Thanks for sharing your experience, Chris!

Sounds like a version of “knows the rules to break the rules,” meaning that at this point in your career, your track record allows you to work productively without strict deadlines.

It is important to consider that everyone’s work habits are different and there are many different ways to achieve the same creative goals.

I’ve found that the length of a post, and whether or not it should be a long post or broken down into a series, is typically circumstantial and depends on your goals.

The good news is, there’s also typically not a “right” way or a “wrong” way!

For example, you might want to target a bunch of different keywords with short-to-medium length posts or maybe you need to write one long post in order to compete for a super important keyword you want to rank for …

Just like you said, a calendar is a tool that helps you write consistently and map out your ideas.

Great content planning tip, Jay.

I definitely like the idea of planning and writing content ahead of time and then publishing it on a schedule.

That’s the mindset of a publisher with a strategy, rather than just a writer who writes and immediately publishes. There’s a time and place for the latter, but if you want to write and publish consistently (and are having trouble doing so), finding a way to stick to a schedule is a good move.

Right on, Matthew!

Yes, it is always good to have a content plan and a calendar. And I do appreciate your idea with the lo-tech calendar.

Nowadays, after writing for decades, and for my own brand, I have realized that I am more productive if I do not have any deadlines (if content calendar dates are deadlines…).

But I do realize, of course, that some blogs have announced that they will release their “post of the week” on, say, a Tuesday, and therefore have to stick with that in a pretty rigid fashion. But I know that isn’t the way for me, at least.

So I think it’s important to adapt things to one’s own personality and level of creativity.

Best wishes!
Chris Bocay

I guess it would be possible to start with the smaller posts and develop a large page that covers many of the same ideas. I think this is where a lot of writers are struggling when managing time. The post length should be taken into account and deciding the length of an article can be very difficult. Usually, I don’t know how long a post will take until I begin writing so it would be difficult for me to build a calendar since I am unsure of the amount of time I need to dedicate.

Still having a calendar is a great way to force yourself into writing consistently. Which many writers including myself struggle with.

I’ve learned when creating a content series, It’s best to write up and link together your first 3 articles before publishing them. This way you give some flow into your series but don’t give it all away at once. It’s been helpful to build readership & email subs with a gate after the 3rd post.