How to: Blog Every Day (BEDS 013)

Sometimes, writing a blog is easy. Sometimes I know exactly what to write about, the words flow nicely, and I'm able to finish my day knowing that I uploaded some well-rounded and damn-near great content.

Other times--particularily in Septemer--not so much.

Every year, as the summer winds down and thoughts of school begin to rear their ugly head, I start to plan my annual BEDS challenge. I always have great intentions. I always plan to write as many posts as I can ahead of time, and I always have a list of brainstormed ideas for when my pre-written schedule inevitably runs out. I always think it will go smoothly...which, really, is my first mistake.

Something always comes up. I don't write as many blog posts as I would have liked, and my brainstorms never spark as much inspiration as they did when I first wrote them down. So by halfway through the month, you get posts like this: ones written between classes, my iPad in my lap, fingers furiously typing the first words that pop into my brain. And, quite honestly, you'll all be lucky if I even think to proof read this before hitting "publish".

So today, I present to you this: a quick, dubious how-to guide for somehow managing to upload a new blog every day.

Step 1: Remember that you have a blog in the first place. You'd think it'd be easy, remembering something I've had to do regularily since 2013. Alas, as we have all seen in the past, I forget often enough that it should probably be of some concern to me.

Step 2: Carry your laptop around everywhere. (Or, in this case, an iPad named Suzie.) To blog every day, you need to sqeeze in as much time as you can. Five and ten minute gaps between classes can and do provide a lot, but it's hard to blog when you don't have a device connected to the internet. (A phone works well enough, too.)

Step 3: Remind yourself that it's ONLY FOR THIS MONTH. Then you can go back to your leisurely pace of three blogs a week. Ah, the good 'ol days...

Step 4: Stare at a blank screen for a solid five minutes. Because writer's block is gonna happen, so you might as well get it out of the way right at the beginning.

Step 5: Tell yourself that yes, Tumblr will definitely give you an idea for a blog post. Somehow.

Step 6: Write about literally the first thing that pops into your mind. These posts don't have to be long. Stretch the topic out into a few paragraphs, and you can call it a day.

Step 7: Get it done before midnight. It ain't tomorrow until 12 am.

Step 8: Tell yourself that there are other time zones in the world. It may be tomorrow here, but it's still yesterday somewhere.

Step 9: Hit "Publish" and hope for the best. It's as good as it's ever gonna be at this point, and sometimes you just have to decide to put it down.

Step 10: Move on to something else instead of prepping for tomorrow. Because If you can do it today, you can sure as hell do the same thing tomorrow.

Until later,

- Justyne