I love blogging. I love playing with words, and reading comments, and especially connecting with other bloggers, both on their sites and on mine. Like most worthwhile pursuits, however, it isn’t always easy. You see, I’m a perfectionist, which means that almost every new entry goes through each of the steps outlined below (yes, including this one). Sometimes the slow learners even get to repeat a few. And since I’m the helpful sort, I’ll now share with you this handy-dandy guide to creating an adequate blog post, Book Lady style. (Yes, adequate. I said I was a perfectionist, not that I’m perfect. You want perfection? Find another blog.)
Okay, here goes…
- Write post. Revise obsessively. Publish.
- Ping search engines, Feedburner, Technorati, and RSS feed readers.
- Revise post again, wishing you’d caught now-obvious errors before letting God and everybody know you’d written something new.
- Agonize. Post isn’t good enough. Doesn’t fit theme/voice/sense of humor. Or it fits too well, making it redundant and therefore boring. Everyone will be disappointed and unsubscribe from your feed and remove you from their blogrolls.
- Avoid removing post from site through sheer will and other diversionary tactics.
- First comments trickle in. Read and respond.
- Bask in relief. The post isn’t perfect, but it’s up and it’s been read, so it’s too late to take it down now.
- Wait one day, again reading and responding to any comments.
- Begin to think about next post. Should put up something soon, but what? Not to worry. There’s some time.
- Still some time, but not as much.
- Cripes! It’s been two (or, okay, three…or maybe four…) days, and still nothing new. Ummm. What to write about? Spend whole day mining every experience, every thought, every conversation for a topic.
- Fail.
- Look through the land of half-finished blog entries, searching desperately for a phrase or idea that can be suddenly spun into the perfect post.
- Fail.
- Take a shower. Compose new entry entirely in head. Exultations abound — it’s the most brilliant post you’ve ever written. You’re a genius!
- Towel off, grab the handy notebook you stashed in the bathroom for occasions such as this, and realize you’ve already forgotten entire post.
- Dress and shuffle to computer. Browse your archives, wondering if anyone would really notice if you reposted an ancient entry, but with a different title.
- Inspiration strikes! Or you strike it, preferably with something blunt and heavy.
- Write post. Revise obsessively. Publish.
- Repeat steps 2-20.
Yeah, I know it’s just a blog, but did I mention I’m a perfectionist? Anyway, I want only the best for my readers. All, like, three of you…
So, how’s blogging go for you? Easy? Difficult? Agonizing?
Update: I posted this exactly six minutes ago and am already on step four. I work fast! Let’s see if the post is still here in the morning…
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sistrb56gmailcom said,
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 9:12 pm
I’m SO new at this. Thank you, and thank you again. Last night I wrote for the first time, but I put it in the wrong box and it didn’t get uploaded (if it’s even supposed to be uploaded),so I guess you could say I am finding this to be agonizingly difficult. I got the courage to write something finally and then I did that all wrong…..but I’m glad to know others agonize. I can always find an online encyclopedia about how to post to wordpress;I’ll get that eventually.The courage…that’s the biggee. Thank you again.
emily said,
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 9:33 pm
i’m not nearly the blogging perfectionist that you are — i just let it all hang out, stream of consciousness style.
but that’s probably why i enjoy reading your blog entries so much — b/c there is so much thought and editing behind them.
Sue said,
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Awsome ! Simply awsome ! I know exactly what this feels like. I too am a noobie at this blogging thing.
I have been goofing off with yahoo for about a year or two, there have been a whole lot of problems with the yahoo product because they are about to “transition” to a ‘Universal profile’ thing-a-majig ? I just recently remembered that I had signed up for wp, so fiddled with it and basicly have been writing to my self, stupid, I know, but hey it’s only me reading so the only one to dissapoint is me right? Wellnot really because I told 2 of my friends about it, one of them currently has a wp blog, and the other is fooling with it to get one going. Both made a comment on my lil old blog paragrph to self. I was so excited ! Heck I can write a comment on someones blog, while writing, like now, I think to self, You should do a blog on this instead of a comment because your comment is turning into a rambling idot one sentence, stupid comment. Agony, oh yea, Ha, now I have nothing to blog about. I guess I should go take a shower, maybe I to will get a brainstorm blog while in shower, or not. Thank you very much for this post, it is so like me. Glad to know I am not alone.
