Blog Advice #2: Show Up

Hi Buddy. This is my second piece of advice about blogging. Just show up, every day, and write something. Maybe more than that, but not less. For me, writing is a practice, like a yoga practice or a meditation practice. Sometimes what you have to say and how brilliantly you've managed to say it is the point. But sometimes, just showing up is the point.

Discovering what you have to say even when you don't think you have anything special to say is one of the cool things about blogging. Sharpening your own observations and learning about your own voice is worthwhile. Noticing what you notice, how it makes you feel, that kind of thing. It's groovy and cosmic and, I think, important to living an authentic life. Plus you will discover that your "throwaway" posts half the time generate more interest and positive response than your carefully polished brilliant gems.

Be honest. Write about your life. What you see, what you think, how you feel. Don't worry too much about what you've written because you'll get to write something else again later, and if what you wrote was lame or lousy it'll scroll right on down the page pretty soon anyway. No single post is particularly important or meaningful. I really do think a blog is like a mosiac, something made from the assembly of many small pieces. The pieces are going to come out when you show up every day, and the pattern that will emerge is going to teach you something about yourself and your world, what you see and think and notice. Hopefully it will teach me something too.

The pressure to have every post be epic and self-contained is, I think, a blind alley for bloggers, leading to stilted writing and/or writer's block. It's cool, kind of, to write a post that lots of people link to and buzz about, but it's also intimidating, and not, I think, the point of the exercise. Of course it is lovely to hit on something true or interesting to lots of people but the pressure or the expectation that there is an Audience out there expecting a Certain Kind of Post takes away some freedom. So forget about that part of it. Just show up, and tell me what you're thinking about. And if I like you, I'll be back tomorrow to see what you're thinking about then.

Comments

[Dave!]

I disagreee. Yes, "showing up" everyday is a great way to hone your craft as a writer, but it doesn't always make for good blog reading. I often find myself unsubscribing to feeds from people who "show up" more than once a day, and even many of those who show up everyday. Writing when you don't have anything to say is great for a private journal, and I guess if you treat your blog that way, fine. But I view my blog as a public journal, sharing information with other people is a major component, if not purpose to blogging. And if that is the reason you blog, don't just write for the sake of writing, write when you actually have something to say. Some of the absolute best blogs I read post only once a week... or even less!

[pjm]

Seems like the point of "showing up" is more to refine your ability to find what you do have to say... not to write when you don't have anything to say. Sure, it's easy to write garbage when you feel like you have an obligation to fill in the blanks on the calendar, but that comes from misunderstanding the idea. I like reading people who make an effort on a daily basis to find the ideas or experiences or questions that spark something in their head and share it with me. Sometimes they have to reach past the expected and the obvious to find something to share.

(Confession, though: sometimes I have a lot to say on one day, and I'll let the ideas simmer through to another day when I have less on my mind.)

[julia]

interesting post. and an idea i wrestle with.

maybe it's a self-defense mechanism, but i think i'm with dave here.

i used to show up every day. showed up every day for over a year, actually. but now i've given myself permission to show up when i have something i want to share.

since i backed off the frequency of my posts, i get inundated with emails:
"why don't you post more?"
"when are you going to tell us what happened with that guy?"
"maybe you should just quit."

my feeling is that a blog "should" be whatever the owner wants it to be. and whenever. i want my blog to serve at the will and pleasure of the blogger. i don't want my blog -- or, god forbid, my readers -- to feel like an obligation.

i love the organic nature of writing. i love posting something that came pouring out of me. posting something i forced doesn't feel good. and it shows.

but, that's just me. the reality is that some people might need -- or want -- to show up every day, or force themselves to find something to share. to use the blog as a writing workshop for polishing and honing their craft. and that's great. for them.

and i guess that's my point...assuming i actually have one. that's exactly what i love about the medium of blogging. no rules. no "shoulds." it's your bully pulpit. write what you want. when you want. the people who want to connect with you will find you.

[Law School Buddy]

All good thoughts, everyone.

I do agree with S about the idea of not trying to write an epic and self-contained post every time you make an entry. I found myself trying to do this when I was doing all I could to capture my Coventry experience, when what I should have done is just write about simple sights and conversations, like the time a guy introduced himself to me as "Sticky Green." No joke.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I think that it depends on the writer, but for me trying to post something everyday is an important part of the discipline of becoming a writer. Some of the writers that I admire most, such as Philip Roth, commit themselves to a certain number of pages everyday. Even if I don't know what you're going to write, sitting down at the keyboard and writing, for me, is important. And, in fact, some of my posts that have gotten the best response in terms of number of comments have been pieces that to me were quick toss offs because I had nothing else to say that day. If I didn't force myself to write on those days, those ideas that came to me at that moment in front of the keyboard would have been lost.

[Rob]

Writing every day is certainly a struggle and I am in awe of those that, not only post daily, but post something I want to read.

I set out with the intent of writing something daily and, for the most part I've done alright. Now, whether or not that "something" is worth reading can only be judged by the readers (assuming, of course, that I have any).

I think that it is more important to be regular with your posting than it is to miss a few deadlines. For that reason, a weekly blog can be really enticing.

For example, I read a blog whose author is obsessive about posting her Deep Thought Thursday post. I know that there is a new post every Thursday and I can skip checking it the rest of the week. Compare that to blogs where the authors try to post on a daily basis and may go a week between posts and I might remember to check it again in a month as I 'clean up' my feeds.

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