Yesterday I was feeling a little creatively drained. Today I’m feeling amped. So it goes. I’m going to take advantage of the amped-ness and run with it now.
I’m rocking some Taleb Kwali on the headphones. He’s pretty badass. I can usually count on some good old Brooklyn-style rap to put me in a right frame of mind.
Just before I started writing this, I read a quick post from Everett Bogue about his slight obsession with James Franco. (side note, I’m slightly obsessed with James Franco too – any high-profile actor who would commit to a year on a soap opera as a dare / art experiment is worth paying attention to in my book)
Ev did something I’ve never done today. He wrote a post in a flash of creativity and hit publish right away. No waiting, no planning, no scheduling, no scheming. Just raw, unbridled thoughts from the heart available online seconds after they were conceived.
And it made me think. Isn’t blogging supposed to be a flexible, creative, experimental way to connect with other people?
Why are most of us so calculating and rigid about our publishing schedule? Are we afraid people won’t care, that they won’t be there to tweet, comment and like our posts?
The freedom to write and publish in one fluid motion used to be a primary characteristic of blogging. Now it’s like most of us are slaves to a schedule and rhythm that takes away one of the most creative aspects of the platform.
So I’m going to hit publish right after I finish this. I’m excited just by the thought of all the freedom that rapid-fire publishing could bring. That’s probably why Tumblr is so popular these days. Who wants the burden of a rigid writing schedule?
While we’re on the topic of creativity and public rambling, I also need to thank Everett and others for introducing me indirectly to instagr.am. I am loving the platform. If you have an iPhone, check it out. Anyone can capture and share amazing photos with instagr.am. The photo at the top of this post is from my morning walk yesterday. Pretty cool, right?
I love instagr.am because it encourages spontaneous sharing of content, and it makes your content better. It’s a great way to get to know people on a different level than Twitter or even blogging allows.
What I really want now is a way to share my instagr.am stream on my blog, but I’m not aware of any widget, plug-in or whatever for WordPress yet. Anyone know of any?
Update: thanks to Benjamin in the comments for pointing me in the direction of a couple of WordPress plugins that display Instagr.am photos in the sidebar. I’m now using the Instapress plugin to show off some photos in the sidebar, if you’re into that kind of thing.
If you’re a blogger, here’s a question and a challenge: why do so many of us feel so beholden to publishing on a schedule? Try hitting publish on your next flash of an idea. Let me know how it turns out. Come back here and give me a report if you try it. Use this hashtag from Ev if you share your rapid-fire missive on Twitter: #pushingpublish.
I love this – because it sort of validates the way I go about my writing. I feel somewhat guilty for not having a set schedule, or planning my posts way in advance.
Most of the time, I might have an idea of what I want to write about, then just decide to start writing it – then post it as soon as I feel like I’m done…no editing, no revising…just post. I am very new to regular blogging though, so that could have something to do with it (only consistently keeping my blog since Dec ’10). When I do try to do a “big” post that requires planning and researching, and “scheming” to complete I tend to get bogged down by it all…so I opt for more of a reflexive approach.
Thanks for this post!
Cool Brian, I imagine if feels pretty freeing to publish as you go. I had a lot of fun writing this post and plan to do more of this.
Something you might experiment with here: there are certain times of the day when a post is more likely to get attention. Typically mornings in the U.S. on Tuesday through Thursday are the most active times on Twitter, email, etc. Have you noticed your posts do better when you publish during those times?
Actually, yes I did notice that…I just recently started using the buffer app on chrome that allows you to set times for specific tweets…I usually do my writing more on the evenings and on Sundays then post when done…but the last two times I still published when done, but then put a tweet in the buffer for the mornings (I think it was for 9am Central) and I did notice a much bigger jump in views…so that is my plan from now on.
I’ve always wondered how much time some of the bigger bloggers (like yourself) put into your posts, like are they highly researched, drafted, redrafted, edited, then finished, etc…I felt like I was doing things wrong, but at the same time, felt like if I don’t do it my way, I won’t do it…so for me, my way is better. I also think back to school – I NEVER did rough drafts, I hated doing them. I always felt better writing my papers (even through college) as best as I could then finishing it up. I might have the prof/teacher look it over and suggest a few changes here/there but I never did the whole “rough” draft thing
Again, thanks for this post and the reply!
