The Pro’s and Con’s of Blogging Ahead
Most bloggers share a common goal of getting a little bit ahead on their writing, so that the task isn’t overwhelming each day. For some niches, this is ideal, and planning ahead is a great discipline in any arena. But for the purposes of more effective blogging, sometimes blogging ahead can actually have its drawbacks too.
The Pro’s of Blogging Ahead
- Blogging ahead allows you to structure your content over time, keeping the subject matter balanced.
- It also allows you to plan series’ of posts, more easily connecting one post to another.
- It relieves a lot of stress from the self-imposed end-of-day deadline (aka, “gotta blog today!”).
- It keeps your blogging more consistent so that readers know what to expect.
The Con’s of Blogging Ahead
- A lack of pressure can cause us to settle into mediocrity.
- We sometimes miss the opportunity of addressing real-time, breaking stories.
- We can become too predictable and even boring.
- We can find ourselves in a rut, repeating the same process for every post.
When I first started blogging, my goal was to post once per day. I now write three to five posts per day on a variety of blogs, but I’ve learned the hard way that holidays, weekends, and unexpected interruptions in my schedule can drastically affect my speed-to-publishing. Certain seasons of life, such as relocating, having a baby, and beginning a new job also have had a deep effect on my efficiency.
Somewhere in the middle is the balance. I think in most niches, we ought to plan ahead, perhaps a few days or even a week in advance. But we should never lose our willingness to write in-the-moment, off-the-cuff, real-time stories about what’s happening around us.
Don’t plan so much that you lose your edge. Don’t lose your mind by failing to plan. What do you think?
In addition to serving as Editor of Fuel Your Blogging, Brandon is also a Pastor at Saddleback Church and Online Community Coordinator for Pastors.com. He’s also a web designer, blogger, and church communications consultant. Catch him on his own blog or on Twitter.
I guess a happy medium is to write a series of posts and then set them to auto publish at set times but not to be afraid to put them on hold if something else happens that you believe would be good to blog on.
Richard, that would be an excellent approach. Give it a shot!
Brandon, I think you’re right on. To use a football analogy, put together a game plan, call a play in the huddle, but be willing to call an audible at the line of scrimmage.
There are probably a lot of things in life that work best with a balance between preparing ahead of time and being willing to deviate from the plan when opportunities arise.
Paul, exactly!
I used to blog ahead, and schedule posts or have a series of drafts on the go. But then I found that I never used them, or wanted to keep editing until “just so”.
Now I just blog as I publish, so everything is “fresh” as I think about it. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. But it’s the way I feel comfortable now, and I don’t think I could plan ahead now.
Not to say I don’t know how other bloggers can – we’re all different, and that’s what makes blogging so fun :)
Quite right you are, Danny. To each his/her own.
I keep a schedule for my blogs and it helps me not miss too many “deadlines”. I agree that this can also affect quality, if you are not careful. Still, when I have something super-fresh, I just make room for it and then re-schedule the other post.
For a long time I was about 2 weeks ahead with my writing. It was a double edged sword. I was relieved because something was written, but for people to be commenting about something from 2 weeks prior made it hard for me. I try to stay 2-3 days ahead now. I feel that my posts are much more relevant to me. And if they are relevant to me, then conversation should be a lot better.
This is something I need to sort out. I lose motivation too easily at the moment to even consider trying this yet. :(
Dean, just do what fits you best and enjoy the journey!
There’s a balance to strike here and it’s going to be different for every business and the way they work. I prefer the structured/scheduled approach but my work week’s never perfect and I find that keeping a strict blogging schedule is difficult. So, I blog when I can…but I’m getting better!
Great article, Brandon.