An idea for blog-keepers…
Most people who keep blogs do it because they enjoy it. However, most of us also get to a point where we ask ourselves whether it is a good use of our time. I’ve been to that point and am happy to say that I do believe that it is a good use of my time, although I certainly have scaled back from my initial blogging efforts. I read an interesting article this morning that is a good reminder of how to approach blogging. It is written by a journalist, Amy Gahran for the Poynter Institute, for other journalists, but the idea applies to any blogger:
This morning a colleague asked me a question that I hear from many people, especially journalists: “How can I blog without making it a time sink?” It seems to me that the key to blogging efficiently is this: DO NOT treat it like writing an article. That is, make blogging part of your ongoing processes for research, notetaking, and communication. A blog post is not (or at least, it shouldn’t be) a writing assignment you must prep for and deliver as a finished package. Let go of the idea that you must have everything nailed down, organized, and edited before you publish. Here are some specific ways to accomplish that mindset and habit switch…
Be sure to read the rest of Amy’s article, Blogging without the time sink. Thanks, too, to all of you that keep the blogs I enjoy reading. Most of you are like me, blogging as the spirit moves you or blogging your way through thoughts, ideas, problems and experiences. I also appreciate the few of us who take the effort to keep a daily and informative blog. I do try to keep updated links of your blogs. If your blog is to the right, I have read your posts and enjoy your blog! I am way behind on my links, though.
TK!
(Sorry about the length of this. Is it bad etiquette for the comment to be as long as the post?)
I’m glad you posted this because I’ve noticed you don’t post as much as you used to do. Since I enjoy your blog, that’s disappointing to all us “little people”! Plus, I was a little worried you might be “phasing out”.
Sometimes I feel the same way, but then I wonder what I’d do with all those ideas, however stupid, that keep popping up in my head. Therefore it is a good use of time. I don’t think I’ll stop posting until I run out of things to say.
Right now I have about 30 drafts of posts, but because of the time element I have yet to finish. That old saying of any job worth doing is worth doing well keeps hitting me in the eyes whenever I try to cut corners. So I just save them as drafts in the hope that someday they’ll get done. But to me “blogging efficiently” doesn’t seem as important as “blogging well”.
On the other hand, perhaps the best posts are the ones that write themselves, with the least effort and time commitment. If you have to try too hard, maybe it’s not too interesting. Or funny.
Which brings me to this question which we haven’t discussed in awhile- when will you be ready to start “audio-blogging” or “blogcasting”? Talking is quicker than writing. And, something new and exciting may light a fire under your post-starter.
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