Keeping the Momentum Going

I love blogging but I have to confess, sometimes I really do not feel like sitting down at the computer to write a blog post. Do you ever feel like that? Usually it’s because I am too tired or I have spent the whole day at work sitting at the computer and I just don’t feel like staring at pixels anymore. Or I just don’t feel very inspired at all. So what is to be done to keep the momentum going?

Regular commitment

It can be very tempting to say, I’ll just skip it this week — maybe next week I’ll be more inspired or I’ll have more energy or I’ll have more time: then I will blog, I’ll blog next week. But I know myself too well — next week will come along and I will feel the same way and say to myself: next week, next week. So I try and make a commitment to myself to blog at least once a week — that’s manageable for me as a minimum and if the spirit moves me to blog more than that, then that’s a bonus. I also think of it as a commitment to my readers — rather like any relationship, it’s all about making a connection regularly. So I decide on a day each week that will be my “blog publication day” and I try to stick to that schedule. So far, it seems to be working.

Jot down ideas

I also keep a notebook to hand — or at least a scrap of paper or a post-it note — so that whenever I have an idea that would make a good blog post, I jot it down immediately. Even if I have an idea that is not so great, I jot it down. Keeping all these blog post ideas together in one place means that when I am not feeling very inspired, I can look through them - and more often than not, these notes can prompt me to explore more deeply something that inspired me some time ago. This means that even though I may be feeling a bit flat at that very moment, my old inspirations can still spark and rekindle my energy for blogging.

Try a different way of doing it

I have also been trying alternative methods of blogging. As you can see from my efforts over the last year, I have tried audio blogging and video blogging as well as the usual written texts. Occasionally, I write a blog post on my mobile phone while I am at a cafe waiting for a friend or sitting out in the garden so that blogging does not trap me at my computer. My latest experiment is with speech-to-text technology (I have recently installed Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 10) so that I can dictate e-mails, letters, blog posts and — who knows — maybe even my next novel or book project. I am dictating this blog post while standing at the window in my living room, looking out at the autumn colours in my garden!

How do you keep the momentum going when it comes to blogging? I hope you will add a comment and share your tips and tricks as well!

Photo: Death Valley Marathon - thanks to El Hombre on flickr.com (CCL)