The BHB Blog is a Year Old: Let Us Have Shock and Awe

So in the midst of all the bullshit and malfunction of the last several days, I missed something that is actually kind of a landmark for me. My blog turned a year old.

That's right, folks. I have actually been doing this for a solid year now. I didn't just quit after two months or two weeks or when I found some excuse to do not do it for a couple of days. I really kept going. Really. I'm fucking shocked as hell. I'm also happy and overjoyed. Honestly, there are like a million emotions going on right now. My lip is trembling. I think I'm even crying a little.

The thing is, I'm not GOOD at commitments. I'm really random and only obsessive in a fickle kind of way. For me to do something, consistently, for a year is almost unheard of. And I didn't do this in a half-assed kind of only post every once in a while kind of way. Out of 365 days, I have like 328 posts. So yes, I missed some days, but the vast majority of them, there is a blog entry.

So how did I do it?  See, this isn't only a big question for me (being fickle and lazy), it's a good question for a lot of people who start blogs but don't continue them. I'm totally not trying to be smug here.  Like I said, I'm in shock it's still going. Let's look at why.

I GIVE MYSELF THE FREEDOM TO BLOG ABOUT ANYTHING

I know that a lot of people have really strict guidelines about what their blog will be. I tried that at first, but soon discovered it wasn't going to work for me. I know some people who do niche blogs, and honestly, I think it helps if you have several people working on them with you. That way you never get really overwhelmed by the restrictive nature of it.

If you feel the need to do a niche blog, give yourself an Anything blog as well. That way you can make sure you write quite often without having to struggle for ways to fit what you really want to blog about into your niche.

I WRITE THE BLOG WHEN I DON'T HAVE OTHER DISTRACTIONS.

My blog usually gets written somewhere between midnight and two in the morning. The TV is off, everyone is in bed, most of my friends are offline, and I'm winding down from the day.  During this time, I can focus the majority of my attention on my writing. I don't have to worry about crisis situations or my attention wavering to something else.

The thing is, I know for a lot of people, this is probably the most difficult thing to try and find. Our lives are full of interruptions and chaos and all manner of loudness. How people with children blog is beyond me.  They must roofie the kids while they write.

I DON'T STRESS OVER MAKING THE BLOG PERFECT

Obviously. No, really, I don't. If there is one thing I learned from doing NaNoWriMo, it's that we limit our creativity by stressing perfection while we write. Will I correct spelling errors and typos? Yeah, the ones I catch.  Will I go over things to make sure I'm not repeating myself over and over again? Okay, sometimes, but only after I've written the post.

I don't edit as I go because I know I'd get frustrated and stop. I'm far more interested in developing my writing voice again.  Grammar and spelling Nazis have their place, but they can also suck the soul out of people's potential work.


I DON'T STRESS OVER MAKING EVERY POST BRILLIANT

Look, I'm not going to be falsely modest here. I know I've written some killer posts. I also know I've written some rambling indulgently mind numbing posts as well. I'm okay with that. I know that writing 300 of anything won't be epic every single time.  Not for me, at least.

As I said before, the point isn't that it's perfect. The point is that it happens.  I write. I keep writing. I express what's going on in my head or in my heart or around me. Whatever that happens to amount to, awesome.

And this isn't one of those "you get a gold star just for trying" things.  Actually, maybe it is. But you know what? I hate it when people bitch about that teaching method. There is something to be said for people who work on something continuously until they master it.

When I finally start blocking this thing out into various books, yeah, I'll discard the boring stuff where I just whine and keep the great bits.  And you know what? There WILL BE a lot of great bits.

If I'd tried to focus on just making it wonderful all the time, I'd probably freak out and stop writing. Then there would be no bits, great or otherwise.

Anyway, there are some tips on how I made it this far.  Again, wow.  A year of blogging. This is wonderful. I'm really proud of myself and so grateful to the two or three of you who read this. Thank you so much.  Love you all.