I haven't mentioned it before but I have ADD and as most people that have it, I've had it my entire life. Of course given my age they didn't call it that when I was growing up. It was usually labeled, "Deborah isn't applying herself in school" or "she's extremely bright but she tends to zone out during class." Of course as I look back on my life, I realize that if I had known all of the tricks that I use for remembering then that I know now no telling what kind of higher education I could have gotten.
Anyway, there is a reason that I brought this up. As the title of my posting states I would like to know how the rest of you create your wonderful postings. Are your creative sessions like mine?
Here is one of my typical sessions:
Think of a topic that I want to blog about or see a great topic from a different blog to which I would like to respond. Sit down at computer, Type, type, type, make a mistake a backup fourteen spaces, type, type, type..."does that plant need watering?", water plant, sit back down, type, type, type, insert picture, type caption......."I wonder if the mail has come yet?", go check mail, sit down, "where was I? Oh yeah.", type, type, type, insert smiley face, type....."Oh I forgot to get the laundry out of the washer!", get laundry and hang it out on expandable clothes rack on porch (remember to save the environment!Go Green), come back in, type, type, type, "oh look I have new email!", check out the email, come back to blogger, type, type, type.....go back up a paragraph and restructure a whole sentence, type, type, type...."oh I need to tend my farm in Facebook!", tend, tend, tend, come back to blogger, type, type, type....save to draft.
A week later look at the posting created above, "oh, I don't want to post that anymore." delete.
Now granted not all of my postings are deleted. But I have started about a dozen or so and never finished them.
Is this typical? I know that I don't like to write (What! You have a blog, how could you not like to write), or should I say I don't feel like I am a very good writer. So I cut myself a little slack because when I don't really want to do something or think that I won't be good at it I tend to procrastinate. So I try not to put undue pressure on myself because I know that I don't HAVE to write anything it is a choice that I have made. But as with most people I like to know that I am not alone in the way that I do things. If I know that more people have trouble getting their postings created and published it won't make me feel so.....difficult.
So that is why I'm asking does this sound like the way you all write blog postings?
Just wondering?
Hope you enjoyed, glad you stopped by and please come back again ;)
Yes, I enjoyed your post! I do the same thing, except for the farm on Facebook. :-) I'd rather play with my blog. I've tried to write shorter posts so I can get one done in between all the other things that are calling me. Or else I do it at the end of the day when there just isn't anything to hop up for. I think those who write extensive instructions/lessons on their blogs are retired and do it full time. As for me, it's only one of a thousand things I cram into each day or week. I love your blog!
ReplyDeleteI feel for you. There was one of my posts that actually took over 2 weeks to complete before I posted it, but it was on a topic very dear to me and I wanted to be sure I did it well, so whenever I got interrupted by everyday life, I would just stop.
ReplyDeleteI started completely by doing the weekly themes, and also by reading other's responses to those themes so I would learn. Then I decided to do a few of the Carnivals, and that helped me to branch out. My best time to work is late at night when I can think a bit about my ancestors. Sometimes it brings up ideas.
I have long way to go, but that's my story and I am sticking to it.
Kim
Not that I'm any model ... my attention span sounds like yours. And I have plenty of unfinished postings and postings that I completed but decided were not what I wanted, so I deleted them. Mostly I try not to worry too much. I imagine that I am talking to a relative or friend and telling the story, and I write it down as I would say it. Then I go over to remove superfluous material (usually between 5% and 20%) and make sure it flows naturally. That's it. Sometimes there are mistakes or non sequiturs, but if I thought about them too much, I'd never post. Sometimes when I am not at my home computer I scribble down ideas - some pan out, some don't. This is helpful if your time is limited (like Becky, I have many other claims on my time, including children and a job). I think you are doing what needs to be done, and BTW, this was a funny post, and a true one, too!
ReplyDeleteBecky, Kim and Greta,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your posts. It's really nice to know that I'm not the only one that has other things calling to them while trying to write.
Becky I like the idea of trying to write shorter posts. That, I will have to try.
Kim, I too agree that the Weekly Themes are a major help in keeping me focused. If it hadn't been for them I don't think I would have started a blog in the first place.
Greta,I like the idea of imagine talking to the relative or friend about the story. I will also have to start trying to turn my brain off and not think about it to much and just let it flow.
Again I thank you all so much for stopping by and giving me some feedback on this. Again it just proves how supportive the genealogy blogging community can be.
I just wrote out a long response to your post and it just disappeared.... (I hope it and this response don't both appear!)
ReplyDeleteI write like you do but I didn't realize it was ADD. I thought it was just my ageing brain getting in the way of progress. Something I write reminds me that I didn't fill the ice cube trays, or to listen for the washer, etc.
I often think out my posts in my brain before typing them. When I do that, I type and review. Other times I come up with an idea then sit down and write, reviewing research results as I go, if necessary. Still other times, I know I want to post about a topic (such as my recently missed blog anniversary post) and come up with a blank. Those posts sometimes never get written.
I think you're doing a fine job with your blog. I particuarly enjoyed the humorous way you presented this post. Keep writing. We'll read.
Nancy, that's weird that the first posting got "eaten". But even more weird is that in my email it shows the above posting twice but then it was only posted once here. Weird! Anyway.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of thinking them out before starting to type. Sometimes I do that because if I didn't it would take me all day to come up with the postings. But I do think I will start trying to get a clearer image of the posting in my head before I start.
The writing style that I mentioned in the posting is only 1 of the many reasons that I know that I have ADD....plus OCD, IBS the list could go on and on. :P
But anyway, it wasn't until my son was diagnosed with it that I started reading about it, its' symptoms and signs. It was then that I realized that the apple (or nut depends on who you ask) didn't fall far from the tree.
Thanks for the compliment and I am going to try all of the different ways that you all suggested.
Yes, you need to cut yourself some slack. What I write is what goes on in my head. There isn't much thought or analysis that goes into it.
ReplyDeleteLast year, I wrote a list of 52 topics for genealogy blogs. Email me if you're interested in it and I will send you a copy.