The Most Banal Writing Tip is Also the Best Blogging Tip ...

... if your goal is sustained prolificacy.

That tip:

WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW

Another version:

WRITE WHAT YOU DO

For the last couple of years, I've maintained a standing blog goal: Average at least one KN@PPSTER post per day.

Suddenly, over the last few weeks, that's become very easy (so easy, in fact, that I'll probably double the goal for next year).

Why? Because there's something I do every morning, seven days a week. It's something I seem to do reasonably well (indicating I know it reasonably well), and that a lot of people seem to find interesting.

That thing is Wordle.

I play it every morning, seven days a week (I've even got an Alexa reminder in case I forget).

I almost always "win" (that is, solve the puzzle in six or fewer turns), I usually do pretty well by my own standards (that is, solve the puzzle in four or fewer turns).

And fairly early on, I noticed that daily Wordle tips or hints are a thing on the Internet.

Well, hell, I can do that. Easily. My tip/hint usually takes a couple of minutes to come up with and post, and I've already got a standard post format and graphic for it.

Boom. Instant daily post, which gets me to my daily goal before I do anything else.

But wait, there's more!

If you look at my numbers for this month, I'm suddenly averaging more than one daily post in addition to the daily Wordle tip/hint.

Why? I have a couple of hypotheses.

One is that the act of publishing a post each morning constitutes a habit. The more I blog, the more I'm likely to blog.

Another is that meeting my goal so easily removes any pressure to meet the goal, leaving me more relaxed and more likely to put something up because I feel like it, instead of agonizing over what to do my "required" single post on and maybe just blowing it off.

No, I'm not suggesting that you do your own daily Wordle post, although there's nothing wrong with the idea.

I'm suggesting that you pick something you know and/or do frequently, something you know you could write about from a position of knowledge and comfort on a regular basis, and that you do so.

Maybe you start each morning off with a random song from your favorite streaming service. Spend two minutes on Wikipedia researching the song or artist, grab a fun bit of trivia, and post that little nugget (and a YouTube embed of the song). You can do it while finishing off your first cup of coffee, and you will have started the day off as a writer/blogger, motivating you to do more writing/blogging through the day.

It could be that. It could be the weather. It could be the overnight police blotter in your town. It could be pretty much anything that you pay attention to on a continuing basis and take the time to learn a little bit about.

You're welcome.