Sue said,
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Oh you are good! I will continue to read your stuff. You have a new fan
Swishy said,
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Ha ha ha ha. I am hit and miss, I think. Sometimes I am better and more consistent at it than others. Oh, well
Absolute Vanilla (an said,
Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 3:24 am
Obsessive compulsive disorder, perhaps?
You’re taking this waaaay too seriously!
Erica Orloff said,
Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 5:00 am
I pretty much get up before dawn, pour coffee, sit and write stream-of-consciousness, hit Publish. Then end. LOL!
Christina Phillips said,
Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 6:46 am
OMG this is so funny. I never know what to blog about and go through several of these steps myself. (and I’m not even going to mention my spelling!!) What’s more it took me about 18 months to screw up the nerve to comment on other people’s blogs! For some reason I always felt (feel?!) like I’m gate crashing!
Caryn said,
Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 7:18 am
sistrb, and Sue, check your e-mail!
(Well, Sue, not yet. I have to go to work first…)
Emily, I used to do that, too. But it’s actually kind of fun to craft a post until it says exactly what I want to say, in exactly the right wording.
Swishy and Erica, it does come more easily for me sometimes than others. Sometimes I come up with a post while driving, showering, falling asleep, or whatever, write it down in my ubiquitous notebook, send it through one or two small revisions, and post. It just depends. (And I would never exaggerate about my blogging technique for the sake of humor. Never, ever! Not even when it’s been a few days and it’s time to put up something new but it’s already late at night and too late to write something really inspired. Never.
)
I know, Absolute Vanilla. I know. But I’m a perfectionist, at least when it comes to my writing. The important thing is to know when to let it go and send it out there for the public to read.
Thanks, Christina. And as for me, I love comments. I think they’re one of the biggest reasons I blog. It’s more fun with feedback. So please feel free to comment. And I know a lot of other bloggers who feel the same way. I figure that if they don’t want comments, they’ll disable them.
Dru said,
Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 8:09 am
Sometimes I find it hard to blog about a topic especially if nothing earth shattering happened. Other times, I just ramble and I’m surprised when there’s enough for people to make a comment on. It can be a miss or hit.
But I do let it sit and go back to revise it before I hit that submit button.
Robin said,
Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 11:22 am
Sounds about right
Liz said,
Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 12:23 pm
that is hilarious! I try not to revise too much, except for spacing. Spacing gets on my nerves.
Mary said,
Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Your perfectionism is appreciated!
I totally see myself in points 3, 15 & 16. But most of the time I try not to pre-plan my posts; not to think too much about it until I sit down to write it, and I don’t spend too long on each post. (But I do revise them.) After I publish, that’s when I worry. It’s as if a new post needs to be accepted by the rest of the blog!!!
Caryn said,
Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Dru, I definitely have times when blogging comes pretty easily. It just depends, doesn’t it?
LOL, Robin! Glad I’m not the only one, then.
Thanks, Liz! And believe me, it’s only a matter of time until you go from just worrying about spacing to worrying about punctuation, wording, relevancy, etc. Have fun when you get there!
Thanks, Mary.
I don’t know about you, but I also have this problem when I’m driving and can’t get off the side of the road and to my notebook soon enough.
bookbabie said,
Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Most of the time it’s fun. I’m teaching one of my sisters to blog right now, sucking another one into the blogging abyss!
Kristen said,
Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 9:20 pm
LOL! I definitely go through some of these steps, too. Although, lately, I’ve gotten to the point where it’s been so many days since I last posted, and I’m so darn exhausted that I can’t think of anything that might interest anyone in the least, that I just slap up whatever thought first pops into my head. And, when all else fails, I just write about what wonderful/cute/smart/funny/annoying/infuriating thing my son is doing that day.
Mizzz_K said,
Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 10:11 pm
LOL. This is great. I hate to go back and re-read a lot of my posts. I find the typos that I had compulsively read and read and read and read to find, and then didn’t see and posted anyway, and really is it worth it to correct two weeks later when everyone is done looking? As for the blogging? It’s crazy, but I’ve discovered it is a little addicting. Even if I have NOTHING to say? I just have to put something down. Have to. And if it takes too long? Oh, my. I hate those thoughts that run randomly along and then dissappear before you get them down somewhere, and even worse those that you manage to jot a quick note or email yourself a line – those genius ones? That make no sense when you get time to get back to them. Keep up your wonderul work. It is always a pleasure.
allan said,
Friday, February 15, 2008 at 11:44 am
Great posting post. I like seeing inside your mind.
