The road to hell is paved with blogging about blogging but what the hell, I'll do it. I post a blog entry every other day (at least after January 1st, 2010), which is fairly constant and frequent. Here is how I do it.
1. Devote the best hours of a day to blogging
My brain works best right after I wake up in the morning. So that is when I face my laptop. I spend about two hours for researching and writing before I head to work. Sadly, many days the "research" part takes too much time because it is easier and writing is hard.
To recoup some of the lost opportunities, I try not to indulge in stuff that are not related to blogging (such as watching a re-run of Racing with the Moon with young Sean Penn and Nicholas Cage: I watched bits of it in no less than 4 times but still haven't gotten the whole story)
2. Do it every day
Many people say brain is like muscle: in order to be better, you need to use it every day. Making writing a habit is the best strategy. I find it also helpful for keeping me concentrated on my work during the day. If I do not spend writing time in the morning, I feel the urge to compensate for it during office hours. Needless to say, it's risky.
3. Take notes and put them in a single location
Jjot.com is my favorite online note-taking tool. When away from a computer, I send an email to myself, or if the idea is good enough to stand on its feet, tweet it. Twitter is a wonderful tool not only for broadcasting micro-messages and interacting with people but also for keeping online memo.
Having all memos in a single location matters, because the most interesting aspect of writing (or blogging) is forming a new combination/idea from old, seemingly unrelated materials. More about this topic can be read here.
4. Locate a large chunk of time once a week to write in bulk
On Sunday morning I allocate several hours to assembling all the drafts I wrote during the week (yes they do not have to be published immediately) for the upcoming week. During this stage, I complete unfinished drafts and correct goofy errors. Also, taking another look at the initial draft often generates another idea or leads to previously unnoticed mistakes.
Having more than a couple of hours is important because for some reason my brain needs idling time when it comes to writing, even when it is most active…. The two-hour writing hour during weekdays usually gets shortened to a one hour of concentration, which is not long enough for completing an entry.
5. Schedule posts beforehand
Typepad, my blog service, allows scheduling. I make sure there are always at least two stocks of unpublished posts. That way, there is no pressure in rushing and posting something I would later regret or starts the day with a bad mood. The workplace pressure is already giving us enough headaches. We should be spared from that at least while writing for the sake of writing.
I concur! =)
I agree – it’s the most relevant meaning at this time that is going to be picked up. Certainly we feel that IS about our whole life. I am kind of looking forward for the day I can safely replace my six-words into something entirely new.
I like yours. Funny how we cannot open our eyes until we decide to do so. I think the six-word challenge is a classic example of restrictions fostering creativity.
I think posts that (1) are short (2) are personal (3) make people think (4) are humorous tend to catch people’s attention. Hers is not an exception. The tricky part is, we should focus on writing good content rather than aiming at higher page views…
An autobiography is always a contemporary view of previous events, coloured and interpreted through the eyes of the author at the time of writing. Any one event will mature in meaning as an individual gains a greater wealth of experience against which to judge it. So it feels entirely appropriate in condensing life into those memories and concepts with the most relevant meaning at the time of writing. Something easily achievable in six words with a bit of thought.
I really like this idea. It’s a creative twist on the age old “This is your life” summary. It makes us think and pick carefully. Besides following you on Tumblr, here’s my six word haiku:
Never knew. Opened eyes. Life soared.
It seems posts like hers are an easy way to engage readers to participate in her blog. I’ve seen similar things people do in other blogs, it seems most folks like word games.
I think if we think of the autobiography as something that bridges our past and future, not a summary of our past, then it works better. I do get the idea of keeping it private. Michelle did it on LinkedIn discussion board, which is kind of a closed network with shared interests. People felt safe there.
I think the concept is a noble one, in broad terms. To sum up your life by pointing out the important things and shutting out the “noise” as you called it. I just think 6 words is a bit extreme for the exercise.
Unless of course the 6 words would remain private. But the very act of making them public, (such as on the website you described) opens up those 6 words to a millions different interpretations, and I am not sure I want what I consider to be my biography to ever be that ambiguous.
One could say of course that the challenge is to use only 6 words and not be ambiguous. I may try it within my own mind, but I think it’s possible that mine cannot simply be summed up in such a way, if put up to public scrutiny.
I like yours, though. I completely follow that. Michelle Reynoso’s…not so much.