10 December 2012

Blogging Strikes Again! Motivation Monday

Life gets in the way sometimes and blogging has taken a back seat over the last month or so.  But, when I was contacted by a 'cousin', who found me through my blog, and was offered a picture of my great grandparents on their wedding day, I knew blogging was important to me and I had to find a way to incorporate it into my daily tasks.

There is no greater motivation than knowing that others are reading your blog.  Better yet, is that family members are reading it.  I was so thankful that someone I didn't know took the time to contact me and send me a picture.  I was ecstatic as I had never seen a picture of my great grandmother.  I will be posting more on her later this week.

Here are a few ways that I try to make blogging easier.

  1. I use an editorial calendar.  I print, or you could keep it electronically, a blank calendar page to plan and write blog posts on.  
  2. I use my Roots Magic software and prepare a monthly calendar report to check for upcoming anniversary (birth, marriage, death) dates to blog about.
  3. I use geneablogger daily themes to prompt me for blog posts.  I try to do prompts such as Sunday's Obituary, Military Monday, Tombstone Tuesday, Wedding or Workday Wednesday, and Those Places Thursday to name a few.   
  4. I use recent research finds and look in my genealogy folder on my computer for pictures, stories or documents to share.
  5. I try to read other genealogy blogs to stay up on trends in genealogy and gather ideas for future blog posts.
  6. I keep a notebook where I jot down ideas as I come up with them.  I have a few blog posts that I do as a series (ancestor biographies, Hattie's Bible, Civil War Pension File, etc) and I list what I have posted to keep track of it.  This helps plan for next steps, too.
  7. I try to blog 2 to 3 times a week, but that isn't set in stone.  I sometimes accomplish more and sometimes less. 
  8. I accept that I am not writing a book, I only need to share what I know.  It can be a couple of paragraphs or just a picture with explanation.
What tips do you have to make blogging easier?  Please leave a comment.



9 comments:

  1. Brenda,

    Interesting article. Try to post an article once a week and work on future posts when I have time. If I can keep ahead a few weeks that helps because I sometimes find other thing to include in a future article. I've been on GeneaBloggers for about two months. Blogging is proving to be a good fit for me, and a I improve, I hope, it will get better for my readers as well.

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  2. Grant, Welcome to Geneabloggers. It is a great blogging resource. I like to work ahead too. You will be amazed with the benefits that blogging brings to you. Good Luck.

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  3. Struggling with this myself right now. Writing in too many places with different objectives.

    I use a couple of refrains to try to help myself over the hurdles: "Friendly and Informative" & "It's ok to be brief". Sometimes it is alright to post a brief idea blog rather than not post at all.

    I am very much a work in progress as a writer. Thanks for some new ideas/strategies.

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  4. Rorey, thank you for sharing. Your refrains are good ones. I too am a work in progress. It does get easier the more one writes.

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  5. Thank you for your help with blog prompts.

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  6. Hi, Brenda - I am in the my second full year of blogging. It gets better all the time and has given me so much pleasure. I began with a target of one posting per week but now often exceed that. I expected to have run out of my own family stories by now, but I am still going strong due to Geneabloggers - the prompts are so stimulating, plus getting ideas from fellow bloggers. This year I found particularly satisfying following two A-Z Cedhallenges and taking part in the weekly Sepia Saturday series which focuses on photographs. Both have help boost my number of followers and you are so right "There is no greater motivation than knowing that others are reading your blog". I use the draft posts folder on blogspot to jot down ideas for future postings - even if it is just a thought or possible title - to develop later or prepare ahead to post when I might be quite busy with other things. This works well for me. I already have some in hand for after the New Year. I look forward to reading more of your posts. Happy researching and happy writing!

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  7. Grant, you are welcome. I am happy to help anytime.

    Scot Sue, I love the idea of using the draft posts for ideas. It is such a great idea I am going to start doing that. Happy New Year, to you.

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  8. I keep an excel file rather than a calendar to know what posts I want to write about. I agree that writing 'ahead' is awesome. Last month a family death did not allow for me to write anything. However, I had written everything for December in a huge chuck of motivation in November. This allowed me to deal with the death and not feel guilty about blogging. I still need to find a rhythm that will work this year, since I'm grieving the lost of my number one blog fan. However, having that excel chart works wonders. me.

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  9. Devon, an excel file is another great way to keep track of posts. Thank you for sharing. I am sorry to hear about your family death. It is hard to stay focused when we are grieving the loss of a loved one.

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