"I don't know how you have time to blog!" Every time I hear that, I think, "I need to do a post sometime on my blogging process." It's been one of those posts I just haven't gotten around to, but it keeps rattling around in my brain. :) When I started the June Blogathon and began brainstorming ideas for it, this was one of the topics on the list.
I've skipped over it more than once this month as I've gone down my list looking for inspiration. And then one day I was searching the web for ways to keep lettuce fresh and I found this post. She has some great pointers on keeping lettuce fresh, and some great ideas for salad, but what excited me most was reading the first few paragraphs, about her blogging process. Finally, a blogger I can identify with!
I, too, have great intentions. I, too, start posts and then don't get back to them for months. I, too, just feel like writing about certain things on certain days. (Case in point...I started this one over a week ago and I'm just now getting back to it!)
What I Should Do
I've been reading a lot lately about how to be a "successful" blogger. There are many things I know I "ought" to do:
* Find a "niche" and stick with it.
* Post on a schedule.
* Write shorter posts. :)
* Plan posts in advance.
* Have a Wordpress blog with my own domain name.
Reality
I've pondered these things a great deal recently, and come to some conclusions about them:
* I'm not a "niche" blogger, period. My personality has always been one that has struggled with fitting into a mold, or limiting myself to one specific option. In some areas, one simply must bite the bullet and "pick one". I've decided that my blog isn't one of those areas, however.
Ponderings of an Elect Exile will just always have a surprise around the corner. :) It will probably always contain a rather random mix of recipes, family stories, music, book reviews, photography, homeschool stuff, child protection and other issues, and devotional/Bible study posts. I've decided that that is "me", and that's okay. :)
I have recently begun a spin-off photo blog, however. I finally decided that I needed a separate outlet for photos. I'll still post photos here, but the bulk of them will be found at Documenting Glory.
* I will probably never be great at blogging on a schedule, although I'm working on it. I really tend to be an "as the mood strikes" blogger, just as I'm an "as the mood strikes" scrapbooker. As my craft night buddies know, I don't scrapbook chronologically...I scrap what I'm inspired to scrap at the time. My blogging "process" is much the same. Two things have helped a bit in this area: (1) my recent addition as a columnist for Homeschool Toolbox, and (2) the 2013 Blogathon. (More about Blogathon around the first of July. :))
* Writing shorter posts...this one is probably hopeless! :) I'm just not a girl of few words. I'm a detail girl. I realized in 10th grade journalism that my dream of being a journalist was never going to happen. "Just the facts, ma'am" is not my style. (In case you hadn't noticed! ;-)) There are shorter posts here and there, and I'm working on writing a bit more concisely (except during Blogathon, when there is no time to spend trying to figure out how to say the 800 words I just wrote in 500 or less :)), but for the most part, longer posts are just me.
* Plan (and schedule) posts in advance...Working on this one! However, I know that even if I get much better at this, there are going to be those days when one of those posts pops into my head...the ones that just won't let go until I sit down and type them...right that very minute. (Examples: this one, this one, this one, and this one)
* Jury's still out on this one. :)
Case in point for long posts...this one is already way too long and this is only half of it! So, again, this is going to be "part 1", and part 2 will explain a little of my actual process and then the "why" behind my blogging.
For those still waiting for part 2 of the "Court to ER to 17 Years and Counting" post, it's coming, I promise!! :) This post was already mostly finished in draft, and my cotton-candy brain just wasn't up to anything else tonight. Five more days of Blogathon! Three more days of VBS! (It's going really well, and I hope to post about it soon.) Tomorrow is going to be an especially long day, so I'm headed to bed.
Tentative (very tentative!) blogging plan for the rest of the week:
Wednesday: Post part 2 of "Court to ER to 17 Years and Counting" or part 2 of this post.
Thursday: Post whichever of the above I don't post on Wednesday. :)
Friday: VBS wrap-up post.
Saturday: Another installment of "God is Truth. Satan Lies."
Sunday: ??? (It's word cloud day for the Blogathon and I just did a word cloud, so I'm not sure if I'll do another, or come up with something different.)
Monday: Blogathon wrap-up post!!
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Are you a blogger? I'd love to hear about your blogging process in the comment section!
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