BV
Almost all of my posts on my blog are very raw in nature. I usually read a few things online that spark some emotion within me, and I write about it. I may let it sit for an hour to double check grammar and linking, but otherwise, it’s fresh and mostly unedited. The only exception to this rule is when I do book or product reviews and want to be more comprehensive with it (getting the quotes right, screen shots, etc).
I believe that most bloggers write on a schedule to keep them motivated and pump out material on a continuous basis. There is a belief that if you fail to publish at least once a week, your readership will drop off. Many high profile bloggers have shown this isn’t the case, but it could very well be the case with my own blog which is much smaller in stature.
Ultimately, I think people are afraid to step outside of their niche when writing. Writing something outside of it will alienate the reader and may turn them off. But really the only thing that will upset the readership is when you break their trust with something.
I’m glad to see that you’re reading Ev’s work, and also included the @mention tag in your title. I’m not sure why people don’t do it more often.
Thanks for the perspective from someone who “does it raw.” I’m sure that your emotion and honesty can be an attraction to your audience.
And yeah, I don’t know why people don’t include @ tags in titles more often either. It makes it pretty convenient for retweeting.
You bring up a great point Corbett. My posts are usually conceived the night before but thanks to social media, do they really need to be scheduled anymore? (I think Rob brought up this point in one of his posts as well).
Anyway, cheers to posting raw thoughts on the spot. Don’t make me pop in Alanis’ Jagged Little Pill & rock away. That’s downright dangerous.
Go on with your bad self and your Alanis CD
In the early days of blogging (Doc Searls, Chris Locke, Dave Winer, etc) we wrote short (but longer than twitter) posts with links as the jumping point. It was all abut pointing people to stuff. There was no money involved. Just rapid fire sharing.
David Weinberger was prolly the longest winded writer (as a philosopher that makes sense) but everyone was a massive outlink machine. And it was fun.
Fun.
Fun.
Stress was what was done for the job or for money. Blogging was done to play and prank and sometimes inform and help.
I can see why it was fun, writing this post yesterday was more fun than usual. Twitter is fun because of the quick back-and-forth that can happen there too.
I’m not a blogger, but I am a subscriber/reader to many blogs. from my perspective, I don’t give a S when people post their blogs… I just want them to be valuable to my time… Inspiring/informative. I notice lots post on Mondays, but I actually prefer to get them randomly, without schedule. Quality, not quantity. Inspirational, not pushing info on ke because of your schedule.
Thanks
I think most readers are like you. Who cares when it’s published as long as the content is useful? From a strategic perspective though, there are certain times/days when a blogger can expect more sharing of content to occur through the social networks. Thanks for the perspective, Jill.
Great and simple point, not to mention it provided me with a quick fix of creative so extra thanks. And hell yea Talib Kweli! He’s awesome live too : )
Jonathon
I aim to please
Hmm I always publish rapid fire. Now you’ve got me thinking I might be better served to post on a schedule…..
Haha, sorry to make you question your methods. There is value in both scheduled and non-scheduled content. Try them each and see what works for you.
Especially as mobile smart phones/tablets continue to advance in features and input methods. Eventually we will be able to have finished experiencing an event or activity and take a few minutes to blog about it right away. Without having to let those immediate feelings fade as you return to your computer.
I could try to bang out a post on my phone already, although it’s a little slow and frustrating at times. I do know some people who blog regularly through a mobile device though.
James Franco is definitely a cool guy but I didn’t like him hosting the Oscars. He’s a fantastic actor though and unbelievable how he keeps so busy with work and school.
Kind of reminds me of free writing, where you write for a period of time and basically do a brain dump and don’t hold back. It’s a great way to come up with ideas and solve problems.
I don’t have a specific publishing schedule. If something comes to me I will post it but if not, I just wait.
Thanks Corbett.
