An exercise in interesting persistence

There's an event that occurs during November called National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. The goal of the endeavor is to write a 50,000 word novel in a month's time. Last year I thought about it but when the month came I was still too caught up in the details of my story to be able to begin it, so I quit. This year I'm not doing it but will try my hand at a similar exercise called National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). The goal is to write a blog post every day, which is easy. Writing a blog post every day and have the blog remain interesting is more difficult. So how does one try to do this?

Planning. Like any writing exercise, planning is vital to the success of the exercise. Like taking a trip you are making for the first time, you need to have some sort of map available to make sure you don't make a wrong turn somewhere or end up at a dead end. With blog writing, the tendency is for some folks to compose a diary of daily routines which for blog reading gets to be quite dull rather quickly. I want to push myself to 1) come up with an interesting set of subjects, 2) add variety to the postings (serious one day, silly another, interesting a third, etc.), and 3) explore deeper into areas that are part of my life.

I know I'm behind in my blog posting about Rhinebeck (I still have Day 2 to post) and that will be done soon. There will be days when my schedule dictates that I put in a short entry. I will have a picture day and a day of randomness. Sunday will still be my weekly roundup day. I will have some postings of my own musings on various subjects--nothing horribly controversial. I only hope that by the end of the month I will still have interesting things to say and share.

A blog is a personal thing. It's a public platform for a writer to share information. When you post something you take the risk of getting a response that you may not like. For some people that's not a risk they like to take and after a while the blog becomes staid or not updated for periods of time. But a blog doesn't have to arouse debate to be interesting. Fresh ideas and experiences lead readers to areas they were not aware of. A blog can be a window to a person's spirit but it can also be an ego-stroking device if carried too far. It's the challenge I have, and I hope I succeed in keeping it from being that.