(Reading time: 14 – 22 minutes)

I’m weighing into Carlos Velez’s prewriting challenge a little over two weeks late.

As it turns out, my challenge isn’t so much the writing, it’s getting everything scheduled correctly.

As a result of this exercise, I’ve adopted a publishing formula which will run on Website In A Weekend through April 12, 2010. No, I don’t have every article written, nor will I by the end. But I will have every day scheduled, with at least an article title and some bullet points.

Normally I schedule in the WordPress “Edit Posts” interface. I like keeping everything in one place. Easier to keep track of it all. In this case, the WordPress interface isn’t nearly powerful enough, so I used a custom, highly modular system allowing me to rapidly change the schedule and the content, and providing external checklisting for the WordPress interface for more than 40 articles.

That sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it?

So, check out my modular system:

Using B5 size paper for scheduling blog posts.

B5 paper.

Awesome, right?

Here’s how it works:

• Top row: each paper is a week.
• Middle row: each paper is a day of a week.
• Bottom left: Specials, partly explained below.
• Bottom right: notes for approximately 6 articles not yet in draft.

I use each piece of paper to cross check the Edit Posts interface, where every post scheduled correctly is in “pending” status.

I can’t imagine attempting this exercise using just a computer. I would need dedicated document scheduling software. Not even a calendar application works. I know this because I use Google Calendar for handling weekly guest posts, and that’s about as much as it can conveniently handle. It’s fine until you have to change dates, then it’s a lot of work.

Paper is easy. Just swap pieces.

Website In A Weekend goals for prewriting

• Get at least one month outlined and in draft, being 1 week ahead when I finish.
• As you will see when I outline the posting schedule, I’m building a sort of “magazine,” with regular features running on regular days.
• Have all the Website In A Weekend ecourse modules scheduled in advance for the next 24 weeks. These are all evergreen, and I intend on round-robin updating each article twice yearly.
• Top secret cool stuff implemented for announcement at the end of the challenge (Hi Gabe.). I don’t know if I will have the energy to accomplish this. We’ll see.

One difference between me and other people in the challenge is that I’ll use my week’s buffer immediately to get some coding done on hRecipe plugin for WordPress.

I’ll also be working hard at getting the next version of Blog Post Engineering released during this time.

The Weekly Website

About here, the scanners are going to drop out. Too much to read. Good bye scanners!

But disclosure is important. Anyone who actually reads through the posting schedule will find out I’ll be starting to sell more stuff on a regular basis. My prediction: Anyone this offends will have bailed out the article by now (too many words).

• Sunday: Repost article from Website In A Weekend course. This is harder than it seems because of how Google reader structures it’s cache. The details are boring, I’ll be posting everything I learn for Weekenders.By the way. I purchased an unlimited license for Wishlist Member. As you may (or may not) recall, newsletter subscribers are grandfathered in. For free. I’m going to charge what the market will bear for the same membership level. I don’t know what that is yet, but it won’t be free.
• Monday: Guest posts, on an unbroken run since early November, not counting the denial of service attack a couple of weeks ago. Topic is more or less wide open, as long as it fits into Website In A Weekend holistically, but I’ve been leaning towards “softer” inspirational or motivational pieces.
• Tuesday: Technical, or DIY WordPress. Boring for most people, Google seems strangely fascinated with terms like “register_activation_hook.” I aim to please. Readers and Search engines. You can set me on “skip” for Tuesday’s if code isn’t your thing.
• Wednesday: Quite likely, I’m going to explain – exactly – how some software or information helped me out, and suggest you consider being helped out in the same way. Using my handy affiliate links, of course.

  I’ve discovered I really enjoy getting money in email. I really like it. I wake up in the morning, and some mysterious stranger has decided to become my customer.

  If you’re one of those mysterious strangers, thank you!

• Thursday: The business aspects of blogging, including time management, scheduling (per this article), account management (yes, Quickbooks), and more. I have a load of stuff stashed on another website that can be rewritten and dropped in. I’m stoked!
• Friday: The non-review week in review. I’m still going to link through the week, that seems to be important for SEO, and it probably helps retain readers. I’ll very likely spotlight a blogger too. We’ll see. These articles get very little traffic, and cost a lot of time to write. No profit there.
• Saturday: The Saturday Morning Surfing will continue. I have a lot of great material stashed for these, some of which is controversial (no partly nekkid ladies though, sorry Anne :). However, I might actually be surfing during the morning, so carry on the conversation and I’ll weigh in once I get out of the water.

