For most of this year I’ve been publishing every 36 hours, which has meant around 90 new posts to date in 2019.
It’s a rate and habit I’m pretty comfortable with.
At the core of being able to publish with this consistency, I believe there are two key elements.
1. Finding a regular routine
I don’t sit down precisely every 36 hours and write a new post. Generally I have perhaps a dozen ongoing at once, and have a few sessions a week where I finish off a few posts and start a few new ones.
Using the WordPress post scheduling feature evens out the peaks and troughs and means you see a new post every 36 hours.
Because I, like you, need to be flexible and fit everything (and everyone) else in my life too.
2. Having enough ideas to write about
I’ve always had plenty of ideas, which I put down to a simple technique I began using decades ago as a teenager writing songs and poems. Capture ideas as they come.
Whether on a scrap of paper (I frequently scribbled on used till receipts in between customers when I worked in shops), a note book, a phone app, whatever works best for you, just get that idea saved when it comes.
Even if you’re positive you’ll remember it later when you next sit down to write, you almost certainly won’t! Write it down.
This is why I currently have 120 posts in draft form and never worry about what to write next.
Some bloggers are more prolific and post every day or more (like Seth), but most might only publish once a week, once a month, or less.
Finding a regular routine part is for you to work out. You know what times you have available to write and publish, and I’m sure can also identify a few activities you do now that aren’t all that meaningful or inspiring (TV, phone apps/games, social media) that could be dropped to make more time for your blog.
For the rest of this post I’m going to focus on the second factor above, and brainstorm some ideas on what, as a photography blogger, you could write about in the coming weeks and months.
- What’s your favourite camera currently, and why?
- What was your favourite camera one, three, five, 10 years ago, and how is it different to what you like most now?
- Why do you make photographs?
- If you were asked by an absolute beginner for your best single piece of advice on photography, what would you say?
- How often do you photograph, and how many images do you typically make per session?
- Which are your favourite subjects to photograph? (How) Does this change depending on season/mood/equipment?
- What’s the last photograph you made that you were delighted with?
- How many photographs a year do you hope to be happy with?
- Which is your preferred focal length? (How) Does this change with shooting different cameras and subjects?
- What are the three best aspects of black and white photography compared with colour photography?
- What are the three best aspects of colour photography compared with black and white photography?
- How close do you like to photograph?
- Do you prefer shallow or deep depth of field? (How) Does this change depending on subject/season/climate?
- What do you enjoy most about photography blogging?
- What do you find most challenging about photography blogging?
- Which photography blogs inspire you most?
- Which photographers inspire you?
- If money was no object, which camera would you buy?
- If you only had £25, which camera would you buy?
- How often do you publish new posts? Is this a schedule you’re happy with?
- How has your photography simplified in the last year?
- How was your photography become more complex in the last year?
- How do you share your photography?
- How do you support other photography bloggers?
- Which sites online help support your photography?
- When did you make your first photograph?
- Who first introduced you to photography?
- Which camera did you always want when you first discovered photography?
- How was photography improved your life?
- How has photography improved your health (mental, emotional, physical)?
- Have you tried photography fasting? If so, what happened? If not, would you be willing to try for a week, a fortnight, a month?
- What would you say are the basics you need to know about aperture?
- What would you say are the basics you need to know about shutter speed?
- How much do you think about aspect ratio with your photography?
- What’s missing from your photography life?
- What are your experiences with street photography?
- What are your experiences with nature photography?
- What are your experiences with portrait or people photography?
- What are your experiences with night photography?
- What does your ideal photo walk or session look like? How can you embark on these more often?
- How many images do you keep out of every 100 you make?
- What’s your process for editing and deleting photographs?
- How do you back up your photographs?
- Have you ever lost photographs from a hardware failure? How did you feel? What did you learn?
- Do you make prints of your photographs? If so, how? If not, why not?
- How many photography books do you own?
- How often do you read photography books?
- Have you ever made your own photography book?
- What do you take with you on a photo walk/session?
- Are you happy with how much you take with you on a photo walk/ session? If not, how could you reduce it?
- What has helped make blogging easier for you?
- Which non-photography blogs inspire you, and you’d recommend?
- What’s the best piece of photography kit you’ve ever bought?
- What’s the worst piece of photography kit you’ve ever bought?
- What’s the most disappointing piece of photography kit you’ve ever bought?
- How could you publish a new blog post every day?
- How would your blog posts be different if you could only post once a month?
The above list was pretty much a stream of consciousness.
I didn’t reorder it afterwards, so you can see how my mind was evolving and creating offshoot ideas as I went.
This is another huge benefit to capturing your ideas – the more ideas you have, the more ideas you have.
I stopped the list at the rather arbitrary number 57, just because that was what I wrote in my title. I could have gone on to 67, 77, 107 or more.
So I hope this posts not only illustrates how you can come up with more ideas to write about on your photography blog, but gives you some direct ideas too. Feel free to use any or all of them as you wish. I know I will in the coming weeks and months!
Thanks for looking.
