I am a creature of habit. I write my blog posts at the same time each day (see above). When my day has happened and I have plethora of tiny details to mull over. At 2.24pm, I feel... unfinished. The day is only half done. Who knows what might happen between now and posting time? Some fabulous event may occur and a blog post would appear, fully formed, in my mind. Instead, I must eke one out while the sun hurts my eyes.
It is for this reason that I cannot write my posts in batches. I know people who do this. They do it very well. But it simply doesn't work for me. It's like I need 24 hours of rumination to come up with one blog idea. I'm not sure what this says about me. Mostly that I'm not very organised and am always writing my posts at the last minute.
It is 2.26pm. Did you see how I did that? A whole blog post about nothing. Call me Jerry Seinfeld.
Do you write at the same time every day? Are you a clever clogs batch writer? How do you manage this blogging business?
[image: rubber stamp from stampthing/etsy]
I'm a batches gal, but there's nothing clever cloggy about it. I think being able to write a fab post every single day is the clever bit. For me it's droughts and floods! x
ReplyDeleteHey Jerry, see, I *love* how you did that and I can't, so I'd swap you my week's-batch-on-Sunday blog posts for your Seinfeldesque posts any day.
ReplyDeletePlus I read recently, quite rightly, that batching and scheduling your blog posts is risky. Imagine if Jerry Seinfeld had been killed in a car accident today and you'd scheduled this blog post mentioning him but without condolences. I am a high risk blogger, your way is better :-)
I plan my content on a calendar but I generally write the post the night before it's published. The plan might change too if something comes up that I prefer to write about instead. I think it harks back to my newsroom days. Old habits do die hard.
ReplyDeleteOh, Al, I'm glad I'm not the only one typing away past 10 pm. Hmm, not so good for boggy rehab...J x PS LinkWithin is looking good ☺.
ReplyDeletethere is no rhyme or reason as to when [be it time of day of actual day] i blog.
ReplyDeletei blog when i feel the need to - why? because this is when i do my best writing, when i have something to say, when i have a need to get the words out - that's when my fingers fly across the keyboard and the words come tumbling out.
i can not post for days, weeks even and then do a blog post everyday for a couple of weeks and then nothing again.
write when it feels right and you will always write well.
*x*
I have been going for five years so by now my well of inspiration has grown pretty dry. Also I stupidly told my friends about my blog so can't write about them anymore. I write a blog post every few weeks just to clear out the cobwebs in my head!
ReplyDeleteLove the Seinfeld reference! And I WISH I could write something this clever every single day, but unfortunately my creativity comes in large quantities all at once... and then vanishes. ie: I'm a batch writer :)
ReplyDeleteI write when my babe is sleeping, ha! So either in the middle of the day if I've managed to squeeze in a shower and my lunch while she's napping, or late at night if she's given in to the inevitability of going to bed :) I do occasionally write up brief 'idea' posts but I don't use many of them.
ReplyDeleteI have a completely random approach. Whenever I find a snippet of time. Often at a similar hour to yourself. I'd love to blog more - I've got heaps of ideas but just can't make it a priority at the moment. I'd love to write multiple posts in advance then I wouldn't have such large breaks.
ReplyDeleteemma
I have tried to do the batching thing. It doesn't work for me. But I can't post at the same time either. Then again, I don't even post every day! I find it difficult balancing out reading blogs, writing posts and everything else in between x
ReplyDeleteI write in spurts (broken up by long desolate dry patches), and mostly during morning naptime (my toddler, not me) while very well caffeinated. By night time I am too brain-dead to even write emails. I regret this - I reckon I could write ten novels if I could only stay up and write all night :)
ReplyDeleteGenerally it is around the same time every day but on occasion, if I am feeling very inspired or just plain pissed off, I can fire off an extra post or two. My problem is that I seem incapable of saving in my draft folder and must enleash them on the web immediately.
ReplyDeleteJenn
During the week I blog after lunch, when little L is having her nap. At the weekends I tend to do more throughout the day when her dad keeps her occupied. I used to write a lot at nights, but at the moment I can barely keep my eyes open past 9pm. I hope that's just a phase, life is pretty boring when you are sleeping as much as I do at the moment. Yada Yada. Call me Seinfeld II. :-)
ReplyDeleteAllison, we speak the same language. I write at the same time everyday. I've piled up a few posts but they just tend to sit there like leftovers.
