Two months ago I felt like a semi-successful blogger. I’d built up a decent readership and I was pumping out some good content on a pretty regular basis. However, I wouldn’t have told you I was a great blogger or even a good blogger. I was an okay blogger. No matter what I did or what advice I read or what kind of plan I implemented, I felt like I was sorely lacking in one very significant area. I felt like all the best bloggers had this one thing that I didn’t have, this one thing I needed to finally feel legitimate…

Consistency.

What is Consistency?

Most people, when talking about the consistency of a blog, immediately go to schedules. For example, until recently Wage Slave Rebel had a pretty predictable Monday-Wednesday-Friday posting schedule. I kept it up for months. I expect that anyone who has followed WSR would be surprised that I never considered myself consistent. Posts were up like clockwork and that’s all a reader can ask, right? And that’s the most any good blogger can do… isn’t it?

But I don’t think so. Any post that got published was just superficial evidence of a deeper, less consistent and, often, miserable process. When I talk about consistency being a necessary quality for a blogger (or any writer) to have, I’m not just talking about being able to pump out quality content on a regular schedule. I’m talking about being able to predictably and quickly pump out quality content. I’m talking about a streamlined process that enables you to dive right into your subject, write energetically and passionately and get out with what you feel to be one of the best articles of your life. And even more importantly, for this process to be easily accessible any time you wish to write.

I used to think that this kind of process was a myth. There was no way I could ever plop down in a chair, get into some kind of zone and come out with my own personal masterpiece each and every time.

But that’s exactly what I do now.

The Turning Point

About two months ago I started something that completely changed my perspective on blogging. Where my blogging had previously tended to be reactionary and event driven, this thing I started forced it to be proactive and passionate, but still formulaic enough that I can sit down and write whenever I want to and come up with something I love and something that I know will be valuable for the readers.

What did I do?

I started a blogging course. Not only did I start a blogging course, but I started it at a time when I was focusing on building Idea Anarchy Web Design. So besides having to create workflows and site designs, integrate payment methods, set up a project management system, figure out pricing and services, write copy, set up a portfolio and draw up marketing plans for the web design company, I had to write a blog post every single weekday for 90 days. Talk about overwhelming!

It was tough for me to write for Wage Slave Rebel three times a week. Every post was a chore and needed, at the very least, a two hour commitment. At the same time, I knew a blogging course was exactly what needed to be done. I knew enough about blogging that I could genuinely help people, not to mention it’s potential as a passive income source. It was one of those things that you just know you have to do, even if it means pushing yourself further than you’ve ever gone.

And I was definitely pushed. I was intimidated, overwhelmed, stressed, scared. I didn’t know how it would get done. I just started writing one day at a time. And day after day after day I started discovering, bit by bit, that mythical streamlined process. And then, finally, after three weeks of writing almost daily, I realized that I had found it.

How to Consistently and Quickly Write Pure Awesome

After realizing that, for a few weeks straight, I had been pumping out good content in less than one hour with little effort, I knew something had changed. I decided to analyze the things that I’d been doing that I’d never done before and to figure out which of those things had caused this amazing change. And after thinking back on the last two months, these are the things which I have found to have the most profound effect on my writing process:

1. Know Your Subject - First and foremost, you should be writing about something that you have a genuine interest in, but not just that. You should also regard yourself as an expert on this subject. Often times I’d find myself thinking it would be a great idea to have a travel-related post on Wage Slave Rebel. Maybe something about location independence. The problem? I’m not a traveler. I’ve never been a traveler. I’m not qualified to write about traveling and I’m not all that passionate about it. So what was the result? A shitty article that made me feel like nothing more than an inauthentic hack who was pandering for pageviews. When writing for the blogging course, I wrote about subjects for which I had true passion — WordPress, writing, technology. Most importantly, I consider myself an expert and an authoritative voice.
2. Know What You’ll Write Before You Try To Write It - More often than not I’d sit down at the computer with no clue whatsoever what my post would be about. I’d waste 30 or 40 minutes trying to think of some half-assed subject and when I finally came up with something it was never particularly good. I could never really get behind it, but I’d push forward with it anyway. The blogging course changed this. Each week has a dashboard that shows an overview of that week’s lessons. This meant I had to plan each week in advance. So every Sunday I sit down and write down five post topics and attach them to a day. Doing this ahead of time allows me to figure out whether or not I’m actually passionate about the topics I’ve chosen and it allows me to make changes without panicking. It can be a slow and thoughtful process. Then when the time comes to write each post, I know I’ve already got an awesome topic and that I’ve already got a lot to say about it. I dive write into the writing process and have a complete post that I love within an hour, all because of a little planning.
3. Be Held Accountable - This is without a doubt the most important thing I’ve learned. Accountability matters. If you’re answering only to yourself, it’s really easy to just bullshit your way through everything. A couple months ago I published a short post here on WSR to get a small test group together for the blogging course. And to my surprise, people responded. And even more to my surprise, people paid. When you have a group of people who trust in your knowledge enough to join a course that doesn’t yet exist and to pay you money for the privilege, you can’t fuck around. You owe it to them to deliver nothing short of excellence. Knowing that if I didn’t sit down and write then tomorrow I’d have a small mob demanding their money back was motivation enough for me. It’s kind of the ultimate kind of accountability. There’s really something very important at stake. I realize that most bloggers probably won’t have the opportunity to get paid directly for their writing, but you can mimic this same sort of accountability by publishing a very public posting schedule. If you tell your readers that there will be a post every Tuesday and Thursday and make a big deal about having a new post up every Tuesday and Thursday, then if they see you straying from that schedule they aren’t going to worry about following you. If you have something to lose, you’re more likely to do what you need to do.

And that’s really it. I’m not sure there’s anything more to it. It’s all about valuing your own knowledge, planning each post ahead of time and having someone depend on that post being delivered. It’s a simple system, but probably one that’s difficult to put in place.

What do you think?

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3. So You Want To Be A Blogger, Part Three – Creating Compelling Content
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5. So You Want To Be A Blogger, Part Four – Promoting Your Blog