In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m not a great writer. It’s one of the reasons why I wanted to start blogging. I figured that if I consistently wrote on a daily basis, that eventually my writing and communications skills would improve over time.
What I didn’t expect to occur was the realization of how poor my writing skills had become. Years of exchanging text messages and tweeting had brought my communication skills down to short bursts of communication that rarely contained context or deep meaning.
It’s not all been bad, in fact I think blogging has solidified what I believe about social media and its impact on the church. I’m even more convinced that social media is no longer an option for churches, but rather a requirement.
I’m very grateful for these last four months of blogging. Blogging is a skill that worth pursuing and I’m thankful for the encouragement I’ve received along the way. The church social media community (#chsocm) is full of wonderful people who are giving of their time and skills.
If you’re still on the fence about whether or not you should begin blogging, I want to encourage you and share with you three key things that I’ve the learned along the way that you can learn from.
Blogging Is Hard
For those of you thinking of starting a blog, you need to know something. Blogging is hard. From content generation to editing, blogging is one of the most time consuming experiences that I’ve had. If you want to blog, you need to be ready to give up something else. That may sound harsh, but great bloggers will tell you that they don’t watch much TV or do other wasteful activities.
Edit, Sit, Edit
I hate editing. I would rather write a post once, publish it and then walk away. However, writing for me doesn’t work that way. I need to write a really bad rough draft, let it sit for about a day, then can come back and see what needs to be polished. Sometimes I’m surprised at what I’ve written, other times I wonder what I was thinking when I wrote it.
Do I let things fall through the cracks in the editing process? Sure. If you read through my past blog posts, you will find all kinds of errors. However, unlike print I can always go back and edit.
It’s Time to Reboot
I spent the last week think about what this blog is and what it should be. I’ve come to a few conclusions. First, this design does not really reflect me and my aesthetic. Don’t missunderstand me, I think it’s a good design. It’s called Focus and it comes from the awesome people at StudioPress. However, I’m going to simplify things and go closer to what Brian Gardner is currently using.
I’ll also only post once a week. I know that breaks all sorts of blogging rules, but it’s what works best for me and I think will best serve my audience in the long run. For those of who blog at least once a day, my respect goes out you. If you’ve just started blogging, pace yourself. Blogging is more like a marathon than a sprint.
I’m excited about the future of the church and social media. The task is great, but I have a firm belief that church is up to the challenge. I also think you are too. I think we need more voices in the conversation and the voice we’re missing is yours.