Lessons I've learned from ilovebrokenhill.com

It's the 8th of April today which means it's time for me to write a blog post on www.ilovebrokenhill.com .

What do I mean by that? When I began my blog www.ilovebrokenhill.com blog on 8 December 2011, I made a mental note that I would publish on the 8th, 18th and 28th day of each month, plus one other day, so I would average roughly one post per week.

So today, rather than write about Broken Hill itself, I'll give a tip for would be bloggers.

For me, having this self imposed 'schedule' has helped me keep my commitment to post on the days of the month I just mentioned, ever since I began the blog.

There has been only one day I've missed the date, I posted an hour and a thirteen minutes after 18 November 2012, i.e. 1.13am on the 19th instead. In that instance, I was working on a submission for some work in Broken Hill which had a deadline of the 18th at 11.59 pm, so as I was focused on that, I missed my arbitrary deadline. I still posted, just a little late, in the early hours of the following morning. (Scheduling posts in advance is another handy tip, especially if you know you'll be busy etc... on a nominated/designated publishing date).

Me at my desk in blogging mode

So I think it has simply been a matter of pride that I've wanted to stick to the commitment I made to myself from the very beginning of www.ilovebrokenhill.com.

Therefore, if you're a blogger and are having writer's block etc..., maybe make an agreement with yourself like I did. It might just help.

Oh, and my other tip today is, be passionate about your subject. I think that's the other, and equally important reason I have been able to keep writing about Broken Hill.

And, given Broken Hill's recent National Heritage City listing, which was announced on 20 January 2015, when #BrokenHill became Australia's first city to have such an honour, I'm obviously not the only person who loves Broken Hill.

Cheers, Jane Deany