Writing Tool: Building A Blogpost Storehouse

Keeping ahead of the rockslide...

Because I post Monday to Friday on this blog, and also post a weekly short story and YouTube video elsewhere, I have a lot of creativity to keep up with. Therefore, I've been working on building up a storehouse of blog posts so that I'm not forever scrambling to slap together and post an article the day it is due.

Here's how I've been building a Blogpost Storehouse.

1. Streamline related posts by working on them at the same time.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I release my Explorations in Clayland and Adventures in Sketchtopia series. They are excellent examples of streamlining, because each involves successive steps: 1) sort clay pieces/sketches into groups, 2) take picture/scan picture, 3) format pictures, 4) upload pictures, and 5) add descriptive text to post.

Rather than taking a single post and running through all of these steps individually, it ends up being a lot shorter in the long run to run batches (3-5 posts worth of material) at once. With enough commitment, I can get a whole month done in a concentrated chunk of time. Speaking of time...

2. Block out appropriate chunks of time.

It takes a while to generate ideas, draft out passages, format photos, and otherwise create components. Really getting into the flow of creative work takes adequate time. Therefor, I fight to block out 2-3 hours on Saturday afternoon to work. When I'm in the flow, I've been able to get multiple weeks worth of content together in one sitting.

Now, given the frenzy of my life, I don't always get the big chunks I'd like. So, to compensate, I also try for smaller chunks with greater consistency. One such class of chunk-times are over my lunch break. Small weekday chunks such as those are especially good for finishing up niggly bits that were not covered in the larger chunks.

3. Pluck low-hanging fruit quickly; crack hard nuts in stages.

Posts that are quick, interesting, and fun practically write themselves. Therefore, I try to work on those first, so that they are done and ready to go. Then, I can focus on the harder posts that may take a few sessions of work. Those tough nuts do not become overwhelming, as the low fruits are ready to go while the nuts get finished.

Closing

Using the methods above, I was able to get two weeks ahead in my blog posting. This was fortunate, as I then got quite sick and was unable to do much. I was able to burn through my storehouse to keep up with posting while I lay gasping in bed.

Now that I am hale and hearty, I'm working on building that storehouse up again. With luck, I'll make it a permanent feature of my blogging landscape.

That's all for now. Chaps!

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The Mark Williamson Creative Universe

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