Blogging and Working In The Flow

Hi Caroline,
Thank you for another insight into how you blog. It is always great to get another perspective. I agree that writing is something you need to do when you are into it and not force it. I am never happy when I know I have to write something instead of writing when I want to.
What do you think should be a good length for a post. I have heard a lot of different ideas and I wonder if you sort of shoot for a particular length or just write until the topic is exhausted.
Thanks for the insights.
Andy Bacon

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Caroline this is so true. If I write my posts when inspiration strikes I am always much happier with them. I just wish I had time to write more often!

You know, I have noticed the same thing. I use Google Notebook to keep track of ideas and many times when I came back the idea/inspiration was gone.

To combat this I’ve done a few things:

1. I write more than just the idea, I try to capture the feeling and some extra lines as well, that really helps me get back into the groove.
2. I go straight to my blog and write as much of the post as I can. I usually find out if I’ve got enough of an idea to post with, and often times I do.
3. If I haven’t come back to the idea in a few days, it is usually too late. At that point I will google the idea to see what others have said to see if it sparks any more thought.

The reality is that you are best served if you just write it down, as much as you have time for. As you said, this usually results in more than one post.

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Caroline,

I totallly agree with you here.

One of the most important things we online business people can learn is to realize when to just let stuff happen and not get in the way. Too often because we are overwhelmed we start out compartmentalizing our days in order to feel it’s under our control.

I’ve used the note taking idea for posts with much the same result you had. When the “time” came to write it, I had no idea what the damn note meant or why anyone would give a crap about such an idiotic article.

I only start out my day with 3 must do things with a spot for 2 more if something should come up. When I accomplish these is when I feel like accomplishing them.

I’m going to try your idea of spontaneously posting when the idea hits. If nothing else, I should be able to get a solid framework for a post.

I also end up changing any title I start out with quite a lot.

Jeff

Another great post Caroline and one that I wholeheartedly agree with. I often find myself with the same problem, but overcome it by just writing non-stop when I am “in the zone” and getting as much work done as enjoyment and not as a chore - even though I may not publish it until some time later . . . after an occasional review to make sure the work is worth putting out there.

So bravo once again!

Harpy´s Nightmare

Blog Schedules suck. It can make you more productive though.

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what a wonderful, guilt-lifting post this is! the processes you’ve described — going with the flow, not making a rigid schedule — are very much the processes that i am using except that i have been feeling that i’m doing it “wrong” after reading so much about the posting schedules and work schedules and so forth. and as i am still a fulltime dayjobber who also does quite a bit of nonblog creative writing, it can get pretty intense. feeling guilty, or wrong about it, wasn’t helping anything. this post of yours was exactly the medicine i needed, and i thank you for it.

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The thing about blog post title is that, there is no right way to do it. Clayton Makepeace, a respected copywriter, writes his headline after he finishes with the body copy. It works for him.

A blog post title helps me focus on the topic, so I personally will write better if I have the title written down first.

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I totally agree with you. I do not follow a schedule but jot down ideas as they come into the actual post dashboard and save unpublished. I think inspirational posts are the best and I for one am much more creative than pragmatic to plan and schedule my posts. Also, I think high posting frequency is over rated, because I write comprehensive and step-by-step posts, I take my time and choose quality over quantity.

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The thing with inspiration and workflow is generally just to get out of your own way and let things manifest as they want. So much of what people think of as stress is just them fighting the work that has to be done.

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Thank you, thank you, thank you Caroline.

I couldn’t agree more with Jackie - this was a wonderful blog to wake up to this morning, and a perfectly timed inspiration to keep on going, just as I thought I might be wasting my time! The “go with the flow” writing style is by far the best, because it comes straight from the heart, rather than being “cooked up” for a purpose - great if you’re a creative writer by day, but I’m not!

When you try to write about all things topical, you can’t really maintain much of a “stock” because it goes out of date too fast!

Clearly I, as do many others, get a lot from your “tell it as it is” style - keep up the good work, and good luck with your venture - it’s certainly inspiring me to try & follow you!

@Andy, length is another thing that I never plan - I just write and it’s done when it’s done. I personally have a tendency to write fairly long posts but that’s just my writing style. There’s no point trying to adjust what and how you write to fit some kind of pre-determined idea. Just write in your way for as long or short as suits you and the kind of visitors who like your style will stick around.

@Harpy, yes I rarely publish something at the time of writing but the publish date is not important, it’s the actual time of writing that seems to make all the difference.

