Here’s My Experience With Daily Blogging

Review of week one

Collect one single thought, and let your brain do the rest- Todd Brison

Inspired by an article by Megan Holstein, I set out to publish content for 30 days straight. In her thought-provoking article, the author advises writers, who publish in the internet age to beware of algorithms. New writers cannot afford the luxury of working on one article for 20 hours and publishing every so often. If your aim is to get paid for your content, you need to produce more frequently; this will lead to a bigger audience which means more eyes on your work and more dollars in your bank account. Publishing more will also improve your typing speed, halving the time it takes to acquire mastery.

It’s time to take stock of the first week of the challenge with a focus on the variables I control. Yes, the highlights, responses, comments and new followers make me feel warm and fuzzy, but I don’t have control over them.

Let’s get to it:

Week: May 31st to June 7th 2020.

Number of Articles Published: 5

Average Time Per Article- 6 hours

Time Of Submission: Before EOD*

I am publishing on the go so I have chosen to publish my articles on Illumination. They have a 100% acceptance rate and almost instant publication which works well for me at this time.

Areas For Improvement:

I still find myself procrastinating on getting started which leads to frenzied writing sessions. This past week I submitted three articles within a few minutes to EOD which left me tired and exhausted the next day. Yet, on reviewing how the day was spent I found a lot of time was spent in busywork.

The second area of concern is editing as I type which results in a painfully slow, laborious process. I have read of hacks used by other writers such as hanging a towel over the screen or tilting my screen low so I don’t see the words as I type, but I keep killing the ideas as they emerge.

The third area is in planning the content before I write it-I do all the work at one sitting; I will generate the idea, research it and start typing all in one session, an exhausting process which leaves me frustrated by submission time.

The Highlights Of This Week

On the days I start writing earlier I have a great sense of control and flow to my day. The words seem to write themselves, the inner critic goes quiet and the possibilities of success appear closer.

In starting earlier, I can let the story sit for a while, returning to my copy with a fresh set of eyes and new connections to my ideas.

I can catch the crutch words I rely on to fill the gaps in my ideas. In the process, I have expanded my vocabulary list with new words and phrases.

Lastly, there is a sense of accomplishment in hitting publish day in and day out. Knowing I am not only building a writing habit, but I am also building my character makes this process worthwhile. I am pushing past the obstacles and distractions to achieve a goal I set for myself. I am building resilience and resolve as I go after my dream.

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you next week.

Here is the link to the brilliant article by Megan Holstein.