How do y'all do it?

by **dios4vida** » 27 May 2011, 08:35

I recently wrote a guest blog post for Wicked & Tricksy (yeah, I know. Shameless plug. But go check it out anyway!). It was my first ever time writing a blog. While it was a great experience and I'd be thrilled to do it again, it was also incredibly hard. For the whole week I worked on it (some of the slowest 650 words I've ever written) I couldn't even think about my WIP. I did nothing but work on that post. My beloved WIP sat neglected in a corner until I'd sent the blog in and called it done. And that was just ONE post! A lot of you guys write blogs every single day and still find the time to work, live, and write novels on the side!

HOW do you do that?? Is there some secret I'm missing out on? I'm a rather slow writer to begin with, so maybe that's it. But how do y'all do it?

by **Sommer Leigh** » 27 May 2011, 11:23

Practice :-) At first you spend a lot of time being really, really worried about what you say and how you say it and how it looks. Is it worth saying? Does anyone care? WIll someone think I'm an idiot? Do I have all my facts right? What the hell am I even doing?!?

After a while you stop worrying about all that stuff. You stop worrying if you spelled a word wrong or got a fact wrong. If you did, someone will point it out and you'll post an update. No big deal. And you know that some days you're not going to be very interesting and sometimes no one is going to care, and that's fine too. We can't have gold stars every day. When you relax and give yourself leave to be silly and wrong and uncool, wipping up a blog post every day or however many days a week becomes not so hard.

I blog every day at Tell Great Stories and have for more than a year. Most of my posts take maybe a half an hour to write? Maybe? Sometimes an hour? My first Wicked & Tricksy post took me 8 hours to write. I spent an entire saturday staring at my computer screen writing and rewriting and editing and rewriting. I had that terror of getting it all right and what if they don't like me all over again. Now I'm starting to feel comfortable tripping on my way to the stage.

You should totally guest blog again for us. Your post was wonderful :-) (Everyone should visit http://www.wickedtricksy.com and read dios4vida's guest post :-) It is awesome!!!)

by **Margo** » 27 May 2011, 11:42

Sommer Leigh wrote:You should totally guest blog again for us. Your post was wonderful :-) (Everyone should visit http://www.wickedtricksy.com and read dios4vida's guest post :-) It is awesome!!!)

I second that! Come play with us again soon.

by **hektorkarl** » 27 May 2011, 16:18

Just reading the post, I thought you were a blogging veteran!

I think a lot of people who take to blogging have experience in high-output non-fiction writing, like journalism, editing, copy writing, consulting, etc. It gets one used to deadlines and constant production.

by **dios4vida** » 27 May 2011, 16:30

Margo wrote:
Sommer Leigh wrote:You should totally guest blog again for us. Your post was wonderful :-) (Everyone should visit http://www.wickedtricksy.com and read dios4vida's guest post :-) It is awesome!!!)

I second that! Come play with us again soon.

<blush> Thanks, guys!! I feel like I've been welcomed into the Superstars of the Bransforums's circle!! I'd absolutely love to blog with Wicked & Tricksy again. If you need a gap filled for a day let me know and I'll be all over it! (Or maybe I'll just start spamming blogs at you...<giggle>) SQUEE, this is exciting!

hektorkarl wrote:Just reading the post, I thought you were a blogging veteran!

Thanks! It's nice to hear that my first attempt wasn't a complete washout. :)

by **maybegenius** » 27 May 2011, 19:05

Like Sommer says: practice :D

I update my blog 3 days a week, and it usually takes me 1-2 hours to craft a post. I generally do them the night before so they're ready to go in the morning. I have certain themes/recurring posts that I do (like my Kill This Character series or my YA Common Cliches series) which are pretty easy to put together because I already have the "formula" set up. I also stick to one general area (writing and reading YA literature), so my knowledge banks are extensive and I'm very familiar with the material, which makes writing it easier. I also keep a great big list of "ideas for posts." Whenever I get an idea for an appropriate post, I write it down on my list. That way I very rarely have an issue with not being able to think of a topic (my list is currently 25 topics deep, easy).

They come pretty easily now. I sit down, bang one out, proofread, and it's ready to go. Still, sometimes I just don't have time to write a full post. In those instances, I keep some links and videos bookmarked that I can share instead :)

by **Claudie** » 29 May 2011, 18:06

Margo wrote:
Sommer Leigh wrote:You should totally guest blog again for us. Your post was wonderful :-) (Everyone should visit http://www.wickedtricksy.com and read dios4vida's guest post :-) It is awesome!!!)

I second that! Come play with us again soon.

Late to the party but, YES, come play with us again. :D It was awesome.

Having regular themes really helps with blogging, because when you're out of inspiration you can go to these instead of worry over what to write and bite your fingers. It does get easier with practice, too. At some point you stop trying to be someone and just blog like yourself.

by **Prady** » 30 May 2011, 00:10

Yup. Writing a blog post requires a certain amount of commitment cause its intended to be read and we won't wanna put forth anything but our best work. I juggled a lot with my blogs- the theme, the content etc before settling on just the core idea of being presentable and enjoying the writing process. And thankfully, in recent times I have managed to write elaborate blogs in a fraction of the time that it took when I had just started. Its a process...gotta enjoy it and hope to be legible and worth the while. Oh...I am not disciplined enough to maintain a daily routine- but, when impulse hits- its go time.

Peace.

xtremeprady.blogspot.com
pradyexists.blogspot.com

by **Cookie** » 31 May 2011, 09:57

Brenda, I felt the same way! I agonized over my blog post. It literally took me the entire two weeks to write it, then edit it, then rewrite it. I was so nervous.

I still worked on my wip though.

by **hektorkarl** » 31 May 2011, 11:24

One of the most interesting things about blogging is that it demands constant output. This is daunting but it does interesting things to your thinking (IMO).

by **Mira** » 31 May 2011, 13:14

Brenda,

That was an absolutely terrific post! Brava!

I hope you keep on blogging, you have things to say!

by **dios4vida** » 01 Jun 2011, 09:14

Claudie, Cookie, Mira, thanks!! I'm blushing over here.

I'm sure that one way or another, I'll be popping over to Wicked & Tricksy again. :)

by **trixie** » 01 Jun 2011, 16:39

Brenda! I feel the same way! But I agree with the other comments--your post sounded very natural and was easy to read. Great job!

(Warning: shameless plug ahead)

Unfortunately, I'm a pressure-prompted person. That's the delicate way of saying I need the looming deadline right in front of me before I can really get into a groove. While this worked wonders in my college days and makes me a natural for NaNoWriMo, it's HORRIBLE for creating guest posts for Wicked & Tricksy (coming this Friday!).

I'm such a pressure junkie that I asked if my Monday deadline could be pushed back to Tuesday to accommodate the holiday when really, it was my subconscious revving up the pressure.

And no, no writing on my WIP took place during the 3 day brainstorm leading up to the afternoon/following morning writing frenzy.

Crap! I just remembered I forgot to send something to Margo. Sorry, will take care of that now...

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