It doesn’t take much to see how shamefully little I’ve been posting here, and I want to address this because I feel many of us suffer from the same blog starvation-atrophy affliction.
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.
Hi Charles,
Writing is something I make a note of to accomplish each day. It’s a meditation for me whether it’s outlining, mind mapping, listing, freewriting and scribbling, there’s always some flow which eventually comes out. You want to accomplish that flow through continuously knuckling it down. The last thing you want to do is quit.
Hopefully you’re going through a dip, just overcome it and get right back on the bandwagon.
Much regards!
Thu
Thanks, Thu. I appreciate your refreshing attitude. Writing is so vital to me that if I don’t do it I really feel like I’m not living my intended purpose. Every time I stop doing it I feel incomplete.
Lately, though, I’ve been writing a lot, and I have a goal this summer to get to the point where writing every day is as common as brushing my teeth or going for a run.
Aloha
In my opinion the only thing that improves writing more than reading, is writing.
For my own method, though, I prefer Copyblogger’s approach to blogging, where everything is well executed and probably took a while to write. I think there’s a blogging style for everyone, and I’d like to believe I fall under the style of taking lots of time and care in each post. That does have its downside of course, as you’ll publish less.
Sonia Simone mentioned in the comment section of CB that an average post for her takes 4 hours all together! There’s a reason her stuff is so good (beyond her talent).
I agree that posts should be quality over anything else, but I feel the need to balance that quality with consistency. It’s a tricky dance to write (and publish) something great that doesn’t take forever.
I often take several days and multiple drafts to write a post, but this method has really slowed my publishing to a trickle.
Good to hear from you, Bamboo Forest — it’s been awhile!