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.

Committed Time

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Today, I am talking to the students in my first year seminar about time management. The reading they did for today's class focused on three categories of items to be scheduled: committed time, maintenance time and discretionary time. Their book had a whole list of items that fit into each category, but I'm more interested in how they would categorize each of the important things in their lives.

How we classify what matters to us is often the first step in determining what makes it onto the schedule and what doesn't. What makes it onto the schedule determines not only what we accomplish, but also whether we're reaching toward our goals or someone else's.

No matter how busy I am, blogging always makes it onto the schedule. I'm still not sure why this is, but I know my blogs matter to me because I consistently place them above other things on my priority list. From time to time, I re-evaluate the schedule: two blogs a week here (plus a Friday Feature), two blogs at Organizing by STYLE and one at CatholicMom.com, often a reprint of something that already appeared on my OBS blog. When I look at the schedule, I often wonder if I should scale back, but I never do.

I started blogging as something I was supposed to do -- a plank in my writing platform -- one small thing that fits into the self-promotion category. Over time, however, it began to provide a consistent writing experience and a connection to readers more immediate than the one I find when I finally finish a novel or have an article appear in print. I'm willing to yield discretionary time to this activity because it contributes to not just an important overall goal (writing), but a piece of who I am.

Photo: Felix Russell-Saw via Unsplash

I am a writer. And on the days when the muse has been crushed by other activities in the committed time category, blogging wriggles free and allows me to express myself. I don't have to advance a story or be true to any character except myself. I merely need to write.

From the perspective of someone working to finish two novels and as many non-fiction projects, I must admit that blogging doesn't always seem like the most efficient use of my time. But, over time, I've discovered that it feeds not only my writer identity, but my writing skills and process as well.

Today, when I split my students up into groups and ask them to define the activities that fit into each time management category, I might just need to do a little introspection myself. After all, what better way could there be to stay on track, and make sure I'm reaching for my own goals, and not someone else's?

Why Blog?

Photo: xandert via Morguefile

Last month, not long before my nine-year blogiversary, I attended Joel Friedlander and Joan Stewart's webinar, "How to Sell Books Using an Author Blog." Loaded with information, the webinar helped me generate a list of new directions to explore, as well as sparking ideas from a creative perspective.

But it also reminded me that it's not opportunities for promotion that have kept me typing out posts for nine years. Unlike a lot of writers who blog infrequently -- or not at all -- because they consider blogging a waste of good writing time, I find that creating and maintaining a blog benefits me as a writer in numerous ways. Here, in no particular order, are eight of them.

Blogging teaches self-discipline. There's very little that motivates a writer more than knowing someone is waiting to read his or her words. Creating a posting schedule and sticking to it keeps me writing regularly, even when life is busy and/or I don't feel like it.

Blogging teaches you to write efficiently. After nine years of blogging, I can hammer out a decent 750-word first draft of almost anything quickly and easily. Over time, sheer practice has made me a faster, better writer, not just with blog posts, but with drafts of chapters, articles and query letters as well.

Blogging chips away at perfectionism. When you know readers are expecting a post and the clock is ticking and you have other projects you want to work on, you learn to allocate a set amount of time to writing a post and to accept "good enough" as a standard. Posts should be error-free when it comes to basics like grammar and spelling, but when you're posting regularly, not every post has to be stellar. And if you decide you're disappointed with a post (or you find a typo after you've already put it out there), you can always go back and fix it.

Blogging helps you establish your voice both creatively and professionally. Posts are conversational and informal, which takes the pressure off, but at the same time, they're very, very public -- much like a book. Writing posts on a regular basis helps you find the line between sharing and oversharing and helps you put your thoughts into words that can be released for public consumption.

Blogging helps you connect with readers. Long before my novel released, I had "regular readers" thanks to my blog and social media. Sure, every blogger harbors the not-so-secret hope of being "discovered" by an editor or agent proffering a contract, but even if that never happens, you're still starting a conversation with an important audience: readers and book buyers.