ReplyDeleteNo batching for me! If a post is ready to go it goes. If I can't get it right it sits there ruminating all alone. If it is very lucky I may return to it and mull some more. Most of my writing is a late night affair although these days it is largely a matter of grabbing the moment whenever I can.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the Jerry Seinfeldian nature of that post!
Michelle
I write best at night too! I do try and write during the day when I get a chance but it takes me so much longer to get anything down....I wish I could batch write but there is no way I could write more than one post a night, unless I didn't sleep :-)
ReplyDeleteI wish I had a system. I'm very much a 'have a routine and then stick to it' kinda person, but with blogging I just can't figure one out.
ReplyDeleteI do read blogs everyday, but the writing part I do on scheduled days otherwise I find myself writing blog posts in my head All. The. Time. This drives me completely insane.
Now I will have the Seinfeld theme music in my head all day.
I write whenever I have a free freaking moment, and those are hard to come by. And I try to do it before my husband gets home from work because, otherwise, I get the "You're still on the computer?" eye roll. You know that one, right?? =>
ReplyDeleteNo systems gal here. That's coming from someone who is a list & routine lover. Strange.
ReplyDeleteI find I blog when I have time and/or when I have a burning inspiration that I just have to get down. At times there will be a couple of unfinished drafts that I will go back to and rework. I like doing this as it strengthens my writing.
I wish I could sit down and blog at one particular time of the day, I've tried it but it doesn't work.
I can only do batches of posts if they're about a related topic and I'm trying not to bore my readers to tears by putting it all in one post.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit erratic about when I blog but one thing's for certain, I need an image of some sort in the post. Preferably a photo I've taken myself.
SSG xxx
Sydney Shop Girl blog
My post usually come to me while sleeping. Annoying at times waking. I scribble them down on a notepad and type next day.
ReplyDeleteI've just opened the door on this Brave New World of blogging & the idea of writing batches is beyond me. It takes me forever just to load the images!
ReplyDeleteI blog when I have the time and an idea or a Princess Letter to share!
i blog whenever the mood strikes me...which is usually wayy past when i should be in bed.
ReplyDeleteApparently, I'm somewhere in between! It's whenever the thought strikes but the fine tuning before posting means sitting down and getting it done- whether I feel like it or not.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently struggling. I used to do best early in the morning, but with a newborn I'm finding that hard to do. I'm trying to limit my teens computer time, letting them on only after tea, so I have to lead by example but by night I'm too tired to sound too bright.
ReplyDeleteI struggle to write batches of post. I think my attention span is too short!!
ReplyDeleteI just grab time when I can.
I don't have a system. If I'm writing stuff around photos I'm putting up, then I can do a few days worth at a time. but without photos, I may schedule one or two, but usually I'll put up whatever comes into my head on the day. I'm not a deep thoughts kind of person, so usually it's fluff.
ReplyDeleteI don't write at the same time. I do however have times that I simply CANNOT write. Night time. Any time after 9pm and my thoughts just stream and not clearly. I reserve that time for commenting on blogs. Surely I can hold a stream of consciousness for one...oh look at that lint on the floor!
ReplyDelete;)
I used to be baffled by those who can pre-write posts. For the most part I cannot. One day I sat down with several idea's with my head. I opened multiple "New Post" tabs and jotted down quickly in each a summary of an idea. Main points, specific sentences, or just a title. Then I got to work one by one on them. By the end of it I had 5 full blog posts, and a couple spare to come back to. I then try to come up with a blog post as often as possible, knowing I can "bank it" and use it later.
Sometimes I even turn comments to blogs into my own blog post. Share my story on my own blog.
This being said I marvel at those who update their blogs daily. Sometimes I could, it's very rare though so I steady myself.
Just remember that while you may be admiring some, there are many out there admiring YOU.
I am an every day girl too. For similar reasons to yours. I like the evenings, as they 'generally' create a calmer atmosphere for me to write and I also feel unfinished if I write early in the day. I have on occasions, written 2 posts in one day and saved one of them for the next day. But it is rare. Great post Allison :o)
ReplyDeleteI'm definately an afternoon blogger (Maya's nap time) and a 10pm blogger and commenter (Maya sleeping). I don't plan any posts really, very few. I just go with the flow, and when I have time ;o)
ReplyDelete