Blogging Every Day Last Month

Since just before Christmas, I've blogged every day. Starting on 22nd December with a look back at theatre in 2016, carrying on for over a month with a mixture of new features, posts about books (I finally gave Debbie her long-awaited Top Ten Sports Books on Christmas Day, as part of her present!) and personal posts, I managed to write 39 posts in 42 days. (There were guest posts on the other three days.) For comparison, between July and November last year I wrote a total of 30 posts in 5 months.

I cannot stress highly enough that I am NOT suggesting daily blogging is something everyone should do! I am a firm believer in blogging needing to be fun; if it doesn't work for you and you're not enjoying it you should change the way you're doing it.

And for me, trying to blog daily HAS changed the way I'm doing it. I've always had a hit and miss approach to features for the most part, but wanting to keep my weekend ones of Twenty Things I've Read and Shorts On Sunday going has really encouraged me to read more articles, seek out voices I'm unfamiliar with, and find more short stories. 

Looking at posts other than the features, I wrote a couple of posts I'm especially proud of - one on the asexual/aromantic erasure in Riverdale, and one on jealousy and not feeling good enough - which I don't think I'd necessarily have shared without the incentive of keeping my every day blogging streak going. Yes, they were posts that meant a lot to me and that I really wanted to put out into the world. But previously I've felt similarly about other posts, and never actually written them as I've put them off time after time. 

To try and make sure I did keep the streak going, I've got into the habit of trying to work on personal posts when commuting - especially if my bus or train is so packed that reading a paperback is difficult - and it's really helped me to see how quickly I can write first drafts when I have a subject I'm interested in. (Obviously there's then a slight delay because I'm so petrified about sharing that I need to get feedback from a minimum of three beta readers, but getting anything down is something of a win for me!)

(Speaking of which, I need to say a MASSIVE thank you to my friends Debbie, Faye, Caitlin, Julianne and Charlie - most of the posts I'm nervous about end up getting sent to several of them for feedback and their encouragement, and honesty when something DOESN'T work, is hugely helpful!)

So where do I go from here? Will I keep it up every day? Honestly, I don't know. I got quite lucky as I was less busy in my 'real' job than I was expecting to be last month, so if that changes I doubt daily posts will be sustainable. I also don't want to get burnt out, although switching between bookish and more personal posts is so far making that less of an issue than I'd expected. I think I may try and keep going for a little while, at least. And even if I don't keep up this level of output, I'm going to try and do it more regularly than in that long lean spell last year - because writing so many posts, and the amazing reactions that people have had to them, has reminded me that I have a voice, that some people like hearing what I have to say, and that my opinions are worth sharing.

If you're a blogger, how often do you blog? Do you try and do any features or posts regularly? Let me know in the comments!