#17- Nah. I do that all the time. Sometimes I take old Reagan-Era rants and change nothing except a few nouns.
My blog technique:
1: Vomit forth words willy-nilly.
2: Wonder where all those extra commas came from.
Mary said,
Friday, February 15, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Caryn,
It’s safe to drive and talk. So I bought a Dictaphone, for this and other emergency moments when it’s not possible to write. Thank goodness I bought a cheap one. I hardly ever use it; I can’t stand the sound of my voice!
Adam said,
Friday, February 15, 2008 at 6:29 pm
It’s uncanny, my process is almost exactly like this, except maybe:
16. Dry off, get dressed & sit down at computer and discover Caryn just posted something incredibly similar to my brilliant idea! Back to drawing board.
:^D
Caryn said,
Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 8:27 am
Sorry to be remiss in responding to comments! Internet was down all yesterday afternoon.
Bookbabie, I *love* to lure others over to the dark side (a.k.a. Blogland). I think it’s because I’m bossy, so I love a chance to tell people how to do something.
Kristen, when we have children I expect to have a neverending stream of material on which to draw for my blog posts. Right now I just have three cats and a husband. People complain if you post about your cats too much, and as for the husband? He’d take it well, but I should still post about him in moderation.
Mizzz_K, I hate when I lose words because I was busy typing others! Such a pain! And LOL on the bits of writing that you never recognize later. Actually, I’ve seen some people post those bits all together for humor’s sake. Hmmm…now there is an idea!
Allan, so jealous! Wish I could do that. I love how you worded it, by the way!
Mary, I’ve tried that, and it never seems to work for me. Instead I just keep repeating it n my head, tweaking little things, and hoping that I have the whole thing memorized by the time I can pull over. Sometimes it even works, too…
LOL, Adam! Sorry. I’ve had that happen to me more times than I can count. It seems like certain ideas seem to infect a lot of bloggers at once and then you see them everywhere.
Travis Erwin said,
Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Thanks for the laugh. I have several of these tendencies as well, but my naturally lazy streak prevents all those ghastly rewrites.
Besides, I’m a big hairy guy from Texas. No one is all that surprised when my posts are full of typos and butchered grammar.
Angela said,
Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Ha! There’s a reason why my ‘writing blog’ is mostly photos!
I love your list!!!
I tried to warn myself to get a few posts ready before launcing my poetry blog…but I never did. I too do the blog scramble before adding a new post.
Angela said,
Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 3:58 pm
oops launcHing!
grin!
Alyssa Goodnight said,
Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Don’t agonize! Your posts are always interesting and entertaining. Although…maybe that’s because you are agonizing… Hmmm. Why not just try dashing something off–something crazy–a discarded idea. Give yourself a free day each week (or every other week) and just type and publish.
We’ll let you know if it’s horrible.
Caryn said,
Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Travis, that’s why I only post about twice a week! It takes too much energy to go through all those steps more often than that!
Angela, I used to do that. And then I started a photoblog, too, which completely defeated the purpose. Now that that’s been hijacked, I should start posting more photos on here.
Thanks, Alyssa. But like you said, if the posts please anyone, it’s probably because I give them (way too much!) thought. Oh, to be one of those breezy people who can just toss off well-worded posts! At least I don’t rewrite my fiction as much as I do my blog, or I’d never get anything finished!
Adaora said,
Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Wow nice blog. I like this even better then the one I was at which redirected me here!
Thanks for visiting my blog btw, I appreciate it.
Allison said,
Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 6:44 am
This is hilarious. I do many of these steps. My inspiration tends to come while hiking, rather than showering…though showering would be better because I do it more often. I also keep notepads handy for when inspiration hits….like in my purse, which came in very handy while Matt and I were on our date night at a restaurant last night. Not sure how crazy he was about that, though he helped like a good sport.
Bright Meadow » Sunday Roast: how very 1967 of you said,
Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 7:22 am
[...] Sometimes it’s just nice to know you’re not the only one [...]
