Keepin’ It Fresh

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By Karen H. Richardson

Recently, I spent some time reviewing the 123 posts from KK’s Candor, www.kkscandor.com, my personal blog. In this review I noticed that several topics or themes were repeated. The change of seasons and holiday theme seemed to run with the calendar. These calendar-cycle themes come too easy. It takes little effort to find emotions or symbols to write about at Christmas. The change of seasons is a given and birthdays scream “something’s changing again write about it!” As writers who are professionals or working toward that status, we need to set the standard a little higher.

It’s December, for the believer our hearts turn to the Immaculate Conception and birth of our savior. It’s a writer’s slam dunk to talk about the stable, the star, and the three wise men. Is there another way to address Christmas? Probably, but we are going to have to do some work to open our imaginations. I’m not suggesting changing Luke 2. My challenge to you is to take these borderline stereotypical topics, like Christmas, and turn them upside down or maybe we need to literally hang upside down and see what changes about our perspective.

What if Christmas was written from the gentile staying at the inn point of view? He wonders what all the commotion is with Joseph and his wife. Would the gentile ever know the prophecy of this man and his betrothed actually having to be in Bethlehem when their child was born? Perhaps a seasonal change written from the viewpoint of the tree losing its leaves not ready to spend the winter naked? Or what about an emotional crisis written from the outsider’s point of view; the empathic friend. What if the Easter story was written from the point of view of the Easter bunny who found resurrection eggs in the child’s basket?

Keeping blog content fresh can be a challenge. Below are a few suggestions for keeping your content fresh:

• Create a calendar cycle for your blog that includes regular posting days and themes for those days. For example, “manic Monday”, “visitor Wednesday”, “fresh thoughts for Thursday”, or something like that. These themes or headings can be periodic and don’t have to limit you each week. They are great for a jump start.

• Invite another blogger to be a guest on your site. Do an interview or just let them write a piece for posting.

• At holiday time, write it from a unique point of view.

• Review a book or movie.

• Write random words or themes on small pieces of paper and fold them. When you need something to write about, draw one of the pieces and whatever you draw is your topic for the day.

• Have several posts drafted and ready to clean up for publication. Many bloggers have several posts scheduled for publication at specific times and days.

For what it’s worth, I’m preaching to myself in this piece. Looking forward to 2015, how will my writing continue to improve and the content on my blogs stay fresh?

khrichardsonKaren H. Richardson lives in Louisville, Kentucky with her husband and son. She has over 25 years of experience in communications and marketing. In the last six years, Karen has become more focused on improving her writing skills and has drafted her first novel. She has two blogs, www.kkscandor.com and www.karenhrichardson.wordpress.com.

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