Free writing is cool, I had pretty much forgotten about it, but now I remember the exercise back from school. Do you do much of it now? Maybe I should give it a try once in a while.
So often do I hear that a schedule mean you’re serious and without one your readers won’t want to commit, but what you’re suggesting sounds like a much better idea. Blogging requires a human element to it, and how often to humans plan out on a schedule when to have amazing ideas? It also makes the post much more relatable to the reader because it would, in a way, emulate how the normal person constructs and builds on ides, rather than constantly revising and editig, which would detract from this effect.
Great post. Will definitely implement it. Thanks.
Corbett I’ve definitely seen a instagram wordpress widget around somewhere… give me a minute…
Here you go: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/instagram-for-wordpress/
Since an update about a month ago you can click the ‘…’ to the bottom left of one of your photos to capture the URL of any of your images, which you can then use to get your instagram ID.
This one seems to let you insert instagram images into posts with tags: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/instagram-embed/
Let me know if they work, I’ll put them up on mine soon
Instagram is one of my favourite apps. The photos are just stunning. I usually flick through the app print-screening every other photo as I can’t stand the idea of not seeing them again. Definitely check out the search function. Just search for a city or something. You can waste hours looking at strangers perspectives on the world.
With regard to the main point of the post, I couldn’t a agree with you more. I used to plan posts then spend 3-4 hours (sometimes even 6-8… I know, I know) perfecting a single post. And I mean OBSESSIVELY perfecting it… I’ll re-read it ten times, then go back and change a single word. Ridiculously crazy and a waste of time. Sure, they’re cool posts that I’m proud of, but in true 80/20 principle style, they so weren’t worth it.
For my last post, although the schedule wasn’t spontaneous (I planned to publish by 4pm) I didn’t start writing (in a distraction-free text editor, my new love) until 3.33pm. I hit out about 200-300 words and eventually published (after brief editing in wordpress) at about 4.10pm. Sure, it wasn’t as good as if I’d spent eight hours on it… but I reckon it’s 80% as good, and it didn’t make me go crazy. Win win!
My two cents. Hit me up on instagram – benjaminspall – and let me know about the plugins,
- Benjamin
Duh, like I couldn’t have thought to search for a WordPress plugin? I guess I thought since I hadn’t seen any blogs showing instagr.ams that such a plugin must not exist yet. Thanks so much. Setting it up was pretty easy. Now I’m going to get even more use out of that killer application. I’ll definitely hit you up there as well. Cheers!
No worries
I just started doing that this week when I got back from Portland. I sent out 4 posts in a week. Seems like a lot, but from what I’ve seen there a tons of great blogs that sometimes post twice a day and hit a large amount of comments. There’s just so much I want to say, and so much I want to show out there. I feel like if I’m waiting a week every time, then I won’t be able to tell people that this here is truly how I feel.
Hope you’re doing well. I “did” find some spelling errors, just so y’know.
Herd mentality. Most people are like sheep, they follow the ones in front of them irregardless of what it means to them. The see big-time bloggers doing something and it trickles down, people write about it, and it becomes this “thing” to do, be it right or wrong.
I’d say schedules came from the need to feel larger than you are. Like a publisher, which we bloggers really are to some large degree. But we are not magazines. We are not beholden to a schedule, so there are no rules. There are no deadlines except those we create and place upon ourselves.
This comment was an instant brain-dump as well. This goes both ways, right?
i haven’t gotten on a posting schedule, although I do try and post at least once a week. sometimes it’s 3 posts, sometimes 2 or whatever. i don’t know if that hurts me or not, but i can’t write on a schedule.
I’m not a big fan of scheduling… since I understood that I can’t stick to a it!
Btw, point #3 of Ev Bogue post doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. But that’s the sort of thing wich happens when you do #pushingpublish
Thanks Corbett! I love reading your posts but have never left a comment. I’m fairly new to the blogging world and want to do everything “right” to connect with readers, get more people to read my blog, etc. I definitely agree that creativity can’t be scheduled! So why am I putting undue stress on myself to stay on a schedule?! No longer!
Thanks again for being so awesome and sharing yourself with others!
