I could have written a few blog posts to go live when I'm away and ensure I'd keep to my blogging daily challenge that way. I could, but it wouldn't have been the same (to quote a very popular portuguese ad)!
I've read loads about editorial calendars for blogs and how planning your 'content' is good for you. And I'm sure it is for the people writing about it, or those that 'prepare content'. I'm not one of those people. It took me a while to get why I couldn't prepare – nor enjoyed having – an editorial calendar, but now I know – I don't like it. I just write. That is what works for me.
I had no clue what today's post was going to be about and that was fine. I could have written about my journey to London and how I laughed on the bus listening to my favourite podcast! Or how the conference I'm attending is interesting and relevant and makes me love my job even more. Or even still how I'm looking forward to this break and celebrating the happiness of friends as if it were my own, because it is my own!
And then I sat down to write and this came out instead. Isn't writing just wonderful?
Preparing posts in advance is not my thing because I don't feel I'm preparing content as such. I write ramblings and experiences and little snippets of life, and curate that with photos I like and if I'm lucky, photos I love. Is that content? Yes, by the definition of the word content, yes it is. This blog is made up of content! But to me there's a difference in form that makes me feel like I don't prepare content – it comes out and goes live.
Some bloggers out there, some of whom I read and admire, spend a lot of time preparing their content; they research the topic, consider angles, write ahead of time and edit on a different day, curate with photos, and tweak the post further; finally, they time it and make it go live when they're asleep (this seems to be a thing!). I do one and half of these!
So… I write and curate content, but I don't prepare content as such, in my humble view and new invented definition of prepare. And that is ok! There isn't a life changing message with this post, but if I had to pick one, it would be this:
It's ok not to go with the trend and do your own thing, even if that thing seems odd to others. Why wouldn't you plan your content if that makes life easier? Well, because it takes the fun out of sitting down to write! Next!
Enjoy the weekend and my non-messages and blue skies or whatever the weather gods give you!
What you are getting at, here, is the difference between writing everyday or posting everyday.
I think that if you go with the former, the posts will naturally be rather ‘raw’. Unpolished. Of-the-moment. The blog will be like a journal.
But if you go with the latter, then it makes sense to plan what to say and spend time polishing each post. The blog will be more like a magazine. Or sections of a book.
Both are legitimate ‘blogging daily’ strategies, but serving very different purposes.
Enjoy the wedding 🙂
Thanks for the perspective, Ana 🙂
You’re absolutely right! It is a journal vs magazine/chapters type of thing. What you made me reflect on as well, is that for me it’s more the actual planning when posts go out, perhaps more so than writing in advance, if that makes sense.
Professional, I use editorial calendars all the time; personally, not so much. And it isn’t the editing of posts, is the planning when they go out… I think 🙂