Inception to Publication – what it takes to make a blog post. Notes on process.
Working on Social distancing – A visit to Moscow, it nagged at me, the time it takes me to make a post. The post itself began on Friday, 10 April. The post was published Friday 8 May. Part of this timing is a matter of scheduling, and part is a matter of what it takes to actually get a post from initial thought to publication.
During the lockdown I read dozens of other people’s blogs as a sort of research activity. One thing that struck me in particular, it seemed like it took them minutes to go from idea to publication of photos and text, while I massaged for days. Sure, there are days when it all flows and in one take the whole text is done, and this is not my norm.
Somewhat reassuringly, I also watched hours of videos by professional bloggers while in lockdown. They make serious work of it. Some have drones, two indicated they can take up to 30 hours to make one video. It shows, their videos are fabulous, and they really deserve to make a living with their work.
When I first began this blog, I interviewed a few professional bloggers who made it clear to me, blogging is a full time skill requiring career. Frankly, I never considered I would be up to it. From the beginning I have seen my blog as part hobby, part archive, and part required online presence/professional reference point. It never occurred to me that I was a blogger until one day, playfully making fun of me really, Claudio said “Now that you are a Blogger.” It took a few days for that to settle in, me, A Blogger?
The addition of videos to my blog was born ‘by accident’ while I puttered about with redesigning my blog as a useful way to invest my time in lockdown. Looking for input and advice on how to redesign the Menu section of the blog, I consulted with my dear friend Carol. One 30 minute conversation with Carol, super extraordinary Management Consultant who is generous enough to offer me the invaluable fruits of her experience and expertise, and I had more ideas than I could implement in a year. One of them was a series of videos.
Per my usual style, I jumped in not really knowing exactly what I was doing and willing to give it a go all the same. Having an idea is nice, doing something about it is altogether different. Luckily, I had time on my hands and a key person to assist me in my implementation. While I could come up with ideas, monkey around with the phone, and shoot a video – then what? For this I called in Kenan, Godson and personal IT software guru. For a generously (on his part) small fee he takes my attempts at filming and makes them into something a person might actually be able to watch. In addition he redesigned my logo from these two:
To this one
Potentially most important when I express any fear or doubt, he reminds me nobody cares, and we splash forward together.
As the time for lockdown will be inevitably over, with people anxious to go back to normal (the topic of another post), I am eager that all my efforts be sustainable. Since I began this process in my mind has been, and when I have less time on my hands, how will I do it then? In some ways this thought has blocked me, as I was leading myself with fear. Approaching this idea of sustainability with gratitude gives me an entirely different perspective. Bringing me right back to conscious choice, reminding me, what I radiate out into the world is what matters. That being a Blogger is just an extension of being me.
This whole blog exercise started as one thing and has naturally grown to another, all on its own. That how much time it takes me to make a blog is entirely relative, and as Kenan says, nobody cares. What matters is that whoever does come across FOODMood feels good or even just that much better about themselves at that moment. They need not be able to say why, or even really consciously notice. It is my way to sprinkle fairy dust of good feeling on the world at large. Timing is relative.