Blogging improves your tech skills. If the mere mention of technology makes you cringe, you can begin with just the basics and expand from there. I started with a free template and for the first several years, posted text only. Over time, I've learned how to find free clip art and photos and integrate them (with credit!) into my posts, as well as adding gadgets and links and pages to my blog. Since it's your blog, you're in control of the learning curve. Not ready to venture to the next step? Take your time, and just keep posting.

turbosquid.com

Blogging is a plank in your platform. As writers, we're always looking for ways to get our work seen, and a blog can be the perfect way to do just that. In addition to providing online writing samples for those people we hope will discover us, we attract the attention of search engines when we post regularly. This means that if we query someone, they can find us online -- kind of like building a resume. And if we point friends, family and potential readers in the direction of our blog, they can become fans as well.

Blogging is fun. Sure, there are days that I struggle to put something on the page, but most of the time, I genuinely enjoy coming up with posts, and I love it when someone comments favorably on something I've written, or when a reader finds one of my posts helpful.

Looking back, I can't believe I've been at this for nine years. But, when I see how much my writing has improved, I know that the benefits of blogging go far beyond promotional opportunities. Someday, someone with clout may discover me, but until then, I'm happy just to be discovered by readers.

Rationalizations and Word Count Wednesday

A few years ago, I participated in the online Catholic Writers Conference. At the time, I was blogging, but not yet in a routine, and often struggling for topics, so I took a workshop offered by the inspirational Sarah Reinhard. Sarah remains an online writing colleague to this day, and when I find myself struggling to come up with a topic (yes, that still happens), I think back to an exercise she had us do in that workshop. She told us to look around the room, choose an object and use that as the inspiration for a blog.

So today, as I sat down to write this after spending much too much time enjoying myself with a friend at Starbucks, I looked around the room. My eyes lit on a stress ball in the shape of an apple, which had some potential, but apparently not enough because my eyes kept traveling. Across the one lovely, clear spot on my desk and over to the sloppy pile of papers just inches away from the back of my laptop, beside my charging iPad, where distractions in the form of games and emails lurk.

That's when it hit me. My desk is a metaphor for my life.

Lovely, clear spaces take up only a small portion of my mind and my world. The rest -- often the only thing in sight -- often feels like a jumbled pile of things to do, places to go, projects to work on. You know -- life.

And right there on the periphery of it all, neatly packaged distractions lurk. They look innocuous enough, but they're really a Pandora's box. Open the lid, and they all come tumbling out, derailing the most well-planned day and inviting chaos in the form of a to-do list that continues to expand, if only because nothing is being checked off.

Sometimes, it's hard to tell a distraction from a necessary item. While it's clear that delineating the stress reduction and mind expanding possibilities of the games on my iPad is a juicy rationalization, what about the dishes in the sink? Distraction or necessity? Must they really be washed right now during the time I'm supposed to be writing? And just how long can I go without washing them before that becomes a rationalization?

I'm not sure I'll ever get to the bottom of the rationalization conundrum (and I'm pretty sure it's a waste of time to try). Having made myself painfully aware (once again) of the state of my desk, however, I know that within the next week, I'll make progress on its contents, diminishing the pile and enlarging the lovely, clear space.

But it will never be perfect, and that's actually a good thing. Don't get me wrong -- clear space is nice. Tomorrow, for example, I have no appointments -- plenty to do, but nowhere I need to be at any particular time -- making my day the time equivalent of the lovely, clear space on my desk.

But as messy as my pile -- and my life -- may be at times, there is satisfaction in its fullness. While a full desk may be messy, a full life -- even when it's messy -- is a pretty good deal.

"I don't know anyone who could get though the day
without two or three juicy rationalizations."

Cartoon credit: digitalbloggers.com

Word Count Wednesday total: 2958 :-) No need to rationalize that!!