2017 Wrap Up Of 24 Posts

I thought I’d take the opportunity to wrap up the 24 posts for 2017.

This year’s 24 posts wasn’t as successful as I hoped. I got about half way through, then I surrendered. As I was writing the posts, I felt increasing pressure to publish each day. At some point, it wasn’t worth it. I came to realize something: I need more time to consider a topic in full, and to edit the content.

Some days I would write around 300 words, which is the minimum amount that the yoast SEO plugin suggests. Other days though, I’d write much more than that – sometimes double that length. It was taking up too much time on a given day to write, then edit the content. Another problem that arose was, I never had time to research a topic. Whatever topic I was gonna write about, had to not require research. I particularly enjoy writing technical articles though — whether they’re about vim, PHP, or the command line. Technical articles take more time to write – even when I am already knowledgeable about a topic. It’s hard to do technical articles though, if you don’t have time to research things.

I came to realized that I’d prefer not to write an article everyday. I don’t need or want to write for writings sake. To me, quality is more important that quantity.  I write to educate, inform, and share what I learn. If I had to learn something once, I’ll likely need to know how to do it again.  Given that, I don’t see myself doing 24 posts for the holidays in the future.

The catalyst for writing 24 posts, was the desire to write more regularly. I had gone through long periods of not writing at all. This years experience was as if the pendulum has swung far in the other direction. With the new year, comes an opportunity to write all kinds of new content. I think I can write more consistently — perhaps weekly or fortnightly. Either way, I think I can bring the pendulum closer to a healthy middle.