We’ve all heard the familiar refrain from bloggers: “I’m too busy to blog,” “I don’t have the time anymore,” “I’ve got nothing to write about.” Hogwash, all of it. The problem with the above thinking is that it presupposes that blogging is a chore, a task that provides one with little positive reward. But blogging is hardly a chore. Like all creative acts, it does marvelous not just for the consumer of the end product, but the creator of it.
Today, Zachary Adam Cohen will explain how exactly you can turn your chore of a blog into a more rewarding, enjoyable experience.
Blogging Opens Up Space For New Ideas
First of all, blogging does not have to be a medium where serious discussion takes place. Some of the best blogs I have ever written were “off the cuff,” ones that I hadn’t planned on writing, but suddenly felt an urge to take pen to paper, or finger to keyboard as it were. A lot of bloggers lose momentum with their blogs because they want every single post to be astoundingly good.
But real writers know that not everything you write will be your best effort. Not every sentence is going to flow with the naturalness and syntactic fireworks that gets our hearts pounding. But when you have an idea in your head, its crucial to get it out.
It is one of the beauties of the art form of blogging that we can log on anywhere, from home, with our laptops. Heck, I’ve written blog posts on my phone and uploaded them into the cloud. You don’t need a quiet room and just the right kind of music to blog properly. Sometimes you have to blog amid the chaos.
The importance for a blogger of getting their ideas out and onto the page cannot be overstated. When you enunciate your ideas in language, when you’ve done your task as a blogger, you allow for new and better ideas to come in. It’s about space. Creative people get lots of ideas.
Some of us have something called ADD. But it isn’t Attention Deficit Disorder. It’s called being curious and creative. The problem with being creative and having lots of ideas is that it can get crowded in there. When people don’t have the outlets to get their ideas out, they become overwhelmed.
Sometimes, getting less well-crafted ideas out of your head can actually open enough internal RAM so that multiple new ideas spring up. In fact, it’s not infrequent that I obsess about an idea for a blog post for days or weeks, waiting for the time that its constituent parts will assemble themselves so I can articulate them. And then they come, and it just falls flat.
So don’t hold back, get those suckers out. You never know what will replace them.
The more you blog, the more you’ll blog
This is why blogging is so important. Blogging can be quick and light. It’s not like your writing your college submission essay or your senior thesis. It’s just a blog.
Alex and the other writers here at Blogussion have done an unbelievable job of educating on how, why and when to blog. So don’t look at your blogging as a task. Look at it as a present you are giving yourself.
This minor change in the way that you approach your blogging is great because it turns a negative possibility into a positive one. Instead of losing something, like hanging out with friends or catching the latest movie, you can portray it to yourself as a gift.
Over the past few months this is how I’ve been thinking about my own blogging habits. Not as a necessity but as a productive act in and of itself. I am not chasing traffic or advertisements. I truly can blog whenever I want on whatever I want.
But because I’ve come to recognize the positive aspects of blogging, especially the way it opens up new frontiers for better and better posts down the line, I have written more during this period than ever before. I am even thinking about writing a book. For the first time in my life, I actually feel like I have the ability to carry through one of the most arduous creative tasks we know.
How does blogging lead to more blogging?
Aside from opening up new mental spaces where new ideas can source themselves, blogging with a positive framework in mind, takes a lot of the pressure off the blogger. All writers and artists are highly critical of themselves. In fact, one of the most important battles the creative mind will ever face is the one with itself. And its a long and sometimes ugly war.
But if you can drain the importance away from each and every creative act, dare I say even have fun with it?, then you’ll be outmaneuvering your own negative, critical self. And the less negative you are, the more productive you will be.
The Discussion
Leave a Comment Read Again?I’ve found that doing any kind of writing on a regular basis makes blogging not only easier, but also more enjoyable. I keep several paper journals, a personal one, an inspiration one and a kind of random scribble-pad.
.-= Tom´s last blog ..The Wednesday Workout =-.
Tom
One of the reasons I started a separate personal blog was because I wanted to write about things other than social media and my consulting business. I found that as soon as I built up enough confidence writing about a targeted topic, I soon found the energy and confidence to branch off.
The random scribble pads are great! I keep one by my desk and usually fill them up every few times a week. Not all of the ideas or thoughts will become blogs. But its great having the outlet to get them out.
Thanks for coming by and reading my guest post! So happy to be contributing to this wonderful community that Alex and his partners built.
