In just over a month, I’ll celebrate 20 years of posting on my blog without ever missing a day.
That’s 7,304 consecutive days of finding something to say.
Not always something good or interesting or useful or even well written, but something.
I’ve been asked many times how this is possible.
How do you find something to write about every day?
One of my answers—and perhaps the best answer—is that I relentlessly collect ideas. Whenever I read, hear, or see something that interests me, I hold onto it, hoping that I’ll eventually have a means of expanding upon it, attaching it to another idea, or writing more at an opportune moment.
Sometimes, I write about these things immediately. Something happens in my life that I find interesting or entertaining or compelling, so I write about it the next day. But more often, ideas reside as blurbs of ideas, half-written posts, or links to stories I think I might find something to do with someday.
I currently have 181 of those types of drafts waiting to be written or finished.
The oldest is dated June 8, 2015, at 9:34 AM.
Almost a decade ago, I had an idea for a possible blog post and wrote it down.
It’s still waiting to be completed.
There are actually 12 drafts from 2015 waiting to be finished and two from 2016. More in every subsequent year including this year.
Will they all eventually become something I expand upon, connect to something else, and eventually finish?
I suspect so. If I take the time to start something, it’s usually worth finishing when the time is right.
Case in point:
Eight years ago, on October 14, 2016, I stumbled upon EB White’s brilliant letter to a despondent American about his optimism for the future. I copied and pasted that letter to begin a post, and I added this sentence:
“Someday, we may need this kind of optimism.”
Nine years later, two days after the election, I was looking for the right thing to say about the state of our country, and in scrolling through my drafts, I saw one titled “White’s optimism.”
“Maybe this,” I thought.
So I opened the draft, re-read the letter, and completed the post, thinking this was just right for this day.
It quickly became one of my most-read posts of 2024.
Tens of thousands of readers to the blog.
14,000 likes and almost 9,000 shares on Facebook.
Re-posts all over the internet.
A flood of emails from readers thanking me for it.
I was shocked.
I think I’ve written far more interesting, entertaining, insightful, and amusing posts this year.
I think I’ve written more insightful things this month.
But sometimes timing is everything. Give the people what they need, when they need it, and you can win the day.
How do I find something to write every day — without ever missing a day — for almost 20 years?
I collect ideas. I read, watch, and listen. I find ideas that interest me and hold onto them, hoping, trusting, and believing that I will someday find a way of making them meaningful to readers.
Sometimes, a decade-old idea can become gold.
