Blogging to Boost Creativity

"How To Stimulate Your Creativity With A Blog"
Made by Steve Hoefer (September 28, 2009)

"Much to my surprise it's been a year since my first post here and a ton of pleasant and unexpected things have happened. One of the unexpected and pleasant things was learning that a blog wasn't just a tool for the narcissist, but could be used to provoke creativity...."

The author gives key paragraphs headings in bold, like:

• "Learn how to make a good blog post."
• "Make predictions, post in-progress reports."
• "Don't aggregate."
  • I'll get back to this.
• "Develop an audience."

Here's the start of that "Don't Aggregate" paragraph:

"...Don't aggregate. There are two kinds of blogs, Creators and Aggregators. You already know many Aggregators, they take other people's content and pull it together it into one place. Fark, Gizmodo, BoingBoing, Digg, Reddit...."

I see Mr. Hoefer's point.

On the other hand, Apathetic Lemming of the North does a lot of aggregating. Most posts these days are what I call micro-reviews: an excerpt from something I found on the Web, to give a sample of its content and style; and a short discussion of what I found, sometimes with a bit extra about the subject of what I'm 'micro-reviewing.'

Later, still on the "Don't Aggregate" subject:

"...Your first goal is not to have millions of visitors, it's to be the best creative person that you can be, so keep it focused on what you're creating...."

I don't know: I wouldn't mind having millions of visitors a year. But again, the author has a point: "...if you think it's been too long between posts, don't post your favorite lolcat, get out there and create something to post about!..."

(Today, that lolcat links to a photo of three birds on a branch: The caption makes it worth the visit, I think.)

What didn't get mentioned, but was implied (I think) in that paragraph is another important part of making good use of a blog: regular posting. Ideally, one or more posts a day: but that, I think, depends on your subject. Some of my blogs are updated when I've got something to say - which can be several times a day, or once every week or so. Another gets an update late in the evening each Wednesday and Sunday.

The author has good ideas, expresses them clearly - which makes this a useful resource for seriously creative bloggers.

Now, some shameless self-promotion:

• A Catholic Citizen in America
  • Following Catholic beliefs and practices in America: One man's experience
• Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space
  • Notes and ruminations of a writer, recapturing traces of a decades-old dream.
• Narcissus-X
  • A blog entirely devoted to Narcissus-X
• Sauk Centre Journal Blog
  • Showing the positive side of small town America, at least the part I live in.
    And, the negative: when it happens.