Next month I will be celebrating my one year blogging anniversary. I have put a great deal of work into this blog and I am very proud of it. There is no denying that blogging is a lot of work but if it’s something you love to do, the workload isn’t that bad. Running a blog is a labour of love.

There are many activities that need to be regularly taken care of when running a blog. There is social media management and advertising. An individual needs to work on finding a tribe and developing a community. Images and graphics need to be found or created. There dozens of tasks that need to be dealt with regularly.

All of these jobs are important but none of them would matter without great content. A blog needs posts or it offers nothing to its readers. Furthermore, these posts need to be created regularly to keep readers coming back. Today I, the blogging baby, am here to tell you a bit about the work that I put into every one of my blog posts.

1. The Idea

Before words can be put together, I need an idea of what to write about. Inspiration can come from many places and it comes from various sources for different people. Most of my inspiration comes from my experiences. I like to write about my observations and thoughts on life.

Sometimes I am inspired by other things. I read a lot and I sometimes get an idea from something I have read. Other times I am inspired by a company that contacts me for the purpose of doing a review. If the product or brand inspires me to write something good, I might accept. There are also times when inspiration comes from runaway thoughts which just happen to come together into a blog post.

2. Development Phase

When a basic idea forms, it’s time to formulate a plan. I need to have a good understanding of what I want to say before I begin saying it. I think about the point I want to make and consider any resources I might use to add depth to my post.

Sometimes while developing an idea I end up with a post that is very different from the original concept. Occasionally an idea snowballs into something complex which is beyond the scope of a single blog post. When that happens I try to break it up into more manageable chunks and create several separate blog posts to cover all the content. Other times an idea proves to be impossible to develop into a worthwhile post and ends up abandoned.

3. Finding the Building Blocks

Once I get an idea and develop it a workable plan for a blog post, I begin searching for the basic parts that make up the post. By this I mean the letters. A post can’t exist without words and words can’t exist without letters. And so this is where I begin.

I keep my letters in a bucket. When I am ready to get to work I dump the bucket out on a flat surface and begin sorting through the letters. I combine the letters in various configurations and determine which combinations work best.

4. Getting It on the Screen

The next step is to type up my work and get it on the computer. For this I need my trusty keyboard which consists of buttons with letters printed on them. This is one of my favourite parts of creating a blog post. I love to press buttons.

Sometimes I press the buttons with great care. I make sure to press them slowly and deliberately, making sure that only one button is pressed at any time. Other times I use the palms of both hands to smack the keys. I think the latter is my preferred method of using a keyboard.

5. Editing

I have to be honest and say that I don’t know all that much about the editing process. I have an assistant that takes care of this for me. My assistant is mommy and she reviews my work and makes whatever adjustments are necessary to make my blog post even better.

6. The Finishing Touches

Every one of my blog posts includes at least one original photo of me. Some photos are taken months in advance while I go about my business and others are taken deliberately for a specific blog post. I prefer the former but can sometimes be convinced to pose for a specific photo if I’m in a good mood.

I am the model for all of our photos and mommy is the photographer. There is also a third partner who we call the camera. He doesn’t say much but he is always there watching with his one unblinking eye. Those are the three required roles for a photo shoot.

7. Pressing the Button

The last step of creating a blog post is the most simple but also the most important. Without this step nobody would be able to see any of my posts. This last step is pressing the button that will publish my post on my blog and send it out for the world to see.

I find this step a bit anticlimactic as there is no actual button. Mommy claims that there is a virtual button but I don’t think so. There is no protrusion, no lights, no satisfying click sound. I leave this step to mommy. I have no interest in virtual buttons.