I set the timer for 22 minutes. That is how much time I have to try and put the thoughts in my head, down on space with the keyboard before getting ready for work. I truly love my "job" as a blogger. I get to write about anything that strikes my fancy, without layers of others weighing in, changing voice, adding phrases , and generally changing the direction, even if slightly, of my intent. Granted, I could really use a good copy editor-sorry again for the typos. Even checking and double checking, I miss them. At work, I write a lot, but nothing is for public viewing before no less than five sets of eyes have been on it. Even so, a very large report , out there on the web for all to see, made it through to the website, with a graph mislabeled, and a section, that explained a pivotal part of the report, was deleted. Of course one of my programs chief critics noticed the error first. Errrr! It was fixed and reposted.
Where was I? Yes, time to blog is very important to me, even if I only have a few minutes a day. It has become a part of how I start my morning, and I feel like I'm off kilter if I do not put some words down ready for cyberspace. Is this another example of how I've become a card carrying member of a self centered world? I prefer to think of it as inexpensive therapy. I do though want some degree of interest, so setting a timer, typing away, might be fine for me, but not for the poor sods that stumble upon and read the blathering. Along with creating time to write, I've been trying to organize a little time to do some topic research and include an interesting link or two when appropriate. Like today, when I want to write, but time is limited, ideas muddled, a source for an idea topic might come in handy. The Sits Girls have a free ebook containing 38 blogging topics. You can find it HERE. I enjoyed the process of working on creative writing at Sam and Writing, where Natalia at In the Writer's Closet posted Write and Link. The daily and monthly prompts were good idea starters.
Blogging's a fun hobby and I know for some, a lucrative money earner. Like anything, to do something well, or at least do something better this week than you did it the last week, takes some practice. For me, that means setting time aside for thinking about and writing about the stuff I want to share and to set that time aside regularly, if only for a small amount of time. The timer just went off-practice is over for the day.
This is something that has become increasingly apparent to me since I started my blog. I need to set some time apart in the day that is purely for blogging, however then it becomes like exercise and I don't want to do that either. I am very inconsistent with my blogging, it's not for lack of ideas I have loads to write about but sitting in front of my laptop is something that seems to take motivation and commitment and somehow I always seem to have something else to do. I am working on this though so hopefully I will get better. So many blogs use lots of pics so maybe I need to do this but I do like reading lots of dialogue too. You write beautifully colourful details about you your family and your life daily I'm impressed.
ReplyDeleteUnless though you are blogging for work, or as a business, my opinion is that blogging should relieve stress, not add to it. When you feel like writing and posting,you will.I was very inconsistent when I started. Then I became regular, but very random and sometimes disconnected from what my mind was thinking and what I was trying to convey. The scheduling thing, and giving myself deadlines helps with the part of me that likes to be challenged, but knowing I don't have to, keeps it from being stressful.
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