Peeking Behind the Blogging Curtain

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On Wednesdays, I blog in two places -- here and at Organizing by STYLE -- as well as posting a "STYLE Savvy" post at CatholicMom.com. While deadlines at CatholicMom.com protect me from my procrastination and tendency to overcommit, most Wednesdays I find myself scrambling to create content for both of my other blogs. I mumble and grumble and struggle to find topics, wondering whose great idea this was anyway.

Mine.

I've analyzed my blogging schedule on numerous occasions and I always end up in the same place. Though I don't like the frustration that arises from my last minute-itis, I like my blogging schedule. I especially like having Tuesdays and weekends off from blogging, which means two blogs on some other day of the week, which might as well be Wednesday.

Such is the writer life. We don't punch a clock. We don't collect a paycheck in the traditional sense (or at all sometimes). We're constantly fighting the same prioritizing woes as those who go to regular jobs at regular hours and often with less success because our working hours are flexible and the work that we do is invisible for so long. If a traditionally employed person doesn't show up for work, people notice. If a writer doesn't write, no one knows it except for the writer herself.

Unless she writes blogs. Then her audience notices.

I'm not complaining (well, maybe a little) because the truth is, I can't imagine not blogging. In addition to making me feel as though I'm actually making connections with other people, it has been one of the best writing exercises ever. And, when it's going well, it's fun, too.

One of my goals when I retired was to stop making my blog a hobby and to make it a commitment. The first step? Posting on a regular basis. As a result of this relentless practice for the last five years, I'm able to create larger (paying) pieces more quickly and easily. Because I've gotten into the habit of creating short pieces with fast turnaround on a regular basis, I'm less afraid of creating work that's imperfect. When you write fast on a regular basis, some of the work is going to be imperfect. In fact, when you write at all, some of the work is going to be imperfect. It's the nature of the beast.

So here I am, early on some Wednesdays, late on others, but committed to showing up. After all, that's what writers do.

I hope you enjoy the result.