The short answer: everywhere.
A colleague, who is also a blogger, asked me where we get “so much” content for MaxDisclosure. (This surprised me, because we’re figuring this out as we go, but do manage to pull together 3-4 posts each week.)
Here are the unwritten guidelines we follow; apply them to your own blog, command information program, or other creative endeavor.
- Start with ideas. Grab a white board with your team and budget out your content for the next 30 days, or 90 days, or year. Of course, the ideas are the easy part, right? We have lists of blog post topics we never have and never will write. Before we started MaxDisclosure, we made a list of 100 post ideas to see if there were enough ideas to keep this going. Today, I don’t know where that list is, and would be surprised if we’ve used even 10 of those ideas.*
- Write about the ideas you’re excited about. When you only write about the ideas you’re excited about, you don’t need to over-systemize or schedule time to write to the point it becomes a chore. You won’t need to find time to blog when the ideas are intriguing, because the time will find you.
- Keep it brief. When words stop coming to you, simply stop writing. Only put effort into introductions or conclusions when they come naturally. Your content can be whatever you want it to be, so don’t feel beholden to making three specific points or following a particular format.
- Ship the content you’re excited about. When writer’s block sets in, table the discussion and move on to something else. Bounce a draft against someone you trust. My favorite rule of thumb: when you’ve got a solid Part 1, ship Part 1. If the rest of the series is going to come later, it will. If not, at least you put something out there.
That’s it. Like everything on this blog, and in life, it’s common sense.
* If the ideas are the easy part, then why do so many PAOs suck at it, and struggle to churn out stories? On a previous deployment, I was disappointed a 4-member Public Affairs Detachment was unable to produce one command information product for each day of the deployment (that’s less than two articles, videos, photo galleries, profiles, etc. per person, per week). Get out of the office, get to know your people and what they’re doing, and tie those stories to your commander’s top messages.
(Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Ronald Gutridge, DVIDS)
