I’m sure a lot of you already know what I’m going to say in this post. After all, this is a republishing of an old post!
So I ran out of inspiration, because I post more or less daily, and decided to call on Lita for help since she did mention once that she pretty much never runs out of the stuff. And of course, sweetheart that she is, she immediately offered to “give” me one of her future post topics but that didn’t feel right. Besides the conversation itself gave me an idea. The first thing Lita said is that the need to find something new to write about every day is exactly why she doesn’t want to be a daily blogger and I thought – huh… I could write about that!
As I write this I have published 1332 posts and have a dozen more scheduled. Some of these posts are just re-posts for other blogs or tiny little announcements but still, that’s a lot of random stuff to talk about. I’m hardly the only daily blogger, some people even have multiple posts a day, but I am one of the few that is not a seasonal episode reviewer, an anime news blogger or a multi-blogger site. I’m just a hobbyist that mixes reviews with essays and lists and whatever strikes my fancy like a lot of other bloggers. I just do it daily. And I’m often asked why!
It’s an excellent question. I personally don’t think that posting more often is in any way “better”. Arguably taking a few days to really flesh a post out and do proper research is likely to give you better results. The few posts that I really like are ones that took me a long time to put together and I had easier to write entries in the meantime to keep things going. Since I am neither a news or episode blogger, there is really no particular timetable I have to stick to either. It’s all just arbitrary and self-imposed.
O.k., now even I’m starting to wonder why I do it…
All of these reasons are of course completely personal and probably don’t apply to anything else. The main and most boring one is that I am essentially a child. I have a feeling that if I don’t have a strict posting schedule, I just won’t do it. Granted I could relax a bit and post every other day and I might end up doing that. Spontaneous poll, should I start posting every other day????
When I started blogging I basically worked out this schedule in my head that put aside a certain time for writing every day and now it’s part of my routine. My day doesn’t feel quite complete without it. For the record, the benefits I gain from my writing time are pretty much akin to what I read about meditation. It calms me down and centres me. It allows my thoughts to drift and focus on something outside of myself and my immediate circumstances which makes it easier to get perspective on my life. And it’s fun!
These are also benefits that I don’t get out of more structured and long-winded projects. A post which requires a month of research and specific points to hit and detail is very satisfying, There’s really no denying that. It is more satisfying than the bulk of the posts I write. But it doesn’t give me the same introspection and sense of calm that I get from throwing my thoughts out in the digital world.
And much like meditation, I find that the only way to really get any of those benefits is by doing it frequently and consistently. I guess that’s a bit like exercising as well. Hmm, it’s almost as if practising a thing will make you better at it. Meditating is supposed to help expand mental faculties but I’m not sure I’m seeing any of those benefits…
So basically for me, and my lifestyle, writing daily as well as the ritual of choosing images for my words and scheduling a post, brings me a lot of collateral en intangible benefits (how many times have a written this word – take a shot but maybe a non-alcoholic one…).
As for the how. One thing you should know is that I don’t sleep much. I’ve always been that way. I’ve been really blessed in that I sleep extremely well. I have never had insomnia and I don’t wake up in the night ever. I basically hit my pillow and I’m out. And I can sleep any time, anywhere. But I’m good on 5 to 6.5 hours a night. Like completely good. I’m not tired in the evenings or anything. So that gives me a lot more time in a day.
Right now I no longer have a commute to use for my writing so I block time during my day, a specific hour here and another there in which I write. And I do so regardless of whether I have something to write about or not. I scarp a lot of those posts. I will sometimes get 800 words in and just never manage to bring it together into something remotely worth publishing. Some days, I can tell right from the get-go that my muse is partying in Barcelona without me and I will not get a post out today. Doesn’t matter, I still write something even if it’s nonsense.
And some days, I write a lot. My muse is back, not hung over anymore, and words are just flowing out of me. I have something specific to say and I’m excited and passionate about a topic (often one no one else cares about but thems are the breaks) so I’ll just keep on writing. I’ll get two or three posts out that day. I also have a few episode reviews which I usually write an hour or so after watching the episode, outside of my regular writing schedule. These extra posts are buffers for those days when I can’t get anything out.
Yes, some days are extremely busy and the 40 minutes in the morning, and hour in the afternoon that I managed to set aside for writing (that’s my commute normally), get whittled down to a single 15 minutes in the day. That’s ok., I still write a paragraph or two. There are some perfectly average-looking posts that were written over the span of almost a week, one paragraph at a time.
Now I don’t have children to take care of which I feel is another big factor in me finding time to write in a day. And I’m fairly introverted which cuts down on my social obligations compared to a lot of people. I’m not sure most people could really have anything similar to my writing schedule and I’m not sure anyone would want to. Like I said, I really do this for selfish reasons that won’t necessarily apply to anyone else.
Oh, and another great trick is when you run out of inspiration, ask Lita, She’s awesome!
How often do you post and do you have a reason for it?
Every day. Not necessarily top shelf stuff, but I keep the front page fresh 🙂
Admirable!