Caryn said,
Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 10:10 am
Wow, Adaora. Thanks! I’m blushing now. I enjoyed reading your blog, too.
Allison, I often find inspiration while hiking, too! And my poor hubs also has to wait while I scramble for pen and paper to record some thought or idea. He’s also used to finding bits of scribbled-upon paper all over the house.
Thanks for the link, Bright Meadow! As usual, I checked out your Sunday Roast and you had some great links on there!
spyscribbler said,
Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Wow, I really need to think about my blogging craft more. Usually, I just spit them out. I have been feeling, lately, like there are too many mistakes, and that my posts could have been crafted better.
On the other hand, I’m learning to write better while writing faster. I wish I could have my cake and eat it, too.
pennyronning said,
Monday, February 18, 2008 at 10:26 am
I found myself smiling as I was reading your post! Thanks!
Becky said,
Monday, February 18, 2008 at 8:46 pm
SO funny! I’m always shocked and thrilled when someone comments on my blog! I always feel like I should be writing something more interesting.
Caryn said,
Monday, February 18, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Spyscribbler, there’s something to be said for posting more frequently, too. Many people prefer frequent, informal updates to bi-weekly columns, which is what I feel my blogs are more like.
Thanks, Penny. That felt so good to read!
Becky, I love comments, too. I think they’re 99% of why I blog.
Quinn Knightley said,
Monday, February 18, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I don’t follow all of those steps, but most of them ring a bell. Here’s one more, which generally fits in right around 3 or 4:
Click “View Site.” Title is completely misleading. Readers will disregard post due to uninteresting title OR become disgusted because post doesn’t live up to title. Quickly change title to rightful name, wondering why it wasn’t always that and hoping no one noticed sudden change.
thebearclub said,
Monday, February 18, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Nice post. Sometimes the trick to writing a blog is to just open your mind and be as creative as possible. I struggle sometimes to find what to write about, but just write anyway. haha.
Barrie Summy said,
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 1:36 am
I do love your posts.
jorenfx said,
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 7:11 am
Hi, I’ve been a wordpress member for almost 2years and still my Blog is uhmmmm…. errrrrrrrrrrrr empty. Guess its because I prefer talking instead of writing and\or typing.
Perhaps I am yet to find my inner-compulsive-blogging-self? **sigh** Until then…. I’ll embrace my commentary-self with the joy of others.
J
Commentary Habits « Des!gn !s n0t Ju$t @rT.. It$ @ w@Y of l!Fe said,
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 7:22 am
[...] April 3, 2007 jorenfx Well well well… I just place a comment on http://booklady.wordpress.com/ [...]
Caryn said,
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 8:09 am
Quinn, I do that same thing, too! It’s especially bad when I check my RSS reader to make sure that it posted okay, and then I see that title. Ugh!
Bearclub, true. I do that with my fiction. For some reason it’s harder with blogging, maybe because I have to start over each time instead of just continuing a story.
Aww, thanks, Barrie. I like yours a lot, too. And I can’t wait until I So Don’t Do Mysteries comes out! I’ll be picking that one up for certain!
Jorenfx, the hardest part of blogging is getting started. Not just for an individual post, but in the entire blog. The funny thing is that once you have a few posts, no one is likely to see the first one or two, so they don’t really matter all that much.
sandi said,
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Boy, I can relate. When I started my blog, I thought I would write every single day…I sort of set that up as my goal, and then wracked my brain over what to write about! Ohhh, the pressures we willingly sign up for, huh? But you’re right: the comments are so much fun, and they make it worthwhile. I LOVE when people comment…
Lily said,
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 10:08 pm
God, I’m so glad I’m not the only one that has to go through it!
Chandra said,
Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 1:02 pm
21. Every few months feel concerned about what you’ve written and do a post-culling.
I don’t write every day, although I know I’m supposed to. Sometimes my persoblog is a warm-up before I go start on my words for the day. Most of the time it’s just quasi-literary metaphoric ramblings. (People are probably glad that American Idol is back on so I’ll return to weekly updates about whether or not my favorites are still on the show.)
Jean said,
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I hear you!
But I’d say by the number of comments that you are pulling, you are doing just fine!