Z
.-= Zachary Adam Cohen´s last blog ..Foursquare Is Listening =-.
I must admit I have fallen into the catagory of ‘no time at the moment’, ironically I have time to read other peoples blogs. Hmmm, maybe I need to utilise my time more productively! Thanks for the kick in the bum that I needed, I’m off to write another blog post, see ya!!
Ian
Don’t be so hard on yourself. Sometimes we need the space to read, consume and absorb other creative product before we can get the wheels spooling again.
That being said, happy you are motivated to write something. Please share with me on twitter @zacharycohen when its up and I’ll have a read!
Z
.-= Zachary Adam Cohen´s last blog ..Foursquare Is Listening =-.
“The more you blog, the more you’ll blog” – Thats true.
I have blogged so much that I can write a new article much faster than before.
.-= Agent Deepak | Blogging, Marketing & Success´s last blog ..How does Earning 4$ per Referral Sounds? =-.
I was just thinking about this last night. I finished a post and thought, “Wow, this is getting so much easier and quicker to do.” The writing is easier, the ideas seem to come out of nowhere . . . the more I blog, the more I’m blogging!
.-= Jean Sarauer´s last blog ..When Bad Things Happen to Good Bloggers =-.
Jean
There ya go! It really does get easier.
Until it gets harder…
Z
.-= Zachary Adam Cohen´s last blog ..Foursquare Is Listening =-.
It’s really about thinking of blogging as a part of your life, and not a task or chore. I think one of the indications that can tell us we enjoy blogging and its benefits is when we can write while we’re out of our comfort zone (e.g. being able to write in a place that is a bit noisy)
.-= Julius´s last blog ..Do Blind People Use a Special Keyboard? =-.
Julius, thanks for coming by and reading. Thanks especially for the comment. Its a simple act but it means a lot. I often purposefully put myself out of my comfort zone and force myself to blog, to make it happen amidst the chaos.
It’s a good tactic for when you need to break up the routine.
Z
.-= Zachary Adam Cohen´s last blog ..Foursquare Is Listening =-.
Zachary, your recommendation to look at blogging as “a present you are giving yourself” is exactly the thought process I used last year to start walking daily. Instead of thinking of it as a chore I HAD to do for my health, I chose to view it as my time to my thing without any interference. I went on to complete a three day walk for charity last July.
Great idea to apply this process to my blogging as well. Thank you.
.-= Tammi Kibler´s last blog ..Writing Career Goals – I’ll Show You Mine if You Show Me Yours =-.
Tammi
Congrats on your recent charity walk. That is great news. And I am glad to see you’ve made this tremendous change to your life. Good for you. Don’t ever forget this accomplishment. It sounds like you’ve finally prioritized something that should be.
Z
.-= Zachary Adam Cohen´s last blog ..Foursquare Is Listening =-.
The key to frequent posting for me is to just think I will write a very short post, then once I begin sometimes it ends up a long article.
David
Frequently I start posts with just a glimmer of a thought in mind. Sometimes it morphs into something really excellent. Sometimes not. But getting started is as least giving yourself a chance!
Z
.-= Zachary Adam Cohen´s last blog ..Foursquare Is Listening =-.
Great article! I’ve been doing that thing you mentioned–obsessing over an article, waiting for the parts to assemble themselves. In the meantime, I’m writing other posts that seem relatively successful, and that one “great” article continues to go unwritten. This becomes especially true when I “research,” which for me means thinking about it too much! So, thanks for the advice: “Don’t hold back. Get those suckers out there.”
.-= Ami Mattison´s last blog ..4 Reasons You Should Perform Your Poetry =-.
get em out!!
.-= Zachary Adam Cohen´s last blog ..Foursquare Is Listening =-.
I admit, when I first started blogging a while back it did almost feel like a chore after the first few months but then something clicked and it all started pouring in.
Now I enjoy writing, it’s quickly becoming my main past time over everything else. The more I write, the more I feel I’m creating a beneficial skill I can take elsewhere when need be.
I know at some point I’ll be able to point to my blog and say “this is what I’ve accomplished”.
If you really think about it, there’s more time than ever to blog. You don’t have to sit down and bang out an article over the course of a night, write a paragraph or two but do it often so you’ll end up with regular content.
Write down everything, even if it sounds stupid. I find that writing down every idea that pops into my head helps build to grander ones down the road.