So that’s what to expect through April 12, 2010. If I miss a day, I won’t be catching up, I’ll just continue where posting left off.

Occasionally you might see two articles in a day, likely a Tuesday or a Wednesday. But we’ll see.

I could be open to guest articles on any particular day, let me know if you have something you think I need.

Who are these people?

I’m not the only inmate in this asylum. Here’s the rest of the crew:

Author: Carlos Velez

Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Conscious Me | A Personal Development Journey

Bio: Carlos Velez is a writer with a full-time job on the side (for now!). He blogs about achieving goals and making change. Carlos’ blog, Conscious Me, allows readers to not only observe a journey to success in progress, but to participate and grow themselves.

Goal: “I normally posts 2 times a week, and many of my articles are 1500+ words, so I will count those as 1 and shorter posts as 1/2 a post. I will have 4-6 posts (depending on length) by the end of the challenge.”

Author:  Justin Matthews

Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Catharsis of the Bogue

Bio:  Justin is a 35 year old stay at home dad. He started blogging in December 2009 to help himself practice writing. In January 2010 Justin decided to get serious and make his little blog something that will make him money. He has been learning and writing ever since. Justin has 3 kids with one due in July. He love fishing and working out with Kettlebells. He also loves to write, saying “It is one of the only things I have ever been really good at. I will have 10 posts by the end of the challenge!”

Goal:  “I normally publish 5 times per week and fiction on saturday.  I have Saturdays taken care of so my goal in the challenge will be 10 posts.”

Name:  Bert Padilla

Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Cite-Technologian

Bio:  Bert Padilla is a 23 year old part-time blogger, blogging about technology, internet, and social media. He has a full-time job at Teradyne, Philippines. He started blogging in late 2008, and finally put up his main blog in March 2009. He also writes articles for Cebu Bloggers Society, a local group in the Philippines geared toward a civic and social awareness.

Goal:  “My average post per week is 5, normally 400-500 words, except for product reviews.  I don’t spend much time on my computer during weekends, so my goal is to post 10-12 articles per week by the end of the challenge.”

Pre-Writing Challenge Page:  Limitless Living – Open Yourself to the Possibilities

Bio:  Megan Potter is a Spiritual and Intuitive Coach and Speaker and strives to be a general, all around inspirer (is that a word?) of people – aka a Muse. And that doesn’t even include all her normal girl jobs! Her blog at Limitless Living is meant to inspire all the normal, everyday women, just like her, to believe that they are really Gorgeous, Brave women who can change the world and live a life with no limits. She’s all about Spirit and Passion and Living Your Purpose with Creativity and Joy; even if she is learning as she goes.

Goal:  “My goal is to post three time a week (one of which is a Meme I’ve been running) so my goal would be six posts plus the ones I have to blog in the interim.”

Updates:

February 26 – I decided that I needed to look at this challenge as the entire 6 weeks of writing (18 posts) rather than just the 2 weeks of pre-writing (6 posts) otherwise I would be so focused on the 6 post topics I’d forget to think of things for the others. So this is where I stand on all of them.

I have, at least, an idea for something like 13-15 of the 18 posts. Three are now in draft format (fully written and linked, waiting for editing and finalizing), and three have either been posted or are already scheduled to post.

I’ve written at least two of the six around midnight when I should be in bed – or at least not working. I just can’t stop writing! Although, I imagine there’s a good chance I’ll crash and burn in about three days  .

Yours,
Megan

Author:  Amanda Farough

Pre-Writing Challenge Page:  Violetminded | Code & Creativity

Bio:  Amanda Farough is a web rock-star, currently peddling her wares in web design and development; in a previous incarnation, she was a bad-ass software developer. Her blog is a smattering of various topics: design, development, literary debauchery, freelancing, tasty creative non-fiction about her life, love letters, and various other bits and bobs of geekery. On her off hours, she designs (and plays) video games, writes novels that may never be published, and dances in the rain.

Goal:  “I’m completely erratic in my posting. This should force me to be a bit more disciplined. Most weeks, I’m anywhere from 1-3 times a week. I’ll shoot for 3 times a week during this challenge.  Goal: 6 posts.  Rock on. Let’s get this party started.”

Pre-Writing Challenge Page:  Bad Deacon Design | Fine Art Woodblock Printmaking

Bio:  Deacon is an artist, a mechanical engineer, and is rather handsome and charming (or so he will tell you). Deacon’s Woodblock Printmaking Studio is in the heart of Downtown San Francisco, blocks from Union Square. He writes about the art he makes and sells, printmaking, and pursuing a career in Fine Art while maintaining a DayJob to pay the bills, and what all that stuff has to do with life.

