I was reading this post from Cheri at Idle Chatter, which begins: “Here it is, 11:15 pm, and I’m just now sitting down to write today’s post. Somebody make me feel better and assure me that I’m not the only one who’s ever found themselves staring at a keyboard as the day dwindles away, the ‘publish’ key impertinently mocking, waiting for a flash of inspiration.”
Two things came to mind:
1) I really enjoyed the post, but
2) I almost never write that way
I find that I need to write things when they enter my mind. The post about my mother’s birthday, which you will read on November 17, i.e., my mother’s birthday, I wrote on September 15. It just came to me, and if the muse says, “WRITE THIS,” I write it. The muse can be rather insistent.
I would hate to get to November 16, think, “Geez, I ought to write something about Mom’s birthday,” and stare at a blank computer screen, so the muse does me a favor.
I find it easier to write when I know what I’m going to write about, which I suppose is obvious. For instance, if I know for an ABC Wednesday post X is for X-Rays (it won’t be, at least not this time around), it puts me to mind to think about all the X-rays I’ve had. The brain will percolate in the background while I’m doing something else, such as showering or bicycling, then, suddenly, a theme emerges.
After I have written it, I might change it, but it’s easier to change something than nothing. If it isn’t tied to a specific date, I might even move it to another day because I need to say THIS more right now. THIS is usually for some national or world event, or perhaps a noteworthy death. When Hal David died, I wrote a piece, but I had had something else scheduled for that day which was, fortunately, movable to a day or three later.
The downside to all this moving stuff around is that, sometimes, I don’t know what I’ve posted for a given morning; I’m as surprised as you. The upside is that I get to read it, well, semi-freshly. “Oh, yeah, I remember this one.”
I tend to write in spurts. I’ve created as many as four posts in a day, and often two. Then I might go four or five days without writing anything, because the muse is on strike, demanding higher wages. Or I’m sick and/or tired; spent nearly a week in mid-September with stomach flu that was not helpful to the creative process. Or I’m busy, often with the Daughter.
I like to read other blogs, not just so I can steal ideas (e.g., this post), and create my end-of-the-month summary, but because it makes me feel connected to the rest of the world. Otherwise, it’s just navel-gazing.
Today, not incidentally, marks exactly 7.5 years of blogging, every day. It is better to post once a day than three times in one day, then nothing for three days, in my hardly humble opinion.
Anyway, I hadn’t written a blog post about blogging in nearly six months, so this is my semiannual contribution to that much-maligned body of work.
I actually enjoy posts about blogging because I’m always curious about what other bloggers do and why. Which is part of the reason I did the same thing (posted about blogging), but with a big difference from your method: I wrote mine this morning. I really should give your method a go.
I’m poking my head out of my cave to start making rounds again today and find myself here; what a treat! Believe it or not, I am trying to slowly modify my approach to things, learning from others. Taking a clue from you, I’ve written almost two of my future ABC Wednesday posts, so I figure that’s a start. Thanks!
My problem is that I have too much to say. The trick is organizing it so it makes sense. That takes sheer effort, and I sometimes can’t find the time or the energy. But eventually all the things I want to say drive me back to the machine and I make the effort.
Oh, and by the way, 7.5 years of daily posting is an amazing accomplishment. Congratulations!
My muse sometimes takes a vacation. But she usually comes through for me when there’s a self-imposed deadline.