@Franklin, not for me they don’t! But everybody works in different ways…

@Jackie, ahh yes the self-imposed guilt trip! It can take a while to shed that guilt and learn to listen to that gut feeling instead. I’ve been doing this over a year now and it’s been a slow process of change to radically alter the way I work and think. I used to feel very guilty about not sticking to self-imposed rules, schedules and plans and so on but once I began to realise that things work much better when I just do what feels right then the guilt went away because the productivity went up as a result.

@Hendry, yeah the idea of this post really is to inspire people to do whatever works for them and of course what works for me is not going to be the same as what works for everybody else.

@JR, I used to post a lot in the earlier days but I post a lot less now and I’m happier as a result.

@Howard, well it’s nice to know I can inspire somebody now and then :) And yes you’ve raised a good point there - if you’re blog publishes time sensitive material then learning to run with something when it hits is even more important.

I’d be very interest to see how this workflow affects your income and monetization in the long run.

I just read this article - http://traffikd.com/blogging/building-a-blog-part-time/ - on how being aggressive with your posting and having a plan tends to pay off more in the long term.

My personal opinion is to allow for flexibility when the inspiration hits as this allows for more authentic writing. However I believe that one should have a plan to ensure the individual posts are posted strategically in terms of momentum and blog growth.

Wow, I am glad that I’m not the only one that thinks people are machines. I agree that having a schedule in principal is a good idea it can all too quickly become anal and you end up wishing you were doing sometihng else.

How timely of you! my last post was just inspired and written within minutes of responding to a comment on the post just before it :-)

That said, I tend to work both ways, and so far so good. As you see, I can and do write “on the fly” as often as possible, and yes, sometimes 1 will turn into multiple! Gotta love it when that happens ;)

I also have P L E N T Y of stored posts/ideas, which is good to have in a pinch…so far I’ve been lucky in not “throwing out” very many at all due to loss of inspiration…or worse…loss of timeliness.

My advice to those that store ideas - make sure they are as “timeless” as possible.

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I’ve always been a fan of a loose schedule for working. Of course, it helps that my kids are young enough that they won’t allow me to stick to a strict one.

I have a general schedule of the things I need to work on at a given time. However, the schedule gives me several options so I can do what I most feel like doing or feel is most urgent. It’s nice to be able to let inspiration take me while getting the things done that most need doing.

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Caroline,

I totally agree! I have found that scheduling my posts ahead of time or doing a blog series KILLS my creativity. It may not do this for everyone, but it does for me. Nice post… stumbled…

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@Jade, I doubt it would affect my income very much - it’s much more to do with simply enjoying my day a lot more.

I write a daily business blog that is live by 8 a.m. If I was organized at all, I would have tomorrow’s blog all figured out. Nope. About 7 a.m. I will be looking for a blog idea. And I will do it - do it well if I do say so myself.

I keep my blogs as short as possible and rely on the content I link to instead of rewriting the wheel. And I keep them topical - sometimes tied to the news of the day.

The flow works well for me. It helps differentiate me from all the other business bloggers.

I fully agree, write when the mood and inspiration hits you. Course, that may be killing me, since I tend to write really late, and most of the American audience is asleep, but I seem to be popular with Australians!

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“Caroline has an excellent point here on creativity and inspiration. While it makes sense to schedule your sessions, when it comes to creativity, it doesn’t always show up. Some of my best ideas have arrived while on the expressway, in the shower or in that semi lucid dream state at 3 am. Always be ready!”

http://www.google.com/reader/view/#stream/user%2F02605990157804405559%2Fstate%2Fcom.google%2Fbroadcast

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It’s SO hard to “schedule” a time to be creative, just as it’s hard to “set up” a hard and fast rule to follow to ACHIEVE creativity.

Blogging is all about creativity but it’s also about flexibility. I was nodding in agreement as I read your post. If I had a dollar for every time I got to the end of a post and had to re-write my blog title - well, THAT would definitely be a Make Money Blogging proposition!

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This is good advice as not everyone works the same way. For me, blogging on a schedule is a sure fire way to get writer’s block. With the right inspiration a post can take 10 minutes but without it I can waste half a day struggling to piece something together. Go with the flow I say!

i definitely agree, nothing beats going with the flow. my advice is to write as much as you can whenever you get that inspiration. even for me, trying to schedule posts leads to spending hours and an article that im hardly ever happy with..

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Great post. Thanks for the the link. You Rock!

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