I try to post daily but it’s hard stashing the posts. Like I write the most on weekends so I tend to publish 5-6 posts on Sunday and a few on Saturday. What I should do is save them so then I’ve got one a week but I can never resist the urge to just post them all as soon as I write them. During the week it’s hit or miss. Usually I try writing a post late at night but lately I just end up falling asleep before I can…..
Oh wow. I write months in advance so that’s drastically different. I would be too nervous to publish right away, I need a bit of distance from the post
I have always journaled, as far back as I can remember, on pretty much a daily basis. Once upon a time I kept like 12 blogs going on various subjects and often wrote six or more articles and 3 or more short stories a day as well as noveling. A series of personal traumas put paid to that for a number of reasons, and now I struggle to manage to keep up with a single journal on a daily basis. I’m hoping maybe someday that love of writing may return, but I think it may be associated with too much pain and struggle for not just no reward, but actual and to me extreme punishment. In fact, I’m a former workaholic who has finally been broken by a combo of the U.S. system and my hubby’s health problems.
My whining aside, I am impressed and respectful of your output, and the reasons for your consistency. It is always best to write for yourself (IMHO) and if someone else enjoys it, yipee! And I must say I have enjoyed your writing greatly, although I admit I do not read every post. I support you doing you and writing as much as you like, be it daily or less. Just be sure that you aren’t backing off because other people think you “should” – because they don’t know you, they don’t know what goes on inside of you and makes you truly happy. So fuck ’em Writing is also a skill that definately improves with practice, so the best way to improve your writing is to write. Issac Asimov wrote or edited over 500 books in his lifetime, and still had time for an awesome life. Just continue being the marvelous Irina we all know and love 😀 Blessedbe.
Oh Foovay. Meeting you was really one of the very best things I ever got from writing
I blush. And maybe sniffle a bit. You are just as much a gift to me, truly.
I am too selfish. If you post every day that means I get to read your posts every day.
Now maybe if you only posted every other day, your posts could be twice as good. I doubt it. They are already good enough there isn’t enough room for them to be twice as good.
Thanks Fred! That really encourages me
You know what? Thanks for this post. I was definitely needing it.
Right now I don’t post daily (and I don’t think I could, realistically) and as I fall more into the reviewer category, I tend to have specific days for posting. But lately, uh, having a tight agenda made me put a lot of those off and that created a bit of laziness, not gonna lie. But the Fall season is coming soon and there’s a LOT I know I want to review, so your post was a great motivation to do so. Thanks again! And congratulations for being able to post everyday, that’s a great achievement.
NIce! I’m looking forward to your fall reviews. I bet it will be great
Somehow, I never realized that you post every day. I’m also not the sharpest cheddar in the dairy aisle
That’s o.k. I’m sure most people don’t. But it’s nice to know that I could change my schedule whithout losing all my readers!
Yeah, personally I wouldn’t care if you kept to everyday or changed to once a week (which is my schedule)
So. I post weekly, at least three articles at start, but I’m thinking of cutting that to one article every week.
I write daily, and I do have time, but I just cannot bring myself to post daily. I thought of it doing that when I started my blog, but I quickly abandoned that idea once I realized that I would end up compromising with the quality.
Maybe I’ll do a once per year challenge in future, where I review one movie per day for hundred days without a week. But posting every day without a break does not sound like something I would like to do.
But hey! If it is working for you, then it is my recommendation that you stick with it. As you have pointed out in this post, you are getting some benefits out of it, which do sound like they are worth the activity.
Thanks for your advice!
“Spontaneous poll, should I start posting every other day????”
You’re most certainly welcome to change your schedule however you like! But I do check your site every day (no, I don’t use Reader — I prefer the real experience of visiting blogs), so if you change, I’ll have nothing new to read about half the time!
And seriously, if you want to reduce, go for it! But if you don’t want to, go for that, too!
I’ve never thought of it that way, but writing having an impact similar to meditation makes sense. I’ve always thought of it less precisely: I can’t not write, so I write. I just chose to focus this or that hour on anime blogging (usually an hour a day, I think; sometimes two). I try to spend two hours a day writing novels. But now that you mention it, my writing centers me and helps me organize my thoughts, too. Well, to the extent my thoughts can be organized. Jury’s out on that.
I post every day, so I fall into the “episodic review” category. Most reviews are new every week; one’s a repost; and one’s my favorite posts from other bloggers for the week. To be candid, that is a huge advantage. I try to bring something of myself to each post, and that can be a challenge, given the subjects of some of these shows (I’m looking at you, Made in Abyss!). But it’s nothing compared to the challenge of posting original posts daily like you do. That’s seriously impressive.
You post more than once a day sometimes, don’t you. or at least more than once in 24 hours. I think you’re one of the few ones left that can manage that
Only rarely — like at the end of the season, when the new season’s start overlaps my episode guides.
That’s a busy time of the season!
I can definitely appreciate your sense of motivation, its one of those things I struggle with a lot myself.
I’ve often wondered what will happen when someday, my drive to write fades. I’m guessing it will, though honestly, I can never remember a time when I didn’t want to write. But regardless of whether it’s a bug or a feature, I’ll say this: it helps me write a lot of words!
Now if I could only figure out how to write words that people get excited about reading!
But that does give me a productive goal! It also keeps me off the streets.