Blapril is here, and even if I’m not a Mentor, I’ve decided to try and give some ideas to the new participants. This is not a “must-do” list, but a “thinks that I do/use and you might try”. Maybe they will work for you, maybe they spark some derived ideas or maybe they don’t make any service to you. Now, in no particular order, here is my list:

 

• Create a list of future posts, and organize them in a calendar: It can be on paper, online… whatever works for you. I don’t stick to it, exactly. I’ve created my Blapril calendar just a couple of days ago, and this post wasn’t there, but it’s useful to me. It’s something I can reach out when needed and helps me think about a cadence. Something in the line of “In two days I want to write about old-school games, I could use these 10 free minutes I have now to make a list of games that come to my mind”.
• Read other blogs regularly: I am an early-bird, so I usually have some spare time while having breakfast, especially now that I am working from home. So I launch an RSS reader on my phone and check other related blogs. I also bookmark some posts that spark something. Maybe they are writing about something that inspires me another post, maybe they teach me something new… I also read non-related blogs, news… a lot of things, and sometimes inspiration comes from unexpected places (a work phone-call, even!), but related blogs tend to be the main source.
• Comment on other people’s blogs: This is something that I don’t do a lot. It feels like I should interact more frequently with other writers and it’s one of my goals currently. Don’t be me, do better. It pays off to all the involved parties in the long run.
• Stop messing with the blog (theme, plugins…) and write. I’m guilty of this one, too. Having a nice page it’s important. Faster load times, safer spam protection, backups… You can spend the whole Blapril fixing things and you’ll never end. I’ve forced myself to stop doing that. I won’t let me touch a thing unless I’ve written and published a post that day.
• Try not to be too hard on yourself. Maybe you are writing less than you expected, or maybe you’re not satisfied with “that” post quality… Try to improve, of course, you want to do it well, but this is a process, it’s going to get better over time. And it’s a hobby, too. We are doing it because we want to and it should be fun, or it won’t be.

And, given that everybody online loves cat’s pictures, here is a dog.