I have been a journalist for 20 years and have never been a “regular” blogger, but I have recently wanted to step up that game. I have written Mom columns for newspapers since the late 1990’s before “Mom blogger” was even a term. I do find that my pen often goes to the topic of motherhood so, I’m challenging myself to write something about parenting for 31 days in a row. And what better place to begin than the beginning of a new month. That happens also to be my birthday month.
Well, now it is June 8. Where did a week go? Why celebrating my June 2nd birthday, of course. I did begin collecting possible posts to publish, which I do several times a day.
During conversations in “real-life” I tell my kids and friends often, “Oh, that would make a great blog post.”
Sometimes when I think of blogging, I think of writing newspaper articles. As a freelance journalist since 1996, I think of how long it takes me to pen one article. The research, the interviews, the fact checking, the draft after draft. I have also written columns for the newspaper, most consistently my “On The Home Front” and” Writer Mom” column for the West Linn Tidings and my “Real-Life Mom” column for The Oregonian, each of them taking me so long to write. Can you say, “perfectionist?”
I need to rethink, reprogram myself in the blogging arena. Blogging is different than journalism. It’s more like a conversation.
Several blogger friends of mine have done a 31-day challenge for their blogging and they’ve talked about how hard it is and I’ve tried and it just didn’t seem to work for me.
So, I’ve thought, what if I penned something short, daily, like Seth Godin does, something poignant, on only one quick subject, maybe triggered by a piece of news or a conversation or a story. Like a conversation, a thought on an idea. I have lots of conversations every day.
Okay, here goes. My goal is to do post each day, a nugget on parenting, one quick thought on being a mom, like I am having a conversation with someone.
So, I begin this today. A week later than I thought I would. Maybe it will become a habit. Daily. Like blogging is for some. A conversation.
Day 1: A Thought a Day on Parenting
Day 3: Give them experiences, not material goods
