Reflections on Blogging Intentions for May 2017

In May 2017 I decided for the first time to set a single writing focus for the month. This post is a reflection on that decision.

My chosen theme was Convict Ancestors & Relations.   It seemed straight forward enough I had researched and gathered the information and even published most of it previously on an alternative website platform as part of my coursework for my Diploma of Family History at UTAS.

I announced my “Blogging Intentions for May 2017”  at the beginning of the month with very high hopes.  One post a week for the Month, it all seemed straight forward enough I had blithely listed the names of three convict ancestors, originally intending to blog about all 3.

Lessons Learned

1. If I was going to blog in detail then 3 convicts was too many, in future I need to set realistic goals.
2. I realised after the second week that the posts needed to hang together somehow – to make up a single theme – this resulted in me going back over several of posts after publication to tweak them so that they ran smoothly from one article to the next. 
3. Once I published my first post I also realised that I would also need to advertise its release, this resulted in me dusting off my twitter account @kerbent and spending a few hours watching YouTube videos to work out how to use it.  I also announced the post in several Facebook Groups.  This has been a somewhat successful strategy as the number of readers did not fall as low as they had been pre-the April 2017 A to Z Challenge.  However, more work needs to be done to develop an effective strategy. 
4. Originally  I had planned to only do four posts for the month, however, when I noticed the Geneameme "Five Faves" I decided to do this also.  Blogging can be a very lonely activity so as participating in a group activity can be very invigorating. 

Conclusion

Setting Blogging Intentions has been quite motivating, helping me to focus my energies and also helped me understand the blogging process a little better. 

The Articles

The target was one post a week for the month of May. I made my target, you can take a look if you wish they can be found by following the listed links:-

                Article 1 - The Crime, the Arrest, the Sentencing
       Article 2 - The Family That William Carbis Left Behind
       Article 3 - Untangling the Carbis evidence between 1816 & 1828
       Article 4 - The Death of William Carbis Snr