5 lessons that daily blogging taught me
With this post, I complete the Ultimate Blog Challenge for October 2016! Yay! Well this isn’t the first time that I’ve blogged continuosly for a month. I have done it before and I’ve blogged daily for a lot longer than a month. But let me tell you one thing, every time it is indeed a challenge. If you are a blogger too you may know the advantages of daily blogging. But blogging daily isn’t easy and there is so much to learn each time you take up a challenge like this.
1.It is always good to have a fixed time for blogging
Daily blogging is overwhelming. You have that job to go to, those errands to run, that housework to be completed, those assignments to be submitted. Between all of these things it is difficult to find time to write. So how do you deal with it? Set aside a particular time of the day to just write. Back when I was in college, early mornings worked for me. Now it is in the night post dinner. Initially it may be difficult to adjust to this additional task of blogging each day but if you keep doing it, it becomes a habit.
2.Theme/No theme both work absolutely well
Theme or no theme? Having a theme definitely helps. Your thoughts are now directed in a particular direction and hence it becomes easier to plan your posts along those line. But yes if you have a theme you must be sure of that you can pull the theme for an entire month/ the duration of the blogging challenge. And no theme works as perfectly fine as well. You write about different things each day. You can write a sad, emotional story one day and the next day you could come up with something hilarious! You could write a poem one day, a story the next day and also go on ranting about something else some other day! So if you have a plan for the challenge well in advance, then I feel a theme works wonderfully! And if your way of taking the challenge is going with the flow, taking it one day at a time then no theme would be perfect! So don’t worry if you have a theme or not, things will work out if you persevere.
3.Ideas are there. You just have to look for them
If you are taking up a daily blogging challenge, you definitely will face Writer’s block at some point or the other! So what do I write about each day is a question we ask ourselves when we take up a daily blogging challenge. Yes, during the first few days we are brimming with ideas and then those ideas begin to disappear. There are times we feel like giving up because we don’t seem to have ideas. But that is not true! There is always something to post about. There are so many prompts that are available on various sites/ communities (But write only for the prompts that inspire you!) May be an anecdote from your childhood, something funny that happened on your way to work or may be you could weave those numerous scenarios of how things could have been if you had made a different choice into a nice short story! All you have to do is just look for ideas. When I can’t think of something to write about I go back and read my old posts (a sequel or a prequel may be?), I keep asking my friends for ideas, or I just rant! One of the posts I wrote was just inspired by picture that I had clicked a few months ago! So just look for ideas!
4.Schedule posts in advance
When you are taking a daily blogging challenge it is good to schedule posts in advance. One, it takes the stress off! Two, most daily blogging challenges require you to read a certain number of posts and it is always good to read as many posts as possible. So having your post ready means that you will the time to concentrate on the reading bit of the challenge. You need not schedule all posts for the challenge in advance. Having even at least one post scheduled is good decision. There may be times when you fall sick or there may be some emergency on a particular day. This is when scheduling helps. If you have noticed most of my posts go live at 12 midnight that is because I write the post the previous day and schedule. So when I go off to sleep I know that my post for the day is already there and I can sleep soundly 😛
5.Community is strength
Blogging without a community is boring! To read your posts and tell you how awesome they are or to give you honest feedback about something that didn’t go too well, to congratulate you on your tiny milestones in the blogging world or to motivate you when you don’t feel like blogging- a community does it all! Daily challenges are difficult and it easy to give up. But when you have a community that you are a part of you will always have someone who motivates you to keep writing. You can bounce off your ideas and get a clearer picture after discussions with your blogger friends. And when there is something tech or otherwise that you can’t figure out, you have a community that can help you!
In the end, it is about persevering till the end! It is hard, but that is what makes it a challenge! So planning on taking a daily blogging challenge or have you already taken one up? Do you agree with these lessons that I learned? Did they help you? Let me know about your experience in the comments!
I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge.
Challenge completed!
Agree with all your points, Reema. Congratulations on completing the UBC.
The most important thing I learnt from this month of daily blogging was, if i put my mind to it, I can do it! As I blogged through a crazy month full of travel and festivities.
I completely agree with all your points. These are those lessons that I think of every time a daily blogging challenge is done and dusted.
One thing I enjoy is a photo post. They sure ease the burden off and still provide a perspective.
Hey congrats girl! You dunnit again! In awe of you and all the rest who’ve completed this challenge with flying colors! You make it sound so simple with these 5 points, but I can imagine what grit and determination it takes to plough on day in and out! Keep it going Reems!!
Agree with all your points Reema. I find it easiest to do daily blogging if I have time in advance to schedule at least a week’s worth of posts. Otherwise it gets too overwhelming for me to manage. And community definitely helps to pull through! Congrats on completing UBC!
This was a lovely list. I totally agree with the point but somehow I shy away from daily blogging challenges. I faced a complete burn out once and scared to give it a try again.
Congrats Reema !!! Very useful post !!!
Such a detailed analysis, Reema. I have never participated in a daily blogging challenge, but would love to do it one day when I feel I have the mental energy and time for the same.
Agree with the points made Reema. It’s helpful to schedule in advance but this time failed to so and that’s why was late and wrapped the last post yesterday. Theme or not, the main thing is to write. Congratulations for finishing like pro.
When you write regularly, you learn discipline. You learn how to move past the “feeling” that it takes to write. I’m a big fan of discipline – building a skill slowly over time by developing habits to support it. Sitting down at a blank screen and learning to get past the emptiness there teaches you things about yourself.
Thanks for these tips Reema. I have always wondered how you manage to write everyday. I have never tried blogging at a particular point of time, But I will try from now on. Maybe that will bring the flow in my writing. I don’t want to blog daily. But I want to blog regularly. 🙂