Posts
At the end of last year, I decided that I didn't like how I was blogging. At that time, if I was lucky, I'd have a couple posts scheduled ahead, but sometimes I'd have none at all. I'd have to come up for topics to post on the fly, and sometimes ideas just wouldn't come. So, I decided I'd read as many books as I could before the new year and scheduled those reviews for January. When the year began, I had over twenty posts scheduled. Now that I've started blogging this way, I can't see myself going back.
I'm not going to lie, it does take a far amount of discipline to blog this way. I make myself sit down and write reviews within a day of reading the book. But where this used to be a chore, it's no longer because I no longer feel obligated to review every book I read, and I also introduced 'Quick Pick' reviews for those books that I enjoyed but I don't feel the need to expound endlessly about.
I set time aside twice a month to work on the nuts & bolts of my blog. I schedule my reviews for all the books I'm reading or have on my calendar to be reviewed, and do all the coding so when I sit down to write a review, I don't have to mess with it. This was the main reason I put off writing reviews, so now I have no excuses. I also work on discussion and general posts.
Instead of dropping what I'm doing and writing blog posts as the ideas come to me, I jot them down in my notebook and work on the posts during my scheduled blog time. I do work on my blog outside of those dedicated two days a month to write reviews and to move things around when needed, but I keep most of the work for those two days a month. On average I spend three to five hours working on the blog during that time, and between one to two hours during the week. If you add all that up, I'm spending about twenty hours a month on my blog, give or take a little.
I'm now enjoying blogging again. It had started to become a bit of a chore for me, but now I feel like I have everything managed.
What's your blogging style? Do you have any tips to share?
I've been blogginf for about two years and still feel like I'm developing my style. Thanks for sharing your tips.
ReplyDeletewow great tip tara and wonderful commitment! i have almost been blogging for a year now (celebrating on my blog right now) and i am still a little unsure of my direction. i really enjoy blogging but haven't made designated times to do so and i fall behind in both blogging myself and coming to visit the blog i love. i guess its about finding the balance- maybe one day!
ReplyDeleteI've been blogging off and on for about 10 years now. I've only maintained my book blog for about three months. Never have I ever blogged a head of time and scheduled my posts in advance.
ReplyDeleteRecently my router broke. So, my access to the internet is limited. I realize now how badly I wish I were the type of blogger who posted ahead of time because of this predicament!
But, I don't blog totally on the fly. I have a notebook where I jot down ideas for blog posts. I have a list of all the books I need to read and review. I have a running list of questions or blog prompts. And I write blog entries on my internetless computer, and save them to a junk drive until I can get on the internet.
So, I'm not totally unorganized!
- Jackie
@ Tammy: you're very welcome!
ReplyDelete@ Alison: I hope you find the balance! It's not easy, but ultimately it's up to you what to do with your blog and how much or how little you wish to blog.
@ Jackie: You sound very organized! :)
Isn't it funny how we put off organising ourselves, but when we finally do it, we think "Now WHY didn't I do that, um, eight years ago?!"
ReplyDeleteWell done, Tara. Hope you continue to enjoy your blog!