I’m often asked how I publish as often as I do. It’s hard for me to understand the question. How can I not publish as often as I do? My rhythm would be out of sorts if I were to publish less often. I then wonder what the motive behind the question is. Is the person merely curious or does he or she want some sort of magic pill?
I’m afraid no magic pill exists. I do the work, then I do some more work. I work weeks in advance. The post being read today could have been written a week to three weeks ago. I don’t stop writing once I have a queue of posts at the ready. I keep writing. I keep working.
I also am very conscious of my time and how I spend it. I would say I’m busy, but the word seems to have become a dirty one lately. I feel guilty using it, yet the truth is that I am busy. Yes, that busyness is of my own doing, but it’s a necessary busyness. Without it, I would have no social life. I wouldn’t be stretching my writing abilities. I wouldn’t be attempting to grow my business. I wouldn’t be trying to stay healthy and active.
That busyness means I work off a schedule. I have my list of priorities and my calendar. I rank those priorities. I work on the ones that need immediate attention and allow myself a break before addressing the lower priorities. I have learned that I don’t work well if all I do is work. I become resentful of the work. I become weary.
I also cut activities when I must. It’s a hard thing to do when I’m a perfectionist. Quitting always feels like failure even when it’s not. Sometimes, quitting is necessary. Quitting one thing gives a person the ability to do something else.
The main reason I publish as frequently as I do, though, is that writing is a part of who I am. It’s become an ever more integral part of my being as I write more often. I know I could write more and publish less, but I don’t see the point in that. If I’m going to spend time crafting something, I need to and am going to publish it.
If you publish frequently, how do you do it?
Photo: Steve Jurvetson (CC BY 2.0)
Hi Erin,I do what you do – I write the posts as inspiration strikes and load them up in the pipeline until my publishing calendar is filled. I couldn’t write them at the last minute – I’m a voracious editor of my own stuff! Recently I took a break from the blog to have an at-home vacation. I worked on my business (Terra Cotta Pendants) and didn’t do any writing or commenting. It allowed me to refresh and get a clear view of what I do and to come up with a plan to organize my time better. So yes, quitting is a good thing at times 😉 I think it’s important to achieve a balance of what feels right and what will serve your goals, don’t you think? And have fun :-)Lori
Lori I do! It’s why I make sure to schedule things that will keep me social. I have the inclination to be a workaholic and a hermit. Neither are healthy things.
I do the same thing as you with my comics that get posted every Friday, I have them scheduled to go out, but will illustrate them in advance. Currently, I am illustrating comics that won’t go live until mid-November, but have story lines drafted that won’t hit online until a good month or two into 2013. Now sometimes the inspiration hits and I have the time to do an additional comic earlier in the week based on recent events, like how I was able to produce a comic making light of some earthquakes that happened in So. Cal. earlier this week and had a comic ready to publish by the next morning, making it an extra post and extremely relevant.
DustBunnyMafia Dust Bunny Mafia! It’s nice to see you around the place. :)I agree. One of the benefits of working far, far in advance is that you end up with the ability to respond to current events.
I write very frequently but I publish very irregularly. That is because I am writing for multiple sites and it does get scary – I sometimes end up writing three posts a day! Recently I blogged about how lazy I am keeping up with a “schedule”. I do wish I could be so much more regular on my blog – my ultimate aim is everyday!
Hajra Eek! That is a lot. I write a couple of guest posts per month, and that’s more than plenty.For me, I schedule about two to three hours to finalize posts and to schedule them. I use that time to find the images I want, to do some final editing, and to add some HTML where needed.Are you using WordPress? I use the editorial calendar plugin, and it’s helped immensely.
Erin F. I use wordpress, I need to get used to idea of having an editorial calendar. I just review a post too many times before actually posting it… oh, the pains of the want of being a perfectionist … 😉
Hajra Haha! I review my pieces to bits, too, although I’m not nearly as bad as I used to be. I put a cap on how many times I can edit something. It’s a habit I learned when I was in college and grad school. Limited time is a great instructor for perfectionists. :)I don’t really use the calendar as a calendar per say. I have my constants: a new comic every month and two or three Write Right/grammar posts. I usually pull from the drafts I have written, then place them on the calendar as I will. If I notice some of the posts are about similar topics or have similar themes, I move them around on the calendar so that I don’t bludgeon people with a topic. I usually only schedule posts a week at a time, although if I get going with the scheduling, I’ve scheduled as far as three weeks in advance.
I am a JITB…..just in time blogger…..I have a schedule; Tuesday’s and Friday’s and I find I work bet under pressure except for those pieces that require a bit more research. I have one piece on the go which is a follow up from a previous post which will take another week to complete and in the interim I hit publish on what inspires me in the moment.Is that wrong?BTW, love the blog. First time here and it’s great. Thanks for popping by my place. I have seen you about the ‘sphere and hope to engage more often now……busy, busy, busy.
rdopping I don’t think there is a wrong way or a right way when it comes to writing. There’s just the way that works for you. As a writing consultant, my job isn’t to make people conform to my way of writing. It’s to help them find their own way of writing about a thing. You seem to be on top of things as it currently stands. :)I’m glad you like the blog! I’m planning to change things a little bit once I have that silly e-book in place. I want to make things a little more streamlined and make the home page a little easier to navigate.We shall have to stay in better contact in the future.Cheers!
When you say “Publish” are you referring to posting on the blog? Or are you referring to book publishing? It seems like it might be the former.
I have a routine, which is the most important part of my day. I’ve posted every day for the last 1000 or so and I can’t imagine a day passing without writing a post. As far as book publishing, I’m horrible at time management. I’ve published one book this year, which isn’t very good considering I’ve had 3 other completed Henry Woods just waiting to be edited. In fact, my todo list for today has me finishing the last stupid 5K words on one of them and I seem to be avoiding like the plague.
Even though I actually enjoy editing, to a point, I find that getting stuff ready to send to my editor is somehow a task I like to procrastinate on. (Thinks to self…what else could I write…hmmm…if I stop writing I may have to get back to editing…hmmm)
Okay, I’m going to get back to work. Ugh.
ExtremelyAvg I was referring to publishing on a blog. I don’t have any experience with book publishing except for the manuscript I put together in grad school and the e-book I have available here. The e-book is fully self-published, so the process was different.
I think the final legs of any lengthy drafts are the worst. I can remember having to work on some of mine. I often found myself muttering the entire time. 🙂
I try to write every day, but my day job sometimes gets in the way. I have stopped publishing every day, which has given me room to tailor posts for guest submissions or to start work on new Write Right or other freelance projects.
Erin F. ExtremelyAvg I post every day, even when I don’t feel like it, because if I ever let my consecutive streak break, I fear I might never write again. It is an irrational fear, but it keeps me writing…for better or worse. I’m sure that there are many times I could improve upon the post, if I take a bit of time.
On the other hand, the volume of writing over the last couple of years had made me a better writer. At the very least, I’ve gotten an improved command of comma use. (Not perfect…but improved.)
ExtremelyAvg I think that’s a common fear. I know I was concerned when I stopped publishing every day. I scheduled my posts in advance, but I still was afraid. Turns out I was afraid for nothing. I’m less stressed, at least about publishing, and I seem to have more creative freedom.
Better writing is the result of writing (and reading) consistently. I’ve had the conversation about consistency and frequency with TheJackB and jasonkonopinski several times. They aren’t the same thing.
Commas are tricky things, aren’t they?