Friday, November 9, 2012

A peek behind the curtain.


I* have been blogging for over a year now. And in that time, I have only missed a few posts (Monday thru Friday) due to a few errant holidays, some traveling hiccups or technical glitches, and a couple of self-imposed sabbaticals. Now, granted, sometimes I nail it and other times, as my regular readers know, I mail it in or, gasp, fail it entirely. But for the most part, I’d like to believe that I’ve become a welcomed** part of quite a few daily and/or weekly jaunts around the web.

The one question I get asked the most often is, “Do you think you’ll ever stop posting every day?” Perhaps.

But let me take you behind the scenes*** of how my blog posts come about and, hopefully, that will show you why I’ve been able to keep up such a blistering**** pace.

First, I stay open to ideas. If I’m in the middle of a conversation and something sparks a potential post, I wait until the conversation is over—it’s called manners, people—and make a note of it on a scrap of paper or in my phone.

Second, I make time to create. This might seem like a no-brainer, but I actually have dedicated times blocked out each week in order to play around with ideas.

Third, I’ve created standard set pieces. A day in the life of X as seen by Y? Mr. Dog-Turd Hand? Graffiti sections? Yep, these are all go-tos that I can return to time and time again instead of starting each post from scratch.

Fourth, I automate. You think I actually get up at 5 a.m. everyday to post? No. I try to get as many posts done in one sitting as possible each week. It doesn’t always work out, but at least I can live a relatively normal life***** and soak in more inspiration for additional posts.

Fifth, I don’t force it. If an idea isn’t working, I put it on the shelf and return to it later. No, seriously, I literally****** have a shelf for on-hold ideas.

Finally, I’ve created a false deadline and really stick to it. My old Tae Kwon Do instructor told me once that you have to repeat an action 10,000 times in order for it to become automatic. Lucky for you, dear reader, I’ve posted 9,833 times******* thus far.

*The great and powerful Oz
**Tolerated
***Essentially the DVD extras of my blog
****A bit much? I thought so. Let’s go with “consistent” pace.
*****For a Blogger
******I don’t really have a shelf
*******Give or take 9,500 times