Crafting a Blog Schedule That Works for You

Many writers suffer from a condition I call Shizo-blog. Here’s some of the symptoms:

• You feel guilty for blogging because you should be writing your novel
• You feel guilty for writing because you haven’t updated your blog in two weeks
• You feel guilty prioritizing one over the other because with some creative management or self-discipline, you should be able to do both
• You feel guilty about feeling guilty because you expected this writer’s gig would be a lot more fun

Please notice that the common denominator of Shizo-blog is “Guilt.” Closely related to the guilt of Schizo-blog is the guilt you may be experiencing as you read this — because you probably should be writing, not reading blogs. I haven’t found a name for that condition yet, but I suffer those symptoms as well.

To further add to your guilt, may I remind you that, according to conventional publishing wisdom, regular blogging is non-negotiable for an author.

In Blogs We Don’t Like, literary agent Rachelle Gardner answered the question, “What turns you off in writer’s blogs?” Rachelle proceeded to list some “turn-offs,” one of which was

A writer whose blog has irregular and infrequent posts.

In the comments, she elaborated:

One of the keys to building a blog readership is that the content comes regularly and predictably. It’s up to you to come up with a schedule that works for you…

In a surprising number of cases, I will click on a blog link from a writer whose work I’m considering. I’ll see that the latest post was 2 months ago, the one before that was 2 weeks previous, the one before that was 10 days, etc. And the posts seem to be all over the place in tone and content. That says that the writer isn’t focused on blogging, nor are they taking it seriously, and so they don’t have a chance of building a significant following.

You can argue with Rachelle’s hypothesis all you want, but it’s pretty much status quo among literary agents. The issue is not really what you blog about or even how often you blog as much as it is “building a significant following.” Fact is, being “focused on blogging” and developing a schedule is essential to building blog readership.

And maybe that’s the first step to curing Schizo-blog, simply coming to grips with the fact that you need a blog schedule.

A common argument I hear from writers when we reach this point is, But I don’t have anything THAT compelling to say THAT often. Which strikes me as weird for any writer to admit. Nevertheless, that IS the issue: Having something to say on a regular basis.

I’ve been blogging since July 2006. Like any new blogger, I struggled to find my voice. And my audience. After a while (meaning several years), I sort of settled in. But here’s the important thing: I kept at it. I can’t recall missing a week of blogging in five years. For reals. Sure, sometimes the posts were short, fluffy, recycled, and disposable. Perhaps it’s OCD. Still, I stuck with it.

At the risk of appearing braggadocios, here’s a sampling of my WordPress Stats from the last two years. If you think those recent peaks on the right tell the story, you’d be wrong. It’s the left side of the graph that’s important; a steady slog through low to average readership. Waking up to find no comments on a post I thought was great. Yep, that’s what blogging is all about.

So what’s some of the things that have kept me going and might help you overcome Schizo-blog? How can you develop a schedule that fits you and captures your voice? Here’s a few ideas:

Write about subjects that interest you — No-brainer here. My subheader specifies Faith, Culture and Composition, three topics that inspire the bulk of my blogging. When I am not blogging, I am usually gravitating to those subjects in one form or another. Are there themes, issues, topics that naturally draw your attention, that you think a lot about? How can you expect to stay interested in your blogging if you’re not blogging about subjects that genuinely interest you?

Go with the flow — By this I mean, approach blogging with a respect to life’s rhythms, hot topics, and stream of consciousness stuff. We simply must give ourselves freedom to move around. If not, blogging becomes academic. Which is why some of the best posts are often unplanned. For example, when I learned Jennifer Knapp came out of the closet, it stunned me. I simply sat down, whipped up some thoughts, and posted them. It was a Sunday night, not a great night for traffic. Somehow, the post got linked and was #1 on Google for a spell. My traffic soared. Point is, if I’d been so locked into one topic, I’d have not blogged about the subject at all.

Gather ideas out of season –Ideas for blog topics are everywhere. Do you have a method for cataloging them? How often we surf the net or watch TV, encounter a subject that piques our interest, make a “mental note” to blog about it, and then never return to the subject? I am an avid “idea collector,” sending myself text messages, scribbling out thoughts, underlining, and bookmarking. Believe it or not, I currently have 261 drafts in my blog Draft Folder (see graphic). Granted, most of those drafts are simply one sentence ideas, provocative links, notable articles, pet peeves, funnies, and various fodder. Nevertheless, I’m committed to gathering and cultivating ideas for blogging. If you’re crafting a blog schedule, you should be too.

Force yourself to stay with a schedule — This may seem contradictory to giving yourself “freedom,” but it’s really not. No matter how flexible you’d like to be, you will inevitably reach a place where you have to post something (this is assuming that you buy into the “regular blogging is non-negotiable” thing). I usually post three times a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This is not a set-in-stone schedule, as I work full-time, write professionally, and value my mental health. Nevertheless, I do try to keep content rolling, even if it’s just lame posts about my Netflix queue or pics of my dogs. Bottom line: It’s better to post something brief, than not to post at all. Of course, content is king, meaning no amount of brief “lame” posts will attract readers. However, having no posts will attract no one.

Mix things up — Even though I return to the same subjects with regularity, I get tired of talking about the same things all the time. Mixing it up keeps me sane, and helps me stay interested. Do you mix up your blogging schedule? A weekend poll, an interview, a video, a curve ball topic, some humor. These things can break up potential monotony.  I tend to get thinky here and value lively discussion. It can result in a grim, curmudgeonly, constipated, over-serious tone sometimes. Which is why I like to interject humorous, snarky, light-hearted pieces once in a while (like On Cynics and Cynicism or 10 Steps to Being a Mediocre Writer).  Mixing things up can breathe a little life into a blogging schedule that has grown stale and boring.

I’ve come to the conclusion that if I’m going to survive at blogging, it can’t be all business. The writer who wants to use their blog to build readership, simply cannot afford to NOT have fun with it. But neither can they afford to wing it. There’s no way around it: Blogging takes time. And discipline. The writer who resists both will inevitably suffer Schizo-blog.

Question: Have you crafted a blog schedule that works for you? What has and hasn’t worked along the way?