~Kathy
Did you know the unsubscribe line through your email newsletters is not linked? There is no way one can unsubscribe.
Hmm, the unsubscribe has to be in there as it’s required by my email provider (MailChimp). Just click on the word “unsubscribe” at the bottom of the email. Let me know if you can’t find it.
Thanks Corbett! I got it Instagram working on my blog in 5 minutes.
Awesome, they look really great!
I believe people follow a schedule because it’s “conventional wisdom”. That is, those who have success then translate that success into rules for everyone else to follow if they want success, but again there really are no rules.
People just want a path to follow and while there are absolutely best practices to take heed of (which you done an amazing job covering on TT) there is no path and most of the gold nuggets of conventional wisdom is found next to fools gold.
At least from where I am, it seems to be more about getting to 1000 visitors a day and 1000 subscribers, the challenge is how you do that. For content it’s good to be consistent, but it’s more important to publish something inspired instead of publishing something forced because it’s Thursday and you “need” to post.
I like your edge, David
Seriously, you’re absolutely right, we all do what everyone else does because it’s “proven” (or at least we think it is). Often it’s much more effective to shake things up and do things differently.
Hey Corbett,
Your timing, for me, was curious on this one.
I had stepped away from my blog for a bit and just returned with a post the other day. I was struggling with these vary things.
My posts are long. 1500-2000 words. I’ve tried to shorten them (sometimes according to what others say is appropriate), but it’s just not me. They always come out long. I’m o.k. with that other than the time it takes me (eight to ten hours) to write quality, lengthy posts.
I became overwhelmed every time I sat down to write. So I stopped!
I also struggled with a schedule, ’cause “they” said so!
Again, not me. I couldn’t plan and follow a schedule if my life depended on it. And, I don’t think anyone really cares as long as I provide good stuff on a regular basis.
Bottom line? I wasn’t practicing what I preach: Be yourself and do it your way.
Thanks for the reminder!
P.S. I didn’t find your post lacking quality or value, and if you enjoyed writing it more than usual, then I say more power to ya!
Cheers!
Rock on, Janet. Do it your own way! Glad to help push you back in the right direction. Thanks for the encouragement back this way as well.
This is interesting.
It is refreshing to read such an encouragement!! I see how it makes more spontaneous + authentic posts.
And here is one I wrote under that kind of impulsion just now…
http://bahiehk.com/2011/04/09/stupid-wrinkles/
I share my fears about ageing and my face starting to grow wrinkles.
_________
I can see how this can be an edge for some people.
But it hasn’t been a major difficulty for me.
What I’ve struggled more is to keep the freshness of the first impulse yet give the post some time to mature + refine.
________
I’ve also observed how for such impulsive posts to come up fine I need to be pretty rested and with a well functioning mind.
Sometimes my best ideas come when I am half asleep. So I can only manage to jot down the main ideas and work on them later.
________
Thanks again. Will remember your suggestion…
Bahieh K.
Cool, you wrote that just now? That’s really awesome. I love the real-time commitment and feedback process. How was the response to the post vs. what you usually write? Did you enjoy it more than usual this way?
This is really awesome. As my blog is not set up just yet, I can tell you this has made a huge difference.
I’m so scared about getting it “right” that at times I have lost my ability to be self expressed. Blogs are a reflection of you – I need to spend way less time editing myself to try and fit what I think people want!
I understand now there is no right or wrong, just let your writing flow!
You are nor right, nor wrong!!
Awesome!!
Let me know how this method of posting works out for you Brittany. I like the enthusiasm. Put that into your posts and you should do just fine.
Corbett,
This post is exactly what the blogging world needs. I feel like most people are now using Facebook and Twitter for real-time, spur of the moment thoughts…some of them better than others.
Sometimes the greatest insights and flat-out entertaining writing comes when it’s fluid and fresh out of your mind.
I’ve been creeping in the shadows on your site for a long while now and just wanted to tell you how great your content is and how much I enjoy visiting your site!
-Aaron
Thanks Aaron, I always take it as a good sign when a post inspires someone to step out from the shadows.