Moving my website from WordPress to Squarespace wouldn't have been possible without my brother-in-law's amazing tech skills. Asking for help can feel vulnerable and difficult, but being vulnerable is essential to living a good life.

2. It’s okay to delete or un-publish content online.

I've meant to prune the content on my website for the past two years, and this migration was the perfect opportunity to do so. Last weekend, I spent Friday through Sunday reviewing my blog archive, formatting older posts, and deleting or un-publishing posts from the blog. I reviewed over 900 posts in my archive, and that was only the tip of the content iceberg. I'm astounded by the amount of content I've shared online over the past ten years.

3. Reviewing your body of work is a good idea.

I uncovered interesting themes and details while reviewing my blog archive, like:

Blogging is a tool that I've been passionate about for over ten years.
Photography is a huge part of my work.
I'm good at finding, curating, and sharing articles and books.

4. RowdyKittens.com is my home online.

Big social media platforms come and go, and there's a lot to be said for cultivating a digital home on the open web. Also, maintaining my website has given me useful skills and a deeper understanding of how the Internet works. This approach reminds me of a quote from Alan Jacobs's recent essay—Tending the Digital Commons: A Small Ethics toward the Future.

Jacobs said:

“ ... I think every young person who regularly uses a computer should learn the following:

how to choose a domain name

how to buy a domain

how to choose a good domain name provider

how to choose a good website-hosting service

how to find a good free text editor

how to transfer files to and from a server

how to write basic HTML, including links to CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) files

how to find free CSS templates

how to fiddle around in those templates to adjust them to your satisfaction

how to do basic photograph editing

how to cite your sources and link to the originals

how to use social media to share what you’ve created on your own turf rather than create within a walled factory

One could add considerably to this list, but these, I believe, are the rudimentary skills that should be possessed by anyone who wants to be a responsible citizen of the open Web—and not to be confined to living on the bounty of the digital headmasters.

There is, of course, no way to be completely independent online, either as an individual or a community: This is life on the grid, not off. Which means that anyone who learns the skills listed above—and even those who go well beyond such skills and host their websites on their own servers, while producing electricity on their own wind farms—will nevertheless need an Internet service provider. I am not speaking here of complete digital independence, but, rather, independence from the power of the walled factories and their owners.”

Also, the skills Jacobs listed above can be learned by anyone—regardless of age. I have about three-quarters of the skills Jacobs listed in my toolbox, and still, have plenty to learn.

5. You’re allowed to change your mind. For example, it’s okay to switch content management systems, publish short blog posts on a variety of different topics, and more. Don’t limit your creative output to a single medium or niche.

Tammy Strobel

October 5, 2017

Life Online

My Blogging Process (The 2017 Edition)

Tammy Strobel

October 5, 2017

Life Online

Recently, readers have inquired about my approach to blogging. Specifically, folks want to know what my writing and editing process looks like for a typical blog post.

Below is what my writing process looks like from start to finish.

Ideas come to me in the shower, when I'm exercising, driving, doing the dishes, etc.
When an idea emerges, I try to write it down in my journal immediately. Otherwise, the idea slips away.
From there, I create a mind-map— a diagram used to visually organize information— and write a rough draft in my journal.
Then, it's time to transfer my journal notes/draft to Evernote.
On average, I revise my rough drafts three to five times (sometimes more, sometimes less). The revision process depends on the piece.
After I have a final draft, I copy and paste the content into a Word document and save it to my desktop.
Then, I upload the Word document to Grammarly.
Grammarly is where I do a final round of edits, and I often end up adding more content to the post.
When I'm done editing the post, I export the Grammarly draft to my Desktop.
Sometimes, Logan, my husband, reviews the final draft for content (especially if the post is sensitive). Most of the time, Logan catches odd turns of phrase or suggests adding additional thoughts or transitions to the post.
If Logan recommends substantial changes to my post, I review the essay in Grammarly again.
I read the final version one more time.
Now it’s time to format the post on the backend of my website and in MailChimp. This can take 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how many photos or links I’ve included in the post.
Once I've tested the links in WordPress and MailChimp, I press the publish button.
Then, I share the post on social media.
Finally, I drag and drop the completed essay from my desktop into my final edits folder in Dropbox.

Typically, each blog post takes 8 to 15 hours to complete from start to finish. I usually spend the same amount of time—sometimes more—on my photo roundups. Obviously, I don’t have to edit words. However, traveling to a location, taking photographs, editing images, and then deciding what images to share online takes time.

I decided to share my happy links monthly rather than weekly because finding good reads is time intensive. I’d guess that my last link roundup took 40 hours to pull together (that includes the time to read books and articles, reflection, writing, etc.) Also, compiling a monthly reading list forces me to share the best of the best with readers.

As you can see, there are a lot of steps in my writing and editing process (more than I realized). Blogging is time intensive, and I’ve chosen to keep up the practice because it’s fun and rewarding, and it forces me to work on my writing and photography skills. The only way to get better at both is through practice and accountability.

Thank you for reading my words! ! I’m grateful.