Wow. I can hardly believe it, but as of this Friday I will have been blogging regularly for two years.
I know! It’s crazy, right? Yeah, I’ve missed days here and there, and I had a time in the fall last year where I didn’t give my blog much time, but for the most part I’ve been routinely posting three times a week since I went “live” on March 29, 2011. And they said it wouldn’t last. Well, okay, I said it wouldn’t last. Yet here I am! Top of the world, ma!
As with all things in this imperfect existence of ours, I’ve found blogging regularly has its ups and its downs. Because I’m a sunny, glass-half-full kind of a girl I thought I would share a few of the good things first. We’ll save the bad things for the next post.
Okay, so here we go…10 good things about blogging regularly!
1. You have to write regularly.
Duh. Blogging regularly means you have to write regularly. Yes, as a writer I receive great benefit from the routine practice of writing and publishing – even if it’s “just” a blog post. But I think everyone needs to practice writing well on a regular basis (as opposed to, oh, texting). Trust me – I have the emails to prove it.
2. You have to communicate
In our interconnected society, communication is key. Whatever you blog about, whether it’s poverty, politics, or your grandmother’s hamster Fred, you are trying to communicate something about something. Blogging helps you practice, not only the craft of putting sentences together, but the art of having the sentences say what you want them to say.
3. You have to come up with ideas
Ideas and creative thinking are important no matter what you do in your life. If you blog regularly, you have to come up with things to blog about. This both stretches your creativity and gives you confidence that you CAN come up with stuff when you need to.
4. You have to decide whether or not the ideas are worthwhile
Creative thinking is great, but not all ideas deserve the time it can take to express them, and some ideas aren’t right for certain platforms. Blogging regularly means you have to put on your editor pants and make decisions about which ideas seem worth the effort.
5. You have to meet deadlines
Just coming up with an idea for a post isn’t enough. If you want to blog regularly, you have to, um, blog regularly. That means hitting deadlines – even if the deadlines are self-imposed.
6. You are helped by your own posts
Blogging lets me express thoughts or emotions already bubbling in the caverns of my mind, but a lot of the time the act of writing helps me decide what I think about the topic. Trying to communicate a thought forces me to refine my opinions.
7. You have a presence on the web
Blogging is a great way to have your own consistent presence on the Internet, if you care about such things.
8. You have a place to play
My blog is where all of the voices in my head can come out and frolic. Uh, maybe that shouldn’t be considered a “good” thing…
9. You are forced to commit
Blogging regularly requires some commitment. But the good news is the discipline you develop while blogging will serve you well in many other areas.
10. You put stuff out into the world and people read it. And you don’t even KNOW some of them!
How cool is that?
Oh, don’t you all just want to run out right now and start blogging? Assuming you’re not blogging already? Well,hold on there, my little grasshoppers. Not so fast. Maybe there are a few bad things you should consider too. How about we chat about those the next time?
Let the anticipation begin.
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