On the second day of Bootcamp, we got a lesson of consistency in writing by a true master: Chris Bongers, who's been writing a post every day since 19 March 2020! He already wrote a great post summarizing his talk. I'll review my favorite insights here to make sure they stick in my mind.

Why be consistent?

First off, why should you care about consistency? One of his answers is that readers love fresh content and love to know when to expect it. But what if you are quite new to the game and don't have any followers yet, as it is in my case? 🤔

There's another answer, similar to what I wrote yesterday, that is: do it for yourself! Besides gaining more readers and exercising your writing skills, it's always fulfilling to build a good habit in itself. Moreover, having consistency when creating content can make it less stressful, because you know in advance when to do it. This brings us to the next point...

How to be consistent?

• I usually think I need motivation to stay consistent. That's surely true in the long run. But there is something else that is equally important, on which I have more control: discipline. Doesn't sound as cool as motivation, right? It is harder to make a conscious effort to be disciplined than it is to feel motivated! But there will always be days when you don't feel motivated, or you have much else to do: that's when discipline can be your secret weapon.

• Set realistic goals and a realistic time frame that you can follow. It can be an article per week, or more, or one every two weeks, on a fixed day or not ─ whatever works for you!

• Then, you can schedule time on your calendar for writing. Another good idea is to plan ahead titles and articles as well, to make sure you don't have to rush it at the end. (Maybe late at night, as I'm doing right now 👍😒)

• Celebrate every win, big and small ones! You are putting effort into what you're doing and you deserve to celebrate. I find this a bit hard, as I feel like I'm always running and I always want to get better, but it's good to stop sometimes and enjoy the view. Another thing I find pretty hard is to share my achievements, because my brain thinks that means boasting. But there's nothing wrong with being proud of our successes if they are the outcome of hard work. Plus, everybody around is usually happy to celebrate with you.

• The last tip is to use some tools to organize your writing work: I love to try productivity tools and then use my favorite ones in my daily life. Sounds like some good inspiration for a series 👀

Coming up with ideas

Speaking of inspiration, Chris suggested us some categories where you can always dig for ideas, based on your experiences:

• knowledge that you gained, for example from courses, and want to share with others
• personal experiences, for example from work or interviews
• struggles you can't find answers about, be they technical or related to your career
• events you attended or books you read
• tools you use for development or organizing your work
• the last thing you googled: writing about it will help you retain what you've discovered
• advice you would give to your past self
• inspirational thoughts, or just any thoughts you'd like to share!

Conclusion

Of course, you might feel like your consistency is failing from time to time. Make sure to adjust your schedule according to your own life, and don't be discouraged if your article doesn't get traction: it happens, and especially at the beginning of your writing path! Otherwise, if you don't know what to write about, or if you are getting bored with your usual topics, you can always refer to Chris's list above and get your creative juices flowing!

Thank you so much for reading 😊 If something popped up in your mind while reading, please go ahead and write it down in the comments section!

I personally have not yet decided on my consistency schedule, so... See you around, whenever the next article might be!

Photo credits:

• Cover: Annie Spratt, Unsplash
• Windows, Unsplash
• Tingey Injury Law Firm, Unsplash