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35hunter 
Yes, routine is key and that’s what I’ve been struggling with lately. That and a hefty dollop of procrastination. I’m seriously impressed that you have so many posts on the go! I need to take a leaf out of your book. 🤔
Katie, thanks for reading.
I think it’s about finding habits that work. It’s very simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It does become easier though once you have a few habits locked in, then you can build more on top of them.
We all have some kind of routine, whether it’s just get up and brush teeth, or get out of bed and put kettle on. We can use these as cuphooks to hang other cups (habits) on.
With a number of posts on the go, sometimes I feel I should not start any new ones and finish off 10 or 20 that need fairly little work to be ready to publish. Just to clear the decks a little.
But then I have another new idea or two and off I go.
Ideas breed ideas, that’s another fundamental truth I’ve found with any creative pursuit.
Yes, I’m with you. And the more I write, the more I want to write if that makes sense. But I find if I lose the routine, it’s so hard to get it going again. You’ve got a pretty good system going that works so well with your post writing. Yup, I need to take a leaf out of your book!
I think I like to have a few things in my life that I build discipline through. Currently it’s daily yoga, writing for 35hunter, cycling to work, walking 10k a day on average etc. They all support and enhance each other. Maybe you could look at some other simple daily habits you already have that you can then tag the writing on to?
That’s a really good idea. Crikey you fit in a lot … I’m impressed. I did have a good routine of cycling and then writing but as my husband is waiting to start the new posting, he’s at home and it’s not so easy to go off each day. You’re right, I had a good habit of cycling and then the writing latched onto that. That’s what I need to do again. Thanks … it really helps bouncing ideas around and seeing what works for others.
Great! Yes, I agree, that’s a major reason why I have a blog, to share ideas with others (and steal a few!)
Dan, tonight I will write a blog post reaction on this post 🙂
Hi Pavel, great, glad it’s prompted you to write, look forward to the new post.
well, it prompted me to answer these questions 🙂
I have ‘answered’ some of those questions in my blogs, so I guess photographers think along similar lines. In some cases the questions would be “N/A” or the answer would be “whatever” because half a century behind a viewfinder does things to you. 😀
Do you mean now you’ve found the ideal photography set up, so don’t really question it anymore? Or you’re bored with photography (“whatever”)?
I mean what I do and how I do it changes from one time to the next, so whatever I feel like doing is what I do. Gosh, that explanation isn’t much clearer than the original. :p
That does make sense Marc. How much does it vary though? How many different set ups and options do you have to choose from?
How many more questions will you ask?
I could write paragraphs on this, Dan. In one sense I can have any set up I think I need. Fortunately I have enough sense not to, because most would just sit about unused. That’s why I like my P610 so much; not the best for anything, but adequate for all sorts of things – and the kind of shooting I find myself doing most of the time.
I will say that your blog and a few others have inspired me to put some more effort into shooting than I have been doing. A kind of renaissance has occurred. In fact I’ve bought some new equipment to play with, but as of yet not a complete new camera outfit. I did bring out the old DX3900 but find it eats batteries at a truly alarming rate. Too bad as it has features I like a lot, such as a viewfinder that zooms!
We start out with imposed restrictions in order to learn. Then we learn to not restrict ourselves. And then we learn sometimes it’s a good idea to place those artificial constraints on again!
Marc, thanks for your reply. The Nikon P610, that one with the crazy zoom reach? I can see why that fits most photographic needs!
I agree about constraints, yes there is definitely a cycle. We need plenty when we’re starting out with anything, otherwise there are too many options, too much to learn, it’s overwhelming. Then we get comfortable with the basics, and start to go off at tangents. Then, when we find the tangents we like best (and plenty that are dead ends) we begin introducing those constraints again, to keep us focused on using the kit we enjoy most, and the type of photography that’s most rewarding.
Writing this reminds me very much of my path as a salsa dancer. I kind of fell into as a complete novice, then found once you master the basics, you can then improvise around these and try new things. Then in time you find what you like best, stick with those, and reign it in again, focusing on finessing what remains.
Following on from this list, check out Pavel’s “57 Answers” post, where he asked himself – and answered – all 57 questions in one go – https://petrosphotos.wordpress.com/2019/05/21/57-answers/
120 draft posts?! Slacker! I’ve got 203. 😀
In all seriousness I learned a lot from this post that I want to try myself.
Ha, yes somehow it seems to stay around 120. I’ve said before I’d like to spend a few weeks just finishing off drafts rather than keep starting new ones. But the new ideas keep coming don’t they!
Thank you, good ideas! I am a beginner in writing blogs..!!
Thanks Sandeepan, glad this post helped you.
Some amazing wildlife photography on your blog, especially the birds. And “Chopta, The heaven” is wonderful, that lens flare at the bottom left corner makes the shot, for me.
Thank you sir, Still learning✌️
We all are – I’ve been blogging for about 15 years!
Wow! My age is 23 and you have been writing blog since 15 years..!! And i was so confused with my first post only😅
Well, I’m a little older, but I started at a much later age than you. Just keep writing about what you enjoy Sandeepan.