Write every day, blog every day?
Once a year, I try to make sure I ready Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft on audiobook. I really enjoy hearing it read straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. :) I remember the first time I listened to it, I had recently also listened to Bossypants by Tina Fey and Yes, Please by Amy Poehler. They’re both enjoyable, funny books, but I laughed out loud far more at Stephen King’s dry humour.
Plus, he takes a few jabs at Danielle Steele and Bridges of Madison County, which was amusing. (I haven't read Bridges..., but I watched the movie and hated it. I did, unfortunately, decide to try reading a Danielle Steele novel once to see why she's so popular. I didn't get very far and I couldn’t figure out the secret to her popularity either.)
One of the aspects of On Writing that I love is the use of stories to make a point. For about the first third of the book, there’s so much about King's life that it's basically an abridged autobiography. He mixes in occasional nuggets about writing, but you have to wait until a bit later in the book to dig in to his writing advice.
He sets the foundation for the reader to know enough about him to understand where he's coming from, why writing is so important to him, and what made him the kind of writer he is. He makes it about the journey - not the destination.
When he starts talking about writing, writing habits, and advice, you can really hear the teacher coming through. How amazing would it be to say you were in Stephen King's class? Do his former students walk around bragging about it? I would.
King is a "write every day" proponent when he's actively involved in a project. It makes sense, too. When I stop writing regularly, I lose my writing mojo. It takes me longer to complete work, and I forget where I'm at with projects after just a few days of idle fingers.
This advice regarding novels got me thinking about what I believe about writing content online, particularly for someone like me who is trying to produce regular content.
Because I'm actively writing in a number of different places, I find it difficult to produce a blog post every day in one place, much less multiple places.
What I've learned in trying to figure out what works best for me is that consistency is key. I blog once a week on my two main websites. I write guest posts when time allows. And I write in some form or another every day.
For non-writers that want to blog, this may feel like overkill. You may be right. But if you're not writing everyday, make sure you at least read something every day that will help you generate ideas for your blog posts.
Be consistent in your practice of reading and writing. When one goes away, it's easy for the other one to follow.