You might wonder how I come up with content for this blog every day. My full time job certainly gets in the way. Guess you can call this a hobby. It does take time. I rarely plan ahead, though sometimes when I'm bored I might jot down how many topics I have lined up, like for a weekend.
Many of the posts detail the mundane aspects of my life, a compilation of comings and goings, what we eat and such. Bit and pieces of various emails, thoughts about sports or current events. Once I have a thousand words or so I try to organize the notes into halfway readable posts, perhaps leading with the most interesting topic. Every now and then I'll include a profound quote from a friend, like from my friend the Braves expert.
At night at home after supper when we're watching TV I will pop open my laptop and edit and post that day's post. Usually that's on TV isn't worth all my attention, so I work on the blog post as I watch. Weekend content can be tough, because it's hard for me to type out great articles while holed up on the couch. Typing up my thoughts of what's happening during a football game can be fun and memorable, but it takes too much focus from watching the game. Steven King watches Red Sox games on TV with a book in his lap, always reading during the commercial breaks.
Sometimes a topic or event spurs me to type out my thoughts so I can better determine how I feel or where I stand on the topic. I see positions on social media or on the news and want to express my viewpoint - not really to the world but really just for myself. My views may be simplistic, but they are my own. If I read a particularly good article I just might post a link to it, and on rare occasions repost the entire article on my blog - being careful to credit the source.
Other times I may have an idea to research something, like comparing the production of two players. I like to make lists, so I will often develop the list and post it (even though its supposedly lazy journalism). Hey, I figure it's my space, so I can post what I please. Once I researched the fair catch kick, perhaps the most rarely used play in all of football. Quite oddly, the read total for that post immediately skyrocketed: the night I posted my story happened to be the same day an NFL team dusted off and used the play.
Pictures make the blog more interesting, but takes additional time. Whenever I come across an interesting photo I will save it for later use on the blog. Sometimes I don't have much to post so then I'll post any pictures I have saved up. When the Braves or Falcons or Hawks wear throwbacks or special uniforms I like to devote a post to that. To be halfway consistent I use two recurring photographic themes: throwback uniforms and Sports Illustrated covers. Now I've gotten in the habit of taking pictures while I'm at a game or other event, and documenting them on my blog. This too takes longer than I'd like.
I rarely link my blog posts to social media. Doing so usually boosts readership, though I don't live and die with how many readers I garner. Sometimes it's fun to share, like my monthly bobblehead giveaway lists during the baseball season - something else that's much too time consuming.
Some may say people reveal too much on social media and the internet. I don't disagree. Some post too much. I try to be careful. I'd like to think that since I'm not posting on social media and people have to go out of their way to read it, I'm not forcing opinions and information down people's throats.
Every once in a while I might finish a day without remembering to post. It's not the end of the world. The next day I can post twice and be caught up. Actually I have until the end of the month to keep my monthly total correct. Once I dragged myself out of bed to make I post. My blog runs on Alabama time, meaning I have until 1 am to get a post in every day.
At the end of last year I gave a little thought to the time I spend on my blog, perhaps less than my once a day goal. So far I haven't slacked off. The quality may not be not notch, but it's a compilation of what's going on. The blog format makes it easy to go back to a particular year and month, I think easier than trying to dig back on social media. Guess I'll keep going for the time being.
No comments:
Post a Comment