A little over a month ago I decided to start blogging on a daily basis. Give it a month, I told myself, and see how it goes.
I’ve never been a prolific blogger. I write daily for my day job, an on both fiction and non-fiction projects. So writing for blogs and social media usually takes a backseat, especially when life is busy. And it’s usually busy. (Not least because I live with two Airedale Terriers. They take up a lot of time!)
I’ve managed to maintain that daily blogging regime for a month, despite life becoming insanely hectic at times. I had to spend a week living with relatives, taking care of people and stuff, sorting out doctors and carers, social care teams and equipment deliveries, fixing problems and dealing with issues. At the centre of the whirlwind, in other words, with barely five minutes to myself throughout the day.
I had to resort to very short posts at times. But I managed to get through it. The main findings were:
- I moved from dreading the prospect to enjoying the challenge.
- I got better at coming up with ideas, or spotting them when they presented themselves.
- It was time consuming on occasions, and distracted me from other work. No way around that one.
- It seemed to have little to no affect on visitor numbers and comments.
- My brain became tuned in to the need to find blog posts every day. That’s why it became easier and more fun.
That last one is the most interesting finding – but predictable really. If you write fiction and are always on the look-out for stories, then you find your mind goes searching for them. You wake up with ideas for stories. They pop into your consciousness at the most unlikely and inconvenient times. Basically, you’re telling your subconscious that coming up with story ideas is important – so it gets to work, in the background and often overnight.
The same was happening with blog posting. Long may it continue. Though I do have other sites to write for – so even if I do keep up the daily blogging routine, they won’t all be on this site – though many will.