.-= Murlu´s last blog ..How To Choose A Profitable Niche Blog Topic =-.
Murlu I love the way you put that. Pointing people to your blog and saying, THAT. THAT is what i’ve done and I am proud. What a powerful gift for the world and for yourself. Your confidence is infectious.
.-= Zachary Adam Cohen´s last blog ..Foursquare Is Listening =-.
Great post!
You are absolutely right.
The more you blog, the easier it will be for you to blog. There have been many occasions on which I will reluctantly write a blog post and before you know it, I will have written about 5 posts.
Thanks a lot for the great post,
-Onibalusi
Onibalusi,
i love that feeling of thinking I have nothing to write, starting anyway, and finding myself with more content then I know what to do with
Z
.-= Zachary Adam Cohen´s last blog ..Blog Review of HyperAllergic: The World’s Best Art Blogazine =-.
These are some great tips! I have to agree with all of them, you make a lot of sense going into these topics. I try to blog at least once a day, as it gives my readers something to look forward to when they log on.
.-= Blogger Den´s last blog ..Making Time for Social Media =-.
Blogger Den!
I wish you didn’t agree with all of them. What did I get wrong? What did I miss?
It’s no fun if commenters only agree with me!
Z
.-= Zachary Adam Cohen´s last blog ..Blog Review of HyperAllergic: The World’s Best Art Blogazine =-.
I couldn’t agree more. When I first started (moons ago), I had so little to say I was practically plagiarizing.
Now several failed blogs later, I have 600 drafts in my main blog and enough for a network of blogs.
.-= Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Warning: 8 Posts Coming Back to Back =-.
It’s a proven scientific fact that the human mind comes up with its best ideas when it’s distracted. So, with that knowledge, people with ADD should be great bloggers! On a serious note, it can be really easy to blog ‘in the moment’ and that’s all well and good but we should at least take the time to brainstorm our ideas and develop them a little bit further before we go ahead with them, the quality will probably improve because of it.
.-= Jasmine Henry from System Fail News´s last blog ..Call of Duty : Black Ops Teaser Trailer , I Was Right! =-.
Although my blog hasn’t launched yet, I have been working diligently on it for the last two months – everything from the design to the content. It definitely isn’t a chore for me and I can’t imagine that it ever will. I absolutely love working on it and I am so excited for the launch. I am a person who can be easily overwhelmed at times, but I feel like it will come easy to me because of one thing – my passion for it to succeed. Thanks for such a great guest post!
Nina,
I wouldn’t publish too much content before you go live. As much as we like to think people will hit a new blog and start from the beginning, it’s very rarely going to happen.
Much of it could be “lost” in the archival black hole.
While it also is a good idea to republish older content for new readers, you shouldn’t have to do that from the jump.
.-= Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Oops I Lied-HAHA =-.
Dennis,
I completely agree. I should clarify – as for working on content, I am not writing a bunch of articles right now but rather, brainstorming different topics and trying to narrow in on exactly what I will be blogging about.
Ah OK then, that makes sense; and a good idea.
The flip-side to what I said above would be to open up with 2 published and nothing planned…just as bad, if not worse.
.-= Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Oops I Lied-HAHA =-.
Great post.. Im working on blogging more and realize that not every one of my posts will get 50 RT’s and 50 comments..lol
More you blog, more traffic you get.. I need to start following this.
.-= John Paul´s last blog ..Breaking Into The Top 20 Internet Marketers Online With No List =-.
Thanks for another great and most of all motivating post!
As John above here says: More you blog, more traffic you get… I need to start following this”!
OMG! You’ve been looking inside my topsy turvy head! I was diagnosed as ADHD at 12 years of age and then as an ADD adult many years later. I agree it’s not a disorder. It’s a personality type. A free thinking, highly creative one. More linear thinkers may not get that, but there are more of us than I ever imagined. And we make awesome bloggers. Especially when we let the creative rivers flow freely and blog often and regularly.
Thank you for this very encouraging, motivating and uplifting post on the importance of blogging often and regularly. I do still get stuck in the occasional rut, where my blogging all but dries up. When I see that happening again, I’ll just think of this post and pull myself out and post!
.-= Blog Angel a.k.a. Joella´s last blog ..Did You Sign Up For Your Hubze Card? Beta Release Date Announced! =-.
I totally agree – and the more you write online the better you get at it too!
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