Wow! What a month November has been. Today is the last day of #bloglikecrazy 2017 and I’d like to take a look back at some of the things I accomplished this month and the blog posts I wrote along the way.
A Look Back at November 2017
Blogging
7 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block
Writing is a practice. Just as athletes have to practice to get better at their sport, we writers must practice to get better at our craft.
It was in Natalie Goldberg’s book Writing Down the Bones that I first saw this comparison made and the analogy has moved me ever since, especially because I’m a runner. I’m a very slow runner, but a runner, nonetheless, and whenever I’m running a race or training for one I’m also always thinking about writing. Lately, I’ve decided to dig a little deeper with this analogy between writing and running.
Runners train not just to get faster, but also to get stronger. Runners train to prevent injury. So, I started thinking, how can we writer’s train to prevent the injury of writer’s block?
What the Vulcan Run 10K Taught Me About Writing & Blogging
This weekend, for the first time ever, I participated in the Vulcan Run, a 10K race held annually in Birmingham that attracts about 1,000 runners each year.
I have never been more nervous for a race. I couldn’t really figure out why. I’ve run a half-marathon — twice — which is more than twice the number of miles of a 10K. I also trained for this race for a month. Yet, the morning of the Vulcan Run I was so nervous my stomach started to hurt.
I was convinced I’d be too slow to finish the race in the two-hour time limit or that my legs would just stop working around mile five.
Nevertheless, I laced up my Nikes and set off to pound the pavement. This race, like so many others, would not only teach me plenty about running but impart lessons about writing, too.
Making the Most of #BlogLikeCrazy
The See Jane Write blogging challenge #bloglikecrazy kicks off in two days. (If you’re new around here, you can learn all about #bloglikecrazy here.)
I’ve discussed before how I believe blogging every day for 30 days can help you be more creative and more consistent. This challenge can also drastically increase your blog traffic but simply publishing new content every day isn’t enough to do so. Yes, you need to develop an editorial calendar of 30 blog post ideas for November, and you need to find time to write your blog posts, but you must make time to promote your blog posts, too. And this is where so many bloggers drop the ball.
Finding time to #bloglikecrazy
Can you believe that #bloglikecrazy starts next week?! In case you’re new around here, every November I challenge my fellow bloggers to publish a new blog post every day for 30 days. I started doing this a few years ago with the ladies of See Jane Write and soon women — and men — all over the country joined in.
If you’d like to participate, simply use the hashtag #bloglikecrazy when you share your posts on social media and I’ll help you promote your posts. Also, I’ll give you encouragement along the way by sharing blogging tips and post ideas using the #bloglikecrazy hashtag.
Now you may be thinking, “Why on earth should I blog every day for 30 days?”
Good question. I believe blogging every day for 30 days will boost your creativity, your community, and your consistency. I break down each of these here.
Or maybe you’re thinking, “How on earth am I supposed to blog every day for 30 days?”
Well, last week, I wrote a post to help you create an editorial calendar for November. This week I want to help you figure out when you’re going to actually write these posts.