I recently listened to an episode about blogging from The Ladybug Podcast. It is a new podcast series by Emma Wedekind, Ali Spittel, Kelly Vaughn, and Lindsey Kopacz.

I cannot recommend this podcast enough. It is friendly, the topics are relevant. And, it is a win for everyone to listen to these four outstanding women of tech.

The episode inspired me to get back into blogging. I have been blogging very inconsistently since 2014 about things I do on the World Wide Web.

Part of my issue with blogging has been to come up with enough material to blog about. There are so many tech blogs out there. It can become very easy to think that there is no need for another article about whatever topic I can come up with.

But I have heard this argument over and over again. The fact is, that blogging is not for the benefit of other people. Sure, there is potential for other people to enjoy what I write. And if other people can take something from what I write, then that is perfect! Add to this, that there is always the chance I manage to explain something in a new way. A way that makes more sense to someone, than all the other articles about the same topic. We all have different ways of learning.

This is all well and good, though. But the biggest issue for me to keep writing is, of course; time.

I teach web development classes in college. And when I am not on-campus teaching, I sit at home grading assignments and prepare new classes. And explore the ever-evolving world of web development, of course. I got to keep up! (This isn't entirely true. I promise I have an actual life!)

Sometimes you need a push. Listening to that podcast episode made me realise something I hadn't even considered. When I make assignments or when I prepare classes I am researching what could be a blog post or an entire series of posts.

So here is what I plan to do now to keep blogging and to make it worthwhile.

1. I will publish one article a week.
2. I will cross-post on dev.to.
3. I already use a note-taking app for recording ideas for future posts.
4. I will revisit old posts and either update them or write new posts based on the old ones with updated content.
5. I won't limit myself by the fact that there are already articles on the topics I write about.

I will also try out different tools for blogging.

Photos make blog posts interesting and engaging. www.freepik.com is great for this. Remember to give credit to the creators.

Grammarly is a really nice tool that not only helps you write correctly. You can analyse your text for better engagement, clarity, tone, and many other things. I already love this tool.

Hemingway App gives you another layer on top of what Grammarly does. You can use this tool to analyse your text for complexity and readability.

What stirs your blogging gene? Do you use any tools that you just couldn't live without? Leave your own tips and tricks for a better blogging flow down below (that rhymed!).

Cover photo created by rawpixel.com - www.freepik.com