Don’t take this the wrong way, but blogging can be a real pain in the a$$. Sometimes the very last thing I want to do is sit down and try to come up with something relatively entertaining to put on my blog. Like today, for instance.
Just kidding.
But, as with all good things, blogging is also it’s own reward. Over these past months while I’ve settled into the groove of being a semi-regular blogger, I’ve found that I’ve gotten many unexpected benefits from my pursuits.
1. Keeping on a schedule.
When I decided to blog, I didn’t want the pressure of having to write one every day, so I put myself on a 3-times-a-week schedule. Over the past couple of months, I’ve missed some post days, but I’ve managed to keep up with it pretty well. And that taught me that I could indeed write on a schedule. It taught me that I can be disciplined in all of my writing efforts.
2. Writing quickly.
One of the hardest things about writing the blog has been coming up with things to write about. But, I’ve done it (with various degrees of success). This has taught me that I can come up with topics and write about them on short notice. And, because I’ve seen that I can come up with an idea and execute it quickly, my fiction writing has picked up the pace.
3. Writing regularly.
Up until last year, my writing has gone in fits and starts. Basically I’ve written when I’ve felt like it, and didn’t write when I didn’t feel like it. But I couldn’t do that with the blog. If I was committed to keep on my schedule, then I had to write whether I felt like it or not. This too has translated favorably to my fiction writing. Yes, there have been days when the writing I’ve done has been on my blog rather than my book, but the fact that I was writing the blog regularly has helped me to get into a better routine of writing my fiction regularly.
4. Doing my own thing
You can find all kinds of advice on blogging. Everyone seems to want to tell you what to say, how to say it, and when. In the end I just had to say the heck with all of it. I can’t write regularly on a schedule and be relatively interesting AND try to be somebody I’m not too. So I decided just to write the blog as it came to me. That’s what you have to do with fiction as well. You can read all of the advice in the world, but in the end you have to be who you are.
So, there you go. It may be a pain in the arse, but all in all I enjoy blogging very much indeed.
You’re welcome.
Get out of here, Blogosphere.
Sure. Kick the blogosphere out of your blog. Nice going.
Oh, yeah. Good point.
