Six Months of Blogging Consistently
Back in January I set myself a goal: publish at least one post a week, every week, for a full year. I'm now six months in, and I wanted to reflect on how it's going.
The Good
Writing regularly has made me a better writer. That probably sounds obvious, but it's genuinely true. The first few posts I wrote this year felt laboured; now I can usually get a first draft down in an hour or so without too much friction.
I've also noticed that I have more ideas, not fewer. I worried that posting weekly would drain the well, but it seems to work the other way — the more I write, the more I notice things worth writing about.
Reader engagement is up too. Not dramatically, but there's a definite uptick in emails and replies from people who've found the blog through search or RSS. Consistency seems to matter for that.
The Hard Bits
There have been weeks where I really did not want to write anything. Two of them, I posted something pretty half-hearted just to keep the streak alive. I'm not proud of those posts but I'm also not going to delete them.
Life gets in the way. School holidays are the hardest. Trying to write with kids around is basically impossible.
The Plan
I'm sticking with it. Six more months and I'll have hit the goal. I'd rather write one good post a week than chase some higher number and burn out. Quality over quantity.
Or that's what I tell myself.