Post-a-Day 2012

As I gear up to begin blogging every day in the new year I decided to reflect on the lessons I leaned blogging every day back in 2012/2013.

Words Matter

One of the major differences between a blog and a novel is all about word count. A blog is limited, no one’s going to read a five thousand word blog post, unless you were really popular or it was really that good. Even in novels longer chapters are falling out of favor, so unless your name is Stephen King or J.K.Rowling chances are you’re not getting away with long anything. Brevity is paramount to success.

Let it Go

This is by far one of the most difficult aspects for me, but one of the lessons that transfers over into novel writing. Posting every single day forces you into a strict routine with a tight 24 hour deadline. Which means you don’t exactly have weeks or months to revise and revise and revise some more. The key is getting it out there. And that’s one of the most difficult aspects of writing in general.

Perfectionism is a fools errand

This ties in very much to the above statement. I’ve long had issues with perfectionism, like most creative people and I think it’s safe to say I’ve written about it quite extensively over the years, so I’m not really sure what more there is to say on the subject other than… one of the lessons of blogging every day is that it’s not going to be perfect. Nothing is, there will always be something you could change.

The biggest lesson I think I learned is believing in myself and trusting myself. Ultimately there’s no such thing as perfection but if you can do a good job and you enjoy what you’re doing then it’s worth it.