitting, loaded-with-benefits posts like the ones Copyblogger strives for, but I find myself very a comfortable reader in his presence.

I can tell Chris loves to write. In fact, he told me so in a great little audio seminar on the Third Tribe site.  Chris’s premise is this: to succeed in blogging you need to remove all the tradition and formality from your practice and just start writing— whenever and wherever you can.

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If the truth sets us free, and writing is our truth, then we should be constantly writing in pursuit of freedom.

Photo by suneko.

The other day, Chris talked about three factors required for blogging every day: discipline, practice and ideas. How utterly direct and simple. I like that.

Blogging every day without those three assets working together is tough. Even more challenging are the days you’re just not in the mood to blog.

These are days when discipline, practice and ideas are nothing more than abstractions floating through your psyche. And all the advice and courses and classes you took on blogging suddenly don’t matter.

So what do you do?

I say go back to Chris. Let’s for a moment strip away the practical advice of Chris and focus on the unwritten behavioral clues he offers. The stuff between the lines. Let’s look at the way Chris blogs.

What else can we learn from him?

Relax

Chris is relaxed. You can tell from his warm, conversational tone that he feels very comfortable talking to his readers. It’s as if he’s got us all gathered around the fireplace sipping hot cocoa together.

Nothing in the tone of his writing sounds forced, contrived or labored. He clearly enjoys writing from the heart and sharing his knowledge freely. He’s not pushy or in your face. He is both relaxed and relaxing.

Being relaxed when you blog is more important than knowing all the practical “ins and outs” of blogging. You can be the best of writers and still struggle if you’re not relaxed.

When you’re relaxed is when you can best express your ideas, and blogging becomes enjoyable. This leads to more–and better–blogging. If you notice, Chris writes between 1-3 posts per day, which is no small feat.

Be Sharp

Being sharp means not being sloppy. Or lazy. When Chris has something to say, he does so with clear language and conviction. He means what he says and says what he means. No beating around the bush, wasted words or hollow persuasion.

Being sharp also means being acutely aware of one’s surroundings. In blogging, your surroundings consist of two things: ideas and readers. You need to deliver useful and meaningful ideas to an audience generous enough to lend you their scarce attention.

Chris conveys his ideas with great efficiency. He knows which ideas we value and don’t value, and acts accordingly. In turn, we embrace and share his knowledge, and continue to listen.

Be Humble

Ever wonder why Chris Brogan is so popular and successful? It’s because he’s humble. His content is structured around us. Not just me or even you, but us.

Chris speaks to us not in the context of technology or marketing or strategy, but life. Our lives, our experiences,  our feelings, our empathy. There is no plate of glass, no master-disciple hierarchy between us.

How could that not be humbling?

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If you want to learn how to blog every day, take Chris’s advice: discipline, practice and ideas. If you’re not in the mood to blog everyday, but know you should, take Chris’s clues: relax, be sharp and be humble.

Chris Brogan has successfully assumed the mood of a blogger, and you can, too.