I have found in the last month that my blogging rhythm has changed quite considerably.
My Old Blogging Rhythm
A year or so ago I used to spend a higher percentage of the time I dedicated to blogging actually writing content. I was blogging as a solo blogger (no network affiliations) and the administrative demands of my blogs were quite low.
As a result I used to spread out my posting rate pretty evenly through the day. I would write a post, then move onto email, check RSS and then maybe write another post. I was averaging 25 or more posts per day.
My New Blogging Rhythm
The last month or so things have had to change.
The changes have largely been the result of different circumstances and demands on my time (being a part of a large network of blogs like b5media has been a bit part of that). It’s also probably partially as a result of blogs growing which increases the administration levels needed to maintain them (ie moderating comments, responding to emails, participating in discussions etc).
These changes have not always been easy to handle – some days lately I’ve felt like I’m barely keeping on top of things – but just this week I’m noticing that I’m beginning to change my blogging rhythm to accommodate the different circumstances. Some of the changes have included:
- Writing in Longer Blocks of Time – Rather than posting spontaneously throughout the day I’m now setting aside specific time for writing content. These times are longer blocks which are spread further apart. In one such block of time I might write 5 posts for a blog (for example I just completed three longer posts for Digital Photography School and now have set myself the task of writing three ProBlogger posts).
- Utilizing Advance Posting – In a sense what I’m doing with the longer blocks of writing time is building up a stock of content to be used in the coming day or two. So on a blog like Digital Photography School where I have a posting rhythm of one post per day I’ve just completed three days of posts which frees me up to focus my time on other things. For ProBlogger the rhythm is different as here I write a longer post each day and then include other more spontaneous news posts between them. I obviously can write the longer posts in advance but do need to keep on top of the daily news. I use WordPress’s advance posting functionality to automate the new posts going up on the blogs.
- Reducing Posting Frequency on Some Blogs – I’ve naturally moved to posting less frequently on a few of my blogs (and as I mentioned a month or two ago have let others go completely). Instead of writing 2 posts per day on these other newsy link blogs I’m now posting every second or third day and when I do am posting a few more posts at a go. This is not ideal but to this point is the rhythm I’ve adopted.
I’ve not really intentionally done any of these things. Instead they have come pretty naturally over time as the need for change has arisen.
