Why Write Blog Posts Consistently?

Photo credit: Stefan 1981 on Flickr

Before I began blogging, I went through a research phase. I scoured Google and my favorite blogs in search of advice for new bloggers like me. I hunted for tips that could help me start a successful blog, and the advice I saw most often kind of surprised me. It wasn't about bringing in mass amounts of traffic, or SEO, or a stellar commenting system, it was this simple tip: write posts consistently.

What surprised me even more was this: it didn't really matter if you posted every day, a couple times a week, or a couple times a month as long as you posted consistently.

Now naturally, blogs with more frequent posts tend to receive more traffic than blogs that post once a month, as new content brings in new page views, but in this case the goal isn't necessarily to bring in hoards of traffic, it's to get your readers used to coming to your blog. It's to create a posting schedule people who follow your blog can remember, so that they know when to expect your next post.

It's simple, and it works.

But there's an added bonus to writing consistent blog posts that many of those articles I encountered didn't mention, namely, the way it affects you, the writer.

Writing consistent blog posts has many benefits for the writer:

• It teaches you discipline. Consistency requires discipline. Whether it's three posts a week or four posts a month, it takes discipline to have your blog posts written by the posting date, which brings me to... 


• It teaches you how to meet deadlines. Most fields require you to meet deadlines, and if you'd like to be a professional writer (indie or traditionally published), you'll definitely have to learn to meet deadlines. These posting deadlines are self-imposed, and they're great practice. 


• It shows you that you are capable of writing under pressure. Being able to write under pressure is an essential skill for the writer. If you're an indie, you need to be able to write the sequel to your book while knowing that readers are waiting for the next update, and if you're traditionally published, you need to be able to write with many looming deadlines and agents/editors/publishers waiting for your work as well as your readers. 


• It proves that writing well while uninspired is possible. Once you begin writing consistently for any project, blog or otherwise, it won't be long before you realize that every day is not equal in the eyes of the writer. Some days the writing comes easily and other days it'd be easier to withstand hours of coffin torture than write a single word. But when you have to write consistently you learn something else, too—you don't need to be inspired to write well. You just have to write. 

What do you think? If you have a blog, do you write consistently? Why or why not?

Twitter-sized bites: 

.@Ava_Jae says it doesn't matter how often you post as long as you post consistently. What do you think? (Click to tweet)  

How does consistently writing blog posts help writers? @Ava_Jae shares four main benefits. (Click to tweet)