In 2015, I wrote about a weird phenomenon that was happening within my blogging processes. No sooner than I would start outlining and building a blog post, the little writer’s voice within would pitch another idea at me, and I would start working on that one.
Having a run of good ideas is certainly not a bad problem to have. I definitely counted my blessings in that regard. But in its wake, I was being left with a series of incomplete posts, a phenomenon I called The Graveyard of Blog Posts.
As summer began, I was itching to get to work on another creative writing project and wondered how I could keep the blog going for a couple of months while giving my writer’s voice a fresh challenge.
As I was browsing through my drafts folder, the list of posts that were waiting to be finalized had recently grown some more and was looking pretty impressive. I knew that some of them were just waiting for a final conclusion to nail the point I was trying to make or some “icing on the cake” wording to make it pretty.
The point is, I had several that were almost ready to be posted and patiently waiting in the wings.
Maybe that was my answer!
I made it my goal to try to finalize 8 or 9 posts over two weeks, which should give me enough completed weekly posts to put the blog on autopilot with fresh content until Labour Day, and a couple of months to let my mind wander in another creative direction.
I began digging through my graveyard of blog posts and placing them in descending order of word count. With very little effort, I found 15 posts with more than 500 words.
Given that my posts are usually around 700-800 words, 500 seemed to be a good indicator to start with, in finding posts with a solid foundation, a clear direction and a good amount of development.
I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but it all came together and before I knew it, momentum was building. Those icing on the cake words were flowing like a babbling brook and I was nailing conclusions like an expert carpenter.
As much as I hate putting pressure on myself in creative writing, having an interesting goal and setting a deadline seemed to put me in the right frame of mind for editing those partial posts. Maybe I do work well under pressure after all!
And frankly, there were a couple that were ready, I had just forgotten about them or doubted their merit. With a good proofreading, they were fresh, shiny and ready to go too.
I don’t understand why getting blog posts ready ahead of time is not something I have been doing more often. For as long as I can remember, I’ve known that TV shows are filmed ahead of time and have episodes banked up before they even hit the airwaves. It’s not like I didn’t know that banking blog posts was possible too. Maybe it’s just the ebb and flow of life, energy and other commitments that prevented me from doing it.
But in the last two weeks, I did indeed hit my goal of 9 completed posts. In doing so, not only did I clear out some material from the graveyard of blog posts, but I found a new blogging strategy that can help me ease into the transition of simultaneously pursuing other writing projects, whether it’s the screenplay, the novel or the Broadway musical dancing around in my head.
Either way, I am beyond ecstatic at having the opportunity to respond to my calling and my purpose. When words are flowing better than they ever have and my writing reflexes are getting sharper with every passing blog post, I am truly grateful for the artful life I have the good fortune of living.
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Sincere thanks for reading!
Have a great day,
André
It's the Journey 