“Writing isn’t the fun little hobby people often think it is,” Avalon Jaedra writes in the first post to her blog Writability. “It’s hard work. It’s only fun about half the time and you spend the other half pulling your hair out of your head trying to fill a blank page. And it’s hard. Sticking to a story isn’t easy, especially when you have three or four other ideas trying to distract you the whole time.”
Sticking to a blog isn’t easy either, but Avalon Jaedra (better known as Ava Jae) has done just that. For over two years she’s posted to her blog every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, like clockwork. As the title suggests, Writability is a blog for writers. On her blog Ava Jae offers tips and sparks discussion on topics such as character and plot development, editing and publishing, social media and blogging, and much more.
SJW: Why did you decide to start your blog?
Ava Jae: Long story short? Nathan Bransford. For a long time his blog was one of two blogs that I read, and I fought this nagging sensation that I should give it a try for well over a year. Finally, I came across his Social Media: There’s No Such Thing as Too Early post and I decided to take the leap.
You’re a very consistent blogger and you’ve been at this for two years, I believe. How do you go about generating fresh ideas and how do you make time to blog on a regular basis?
Yes! Two years! Wow. As far as ideas go, I like to work like Peter DeVries, who said, “I only write when I’m inspired, and I make sure I’m inspired every morning at 9 a.m.” Even if I have no idea what I’m going to write the morning I have a post due, I force myself to figure it out. I haven’t missed a day, and it’s not because I’m magically inspired, it’s because when I have a post due, I won’t allow myself to make excuses.
That being said, I keep a running list of ideas to refer back to when I’m stuck, and I add to it whenever I think of something. I also find that scrolling through my blog post directory helps generate ideas, because I can see what I haven’t covered yet. Looking at my most popular posts also helps at times.
As for time, I’ve built it into my week. I know I have three posts that I need to write every week and I’ve developed a pretty strict schedule over the years that builds time to write, edit, or schedule posts throughout the week.
You seem to have a pretty large following of loyal readers. How did you go about spreading the word about your blog?
I started off with Twitter almost exclusively. Before I even published my first post, I announced to my followers that when I reached 100 followers, I would launch my blog. After that, I shared every post on Twitter, then expanded to other social media sites like tumblr and Facebook. Eventually I was invited to a Triberr tribe, which helped spread my posts across Twitter as well.
Basically, Twitter is your friend, and it can be an incredible traffic booster.
Tell us a little bit about the writing you do outside of blogging?
I’m a novelist. As much as I enjoy blogging, my true love is in fiction, particularly novel-length works. I’ve written a fair share of manuscripts and my goal is to eventually become published.
Does blogging make you a better writer? Do you ever feel like the time you spend on blogging should be spent on your work in progress?
Blogging taught me a hugely important lesson: you don’t have to be inspired to write. It also taught me about the importance of consistency—as of this writing, I’ve written 339 posts. My posts run an average of 500 words, sometimes less, so let’s say 400 words, which means I’ve written roughly 135,000 words in posts. That’s longer than my longest manuscript—and it was all done in little 4-500 word chunks. Writing consistently pays off.
As for the time issue, the only time I ever think I could be working on my WIP right now is when I’m having a particularly difficult time thinking of a post idea. But because of the strict daily tasks I set for myself, I’ve never not completed a daily writing goal for my WIP because of a blog post. If anything, the desire to get back to my WIP motivates me to get that post written so I can go back to work.
What are some of the biggest mistakes you see people make in the blogging world?
That’s pretty tough to say. I’m not sure there’s one major glaring error that I see over and over again—much more common are several little errors adding up. Ignoring blog comments, for example, or posting inconsistently, or having a particularly distracting blog design. You wouldn’t think blog design would really go into it, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stopped reading a post because of a terrible font, or glaring colors (dark backgrounds with really bright text, for example), or a really distracting background.
I suppose the issue I see most often is inconsistent posting. It’s very difficult to build an audience when they don’t know when to expect your posts, or how often, or if you’re going to come back at all. If you don’t consistently show up every week, how can you expect your audience to? You can’t.
What’s the primary piece of advice you would give to someone looking to grow their blog?
Every reader matters. This is something that new bloggers often go in understanding, but forget along the way—every reader is important, and you should treat them as such. Answering blog comments goes a long way in showing your readers that you care and appreciate their interaction. Thanking readers for sharing your posts, or connecting with them on other social media accounts, or taking the time to visit their blogs are also fantastic ways of furthering a relationship with your readers. It’s not always possible to do all of these things, but if you show your readers that you’re making an effort to interact with them, it’ll go a long way.
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A great and inspiring feature! I love the note about consistency–so key. I have had my blog for a year now and I push myself to write Mon-Thurs. Some days, the idea is there right when I wake up and I can’t wait to get home and write. Other days, I sit down and have no clue what I’m going to say. But, I still find something to say. If I know I can’t write (for instance, I was on a business trip for a week last month,) I’ll feature guest writers or throwback posts.
Thanks again for this piece!
I’m so glad you found the article helpful. It sounds like you’re definitely on the right track with your blog!