22 Jan 2015

how I blog: the environment, editorial calendar & process

Blogging, for me, is a hobby that I do from the comfort of my own home. It's done at the same desk where I study and on the same machine I use for my university work. It is something that requires a lot of dedication and organisation because I am aware that it can be a distraction that may have a detrimental effect on my study. Anyway, in this post, I thought I would share how I blog: the environment, how I write blog posts and also how I plan when the posts go live.

Before I begin, I just want to say that these pictures were taken on two separate occasions, hence the different tags in them.

The Desk

My desk is an Ikea one that is actually a dining table. It is large enough to fit my laptop, but also has enough space for all my notes and textbooks, etc for when I want to study. When I blog, I like to have some music in the background, pens and the 'blog calendar' out.


Dedicating Blogging Time

In my diary, I will schedule in when I will do blog-related things. These activities can include tweaking the layout ever so slightly, replying to blog emails, writing and drafting blog posts, taking pictures and editing them to sitting down and generating ideas or going through previously generated ideas to see if I can make something of them. I can quite easily lose three to four hours to blogging on each occasion!


Planning The Post

In the next picture, you'll see how I wrote the blog post on the Ren Hot Cloth Cleanser I reviewed last year. Quite often, in the early stages of a blog post, there will only be three to-dos for a blog post: plan, pictures and draft. Sometimes, I want to go into more detail and plan the draft before any writing and that's what happened on this occasion. Breaking down a blog post can make it easier to stay focussed on the message you're trying to convey and it also keeps your thoughts ordered too.


Determining When The Post Goes Live

Last year, I opted to use a linear approach to plan when my blog posts would go live but then I decided to print some A4 monthly calendars off from The Tom Cat Studio to plan more efficiently. This allowed me to plan blog posts so that they went live in a more even manner. I tried colour coding the blog posts (according to topic) but that didn't last long as I forgot what each colour stood for! I just try and ensure that I don't blog about a similar topic twice in a row and this monthly blog planner allows me to do just that.


Although this is quite a short tour through how I blog, it covers the basics of what happens to each blog post from start to finish. As blogging is a thing I do for a hobby, I need to stay organised in order to carry on enjoying it because it will feel like a chore otherwise. I know that doesn't make sense but staying organised means that I don't have to worry that I don't have a blog post drafted for the coming week or that I have to be constantly generating ideas because I have set times that are dedicated to this blog - and they are usually quite productive.

I go through phases where I come up with ten or twelve blog posts and I will write them all in one go - but then I'll schedule them so that they trickle through slowly onto the blog itself. This also means I go through phases of 'blogger's block' where I can't come up with any good ideas for a good week or two but the fact that I have scheduled posts take the pressure off ever so slightly.

7 comments

  1. Really liked this post! Really informative.

    Brunette in Louboutins

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  2. I am new to your blog (and being a planner addict) and I enjoyed this post. I ran a book review blog for 3 years and I miss it terribly. Since having my son, I can't dedicate the time so I blog when I have the urge or something to say. I will probably start showcasing my paper crafting and planner on it now. :P

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  3. I use a monthly calendar as well, and it's fabulous. I also keep track of the categories I put posts in so, at a glance, and from anywhere (so long as I have that calendar!), I can see what I've posted about - which can help to ensure I'm not going over the same subject too many times in a short period of time!

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  4. Hey Angela ^-^ May I ask which program you use to blur/censor your pictures? Please and thanks :D

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  5. Thanks for sharing this. I've been following your blog for a while, and I've started my own this year. It's really great to see how you do it & the thought that goes in behind the scenes :)

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  6. Thanks for sharing this information. I am new to blogging and love to know what works for others.

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  7. Angela i'm ever amazed at how organised you are!! Super envious right now :)

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