After writing every day in October (except the days we were away camping), my words have been somewhat missing for the last few days. I really enjoyed writing to a theme, and thought briefly for a moment about theming every month, but realised that would suck pretty quickly. Here are my 5 takeaways from the month
- having a plan makes a difference. I only decided to actually write for the month of October around the 26th of September. So I brainstormed topics, and the order, and came up with a plan. That plan changed a few times over the course of the month (and I've since noted things I forgot to include that I'll write about in the future), but it was much easier to work from a plan than fly by the seat of my pants.
- writing every day makes writing every day easier. Once I got into the routine, writing became interesting, and something I wanted to do every day. That urge made sitting down every evening after kid-bedtime easier. Except for a few big posts that needed lots of research, I wrote the night before and scheduled for early morning publishing.
- it's ok to miss a day (or 3) I knew we were going camping before October started. And I was going to write and schedule posts to cover the period, but as the day drew nearer to load the car up, I realised I was dreaming. And I was ok with that. I never planned to "catch up" the posts, I just changed my schedule again. And nothing happened because I didn't post.
- numbers aren't everything I was asked a couple of times during the process if my stats had gone up. I mentioned in the analytics post that I only check my stats once a month, but out of curiosity I checked them at the end of October, too. And I made myself google "how to work out percentage increase" so I could figure out that in the last half of the month my stats increased by 35%. But the fact that some pretty awesome blogging friends were travelling the path with me was more exciting.
- I make lots of excuses to myself. I've been called out on this one a few times lately, and I agree every single time. I CAN post every day, and I DO know stuff.
I have to say that I am so proud of you for your success in blogging about blogging! Some of the posts were really over my head! LOL. But for the most part, I enjoyed all of them even if I wasn't able to comment on each one. Well done, Cate, well done!
ReplyDeleteOh wow - I just clicked on one of your links and realized you linked to me. Aren't you the sweetest! Thanks, Cate. It was my pleasure to follow along! :o)
ReplyDeleteYou read lots of things about posting every day and posting to a schedule. Honestly, I think the every day thing can do more harm than good. I would much rather post less often and be happy with what I write than post every day and be unhappy with the quality. I settled for posting once a week - except when we are actually travelling - which seems to be most of the time - then I post as things happen.
ReplyDeleteRight now I haven't posted for several weeks - for reasons which I will explain in my next post - but that's okay. Like most of us I get enough pressure from the outside world without adding to it myself. Loyal and interested readers can find a blog through blog reminder services. They don't need a schedule.
p.s I love your blog and keep up to date with it through Bloglovin.