Goal:  “Well, I usually publish 2 to 3, but I’d like to publish 4 to 5.  Since this is a challenge, we’ll make 9 posts my target.”

Author: Antti Kokkonen

Pre-Writing Challenge Page: The Blog of Antti Kokkonen | Tips, Guides, Reviews and Resources to Help You Unleash the Power of Online Media

Bio: Antti Kokkonen is an IT Specialist by profession, a blogger by heart, from Finland. Antti shares his expertise and enthusiasm for all things online by writing articles, blogging and helping others. Antti has a down-to-earth approach to both his personal and business life. In addition to helping the largest companies in the world to reach better results, he helps people and their businesses to become more effective and more profitable online by focusing on all aspects of online media, including blogging, social media and online marketing.

Goal: “I post 3-4 times a week, so for this challenge I set target at 8.”

Author: Dustin Evenson

Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Professor Budget | Financial Budgeting, Debt Reduction, Wealth Building

Bio: Dustin Evenson considers himself a theologian and philosopher first, and a financial coach second. He knows about the theory and practice of budgeting money, and draws on his experience and knowledge of theology and philosophy to bring this to others.

He wishes to teach through his blog and inspire others.

His blog provides practical information and opinions about budgeting money, debt reduction strategies, and wealth building.

Most articles revolve around simple ideas and practical use.

Dustin would eventually like to comment on budgeting spirituality and philosophy into one’s life through his blog.

Goal: “I normally post three times a week, but want to push towards publishing every weekday, so my goal is 10 posts.”

Author: Aaron Pogue

Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Unstressed Syllables | Writing advice for everyone

Bio: Aaron Pogue is a Technical Writer with the Federal Aviation Administration. He has a degree in Writing and has been working as a Technical Writer since 2002. He’s also a creative writer with nine novels, a dozen short stories, and countless essays and poems under his belt.

Most recently, he’s a writing professor at Oklahoma Christian University where he teaches Technical Writing to a bunch of people who aren’t writers. That experience became the foundation of his website. While Aaron brings decades of training as a writer, he is more and more convinced that everyone can learn to write better, with less effort.

Goal: “I post two articles and two writing exercises every week, so my goal would be eight posts total.”

Author: Eleanor Edwards

Pre-Writing Challenge Page: GiveABrick.com | Give A Brick (i.e. just £1) then ask your friends to do the same

Bio: Eleanor writes for UK registered charity, Give A Brick. Give A Brick think they are the first charity to ask all their friends to give just one brick (£1) and then ask them to ask their friends to do the same. Your £1 will buy bricks (and roof tiles, concrete and slabs) to provide a place for children to play, young people to hang out in safety and older people to meet. All deserve to feel valued and loved. That’s what Give A Brick is about and you make the difference.

At Give A Brick, Eleanor is building an online community of people helping each other out, listening and being listened to. That aspect of Give A Brick doesn’t cost a penny 

Goal: “I normally post twice daily; one a short motivational piece designed to be actioned in about a minute and the other, a slightly longer piece around 500 words in length. Therefore, I’m aiming to pre-write 28 posts by the end of the challenge *gulp* This might be slightly insane but given that these are short posts compared to some, I believe this can be done  ”

Author: Ralph Carlson

Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Ralph Carlson Blog

Bio: Ralph Carlson is on his second blog and just retired for the second time. He has no interest in moving on to number three in either category. The intent of the blog was to establish a web presence for Ralph Carlson. In addition his goals include making money using the web whether that means using his blog or not. “In short,” he says “I don’t know what I am doing but I intend to do it with gusto.”

Goal: “I post 5 times per week for ’serious’ posts and one on Sunday for fun. I intend to double that output for four weeks to provide a one month cushion of posts to refine or give me time to work on other key areas like making money.”

But wait! There’s more…

Stay tuned for Blog Maintenance Month

Some of these same kooks are going to roll right into the next challenge: Blog Maintenance Month. We’re going to systematically work our way through a host of annoying blog chores for 4 weeks. Stuff like:

• Fixing SEO metadata. For our entire blogs.
• Checking broken links.
• Fixing image SEO alts tags.
• Internal linking to tie articles together.
• More. Much, much more. I misplaced my list, but it doesn’t matter, more information is coming.

If, on the vanishingly remote chance you want in, watch for details in a week or two. It will be committing, and it helps to be slightly crazed to even consider attempting it.