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Last month I chattered that I was having a hard time blogging because I seem to be constitutionally incapable of firing off a quick post. That day I had a bloggable idea and thirty or so open tabs later for links, videos, pictures and various and sundry references and tangents later, I realized that my one little idea had morphed into at least three substantial and epic posts. At which point I bookmarked all the tabs to deal with later and expressed my frustration with myself to the internet. Denise shares my frustration and she asked me to blog about that phenomenon.
I'm here with a post for Denise and you, dear readers, now, because, though I haven't really solved the problem of dreaming up too many epic posts to actually blog, I have found a way to focus my blogging and practice the art of the short, focused post. As a result, I am blogging every day. And other crazy blog juices are flowing like a post demanding I compose it woke me up at 5 am this morning and I knocked out 1,500 words in between my first and this, my third post of the day.
It helps that I'm ignoring my inbox and that Saturdays are my slowest email days. But what has really kickstarted my blogging is my new blogging project. Returning home feeling bloggy invigorated by the recent BlogHer Conference, I mentioned one my random wacky stories to my book club and, as sometimes happens, someone said I should write a book. Instead I was inspired to start a blog.
I am now writing a post a day for two months based on a series of notes I took on 3x5 cards from responses to a personal ad I took out many years ago. It is sort of an undercover, very personal, double strength version of the venerable NaBloPoMo.
What I love about this project is it gives me focus, discipline, structure, a chance to practice a style of writing and it is teaching me how to write shorter. Most of all it has revved up my creative mind and helps me feel an urgency to get my ideas out onto a screen rather than locking them up inside a series of tabs.
You don't need to start a new blog to do a creative project that will get you blogging again. You can create something that fits in with your existing blog. But I encourage you to find a clearly defined theme or focus. I've had other project and series ideas but they were too loose or unformed to hold up and didn't succeed in getting me blogging again.
Before I share some links to blogger wisdom on getting their blogging mojo on or back, let me ask you - any great ideas that have worked for you? Please do share in the comments and see you in the blogosphere!
Related Reading:
Grace Davis at State of Grace had a Blog Backfire but then discovered "I can do this blogging thing. I really can."
I know how I can go forward on this blog. I can write about...
LOVE.
As in, "All you need is..."
And, "Crazy little thing called..."
Also, "Let's do it, let's fall in..."
Jen at Semantically driven shares "How I get my blogging groove back time and time again"
I’ve been writing here for nearly three and a half years and I quite often get the blogging blues but I keep coming back, and here’s why (there’s tips for you here too):
Bear Left On Unnamed Road found Light At The End of the Carpal Tunnel
Despite some frightening months when I wondered if I had inadvertently disabled myself for good, my countermeasures worked. I can type again. I feel normal again. It feels safe to blog again. More carefully, this time.
I return with a warning: Take Carpal Tunnel seriously. Check into the ergonomics of your office. Assume that you could be a victim. Spend whatever you have to spend so that your personal computer setup is wrist friendly and mother approved. The cost will be much cheaper than months of silent fury and pain and frustration.
Believe me. I know.
Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen at See Jane Soar! shares ideas for Finding the Motivation to Do What You Love inspired by Julia Cameron and 10 Tips for Increasing Self-Discipline and Motivation to Write at Quips and Tips for Successful Writers.
Suzie Cheel at Abundance Highway created a new habit by
