#NaBloPoMo Day 16 - Half way through the blogging challenge

So here I am half way through my november blogging challenge! Has it been hard? Yes. Has it been very hard? No. It's something I have to remember to do every day. Though it's not as simple as that! Read on.

For me, blogging challenges have been stuff that legends are made of! Writing a post every single day for a month? You must be kidding!! And that's the response/attitude with which I dismissed the whole idea. I did feel guilty too when I knew that my friend Ankita is taking these challenges with a full time job and a little kid. But since I was setting up my professional presence online, it seemed to stressing to take on something like this. Plus, to be honest, I was just lazy! But this November I decided to kick myself into some action and get some blogging done. I was mentally preparing myself for the daily marathon and there's something about a challenge that gets all of us going, doesn't it!

What made it worthwhile is that I always keep jotting down blogging ideas that I get and this seemed like a great opportunity to get my writing out on all those topics. I have just been running into that list and wistfully wondering if I'll get back to writing. Also, to me a blog post is something that has to be a substantial piece of writing. I am bad at writing small articles and feel bad when I do that just to tick my day off for the challenge. So, the ideas were ready and I had to sit down and hack away at the keyboard.

Well! The whole challenge about blogging is to be able to do just that - type all your thoughts out, apart from structure them well, proofread and put it out for people to read. And the first bit itself is a challenge with online and offline distractions to fight against. I have managed so far, sometimes scrambling at the last minute to get that post out. (One of them was the result of realising at 11.50 pm that I hadn't blogged that day and it was indeed 12am by the time technology acted up and let me finally post it!). I have blogged about 6 ways to beat writer's block based on my learning from the challenge so far.

I think the easier way to do the challenge is to follow prompts by BlogHer. That way you don't have to think of a new idea every day. You will need to think of something only for weekends since the prompts are only for week days. The bigger challenge for me is to explore my own ideas. I need time to structure my thoughts and write the whole thing down. It can't be a last minute, rushed affair. I have tried to find time to do that on some days. I have not been able to pick ideas, jot down points for them and type some of them out as buffer. I hope to do some of that for future posts since the Diwali madness is over and I have time for more serious work now.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of doing this challenge. Will I continue posting everyday after this is over? Probably no. But I know that it is possible to put out a decent post every other day at least. I just need to keep up the passion and sense of achievement I feel through the medium of blogging. We just drop blogging from our priority list and take it as a chore. And no one likes chores. :)

Before you zonk out of my preaching, I'd like to end by giving credit, yet again to @blogchatter who has been doing such a great job of encouraging bloggers and keeping them on track. If you are an aspiring blogger, currently a blogger or a successful blogger even, you should follow them on Twitter. I'd also like to send a warm hug and thank you to my blogger friend, Ankita (@LifestyleProBlog) for inspiring me always with her passion for blogging and writing. She is the only real person I know who takes blogging challenges and that felt something real than unknown people who do challenges.

If you have been sitting on the fence, just take up the challenge. For yourself. You may stumble but that's alright. You just get up and get going again!

#NABloPoMo Day 9 - 6 ways to beat writer's block

Writer's block is an often discussed topic in blogging communities. I am no writer and I haven't been writing for years. But as I understand through our discussions, it is the inability to come up with new ideas and blog consistently. It's either lack of ideas or not being able to write well about them. I think it also includes not having enough motivation to actually sit down and produce some work. It's a strange procrastination that grips us once we keep stalling the act of writing.

I have been through the "What the hell do I write about" phase during the early days of my blogging. In fact, that was a such a large thought bubble that I did not blog for a year and gave it up as a lost cause. I reluctantly came back to write sporadically about something that caught my eye or something I felt strongly about and had to write. But as time passed by, I realised that there are a lot of things I could write about. I just had to be alert to things around me. Over time, I have learnt a few things that can keep the steady flow of ideas going and you could actually sit down to write about. Here's my secret recipe to beat writer's block:

1. Carry a tiny notebook: Or notes app of your phone will do too. When I first came across this advice, I pfffft-ed it and thought who can carry a book all the time. But an extra Moleskin book that I did know what to do with ended up in my hand bag became my write-ideas-as-they-occur-to-you-book. And you can see that I have used just a couple of the #NaBloPoMo prompts so far. I have so many of my own ideas!

2. Planning the posts: I don't mean create an editorial schedule of which post goes out when. I haven't done it even for my professional blog, let alone the personal one where I want to be my own unbridled self! I mean - pick an idea that appeals the most to you at the time and jot down points that come to your mind. For instance, I have thought of writer's block and points have occurred to me at different times - and the little book to the rescue. (I am also someone who needs some distance between writing and posting. New points will mostly occur to me when I let my ideas stew a bit) So when I sat down to write today, my points were ready. I am less likely to think of more after I have posted this. And the structure is ready for me to follow.

3. Posts can be short/varied: For years, I have believed that a blog post should be long. Or I think I have had so much to say about any topic I feel strongly about that short posts never worked for me. But as I read other people's blogs and was exposed to ideas like microblogging Mondays and wordless wednesdays, I realised that all posts need not resemble a thesis. I could talk about a quick point I had to make and be done with it. I did not have to research a lifetime worth of material to get a post done. And posting pictures and writing about them is so much fun. I guess it's fun reading them too. Though I still believe that blog posts should be meaty so that people aren't disappointed.

4. Write in the morning: Another piece of advice I thought was buhawkee! But then I still don't mean you need to be up at 4 am to finish your post. I don't do that either and am mostly struggling to meet the 12am deadline for the day (like today!) But the output is a lot better and stress free if you get some typing done in the morning. Not much - maybe arrive at work 15 minutes early and start working on the post of the week. You can add a bit during lunch too. Writing at the end of the day can be tiring and harder to stick to. (In fact, I am so used to racing against time that I forgot I had written in the morning on Nov 1 and was ready to chase the deadline the same night!)

5. Type straight on the blog screen: I have started doing this only recently - for the blogging challenge actually. I used to keep jotting ideas and partial posts in a word doc, almost finish writing there and then paste into the blog. I think the editing work increases because the look changes from a word doc to a blog screen. For some reason I haven't properly figured out yet, it just seem easier to straight away type here. Even the future drafts. That way I know what's in the pipeline.

6. Write when inspiration hits you: I am sure the best of writers never got a brilliant idea every single day of their lives. Everyone goes through a dry spell once in a while. Especially so when we are a burnt out generation mostly juggling jobs, family, kids, taxes, social media, traffic and a lot more at any given point in time. So, if you find yourself swamped with life around you, relax! Let it be for a bit. If you are scared people might forget you or you don't want to leave a gaping hole of your absence on your blog, you can reblog/repost stuff from the internet. Add a quick introductory paragraph to it for context. Your readers come to your blog to read interesting stuff and they will get it any which way. You can always find stories related to your blog which you can share.

Do you agree with what I said here? Do you still think there's writer's block? Feel free to send me your comments. I'd love to know what I might be missing in my understanding of the phenomenon.