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Ryan Paugh graduated from Penn State in 2006 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business. After working in corporate communications, freelance writing and reporting, he co-founded 
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I often wonder how much time is really appropriate to spend writing a blog post. Is it okay for me to waste two hours if I’m convinced that I’m writing something absolutely brilliant? Or should I be more regimented, ensuring that I have more time to accomplish other responsibilities?
Naturally, it’s all relative. Some people only write epic tales that span on for pages, while others are only writing bits and pieces that contemplate the perplexities of life. And certainly, some bloggers are much better at writing than others. They can plow through a post with ease while the novice spends extra care not to say something he/she will regret.
So let’s pretend (or accept) for a moment that you’re a novice blogger. Most beginners spend way too much time thinking about a topic, and even more time writing and re-writing. Fortunately, you can train yourself to do otherwise and save a lot of valuable time in the process.
Don’t think, just write
Okay, think…but not too much. Thinking too much is what brings your ego into the equation. You’ll start to worry about how people will react instead of just getting some ideas down to work with. FYI: even professional writers write stupid things. That’s why we edit.
Instead of thinking too much and wasting time, formulate your core topic, write down a few bullets and get to it. A good third of my ideas end up getting scrapped after a first draft, but what evolves after a round of editing is usually something much better than I originally envisioned.
Which brings me to editing…
Typically, the difference between a great post and a crappy post is careful editing. If you value what you write, you’ll make this a priority during your dedicated blogging time.
A good way to save time is having a reliable editing buddy that can catch your spelling/grammar mistakes and keep you in check when you’re about to say something stupid. Consider them your blogging referee. If you don’t have this person in your life now, find them quick. It’s a must for any good blogger. Even Penelope has a good ref.
Linking it up
Many of us take care in who/where we link to in our posts. Some people don’t link at all. To be honest, I tend to link pretty erratically, but I’m trying to get better.
Linking is important because it strengthens your ties with other bloggers and it’s good for community. Everyone loves to be linked to.
The problem with linking is that it takes a lot of care and a lot of time. How much effort you put into the process is all up to preference, but if you can afford to spend the time, do it.
So how much time should you really spend on a blog post? There’s no clear answer, but your goal should be to maximize value while keeping some boundaries on your time.
In my life, blogging is fairly important and falls right in with the rest of my routine responsibilities. So spending more than an hour is acceptable, but when I start to push on 2-3 hours, I’m reaching my limit.
To put things further into perspective, if I were to work a typical 8-hour day, an hour and a half worth of writing would seem okay. But then again, I’m not sitting in a cubicle anymore.
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Interesting discussion you’ve got here. I’m curious as to how long you spent on this post (just for the sake of knowing…)
I usually spend several hours in the research phase of my posts, but that’s because I enjoy reading the things I research. As far the actual writing of it goes, I’d say you’re right- about 2-3 hours on a ‘dynamic first draft’ as I like to call it (with computers, you can write, erase, and write, until you get it perfect with only the first draft- hence the term ‘dynamic first draft’)
And yah, the editing/proofreading point you make is good. On my home computer I’ve got a firefox plugin that catches spelling errors, but I also just write stuff in a word processor and use it to catch my mistakes.
You should get a personal blog for your ponderings.
This is like the epic struggle of bloggers, isn’t it? I spend way too much time on a lot of posts. Others come out within in an hour… I never understand the difference. I’m all like, did I eat a lot of spinach today or what? The ones that take less time are usually better though…
Jehan:
This post took me between an hour and an hour and a half. It wasn’t a real deep thinker, just something that has been on my mind as of late.
The research phase is something I didn’t take into account. Most of my content comes from personal experience. But occasionally I do find myself in the same boat as you. I research for a few hours just because it’s so enjoyable to learn new things.
James:
I’ve thought about it. Maybe once I have more free time I’ll finally make it happen.
Rebecca:
The posts I spend less time on seem to be the best ones too. I’m not sure why that is, but I guess it has something to do with not second guessing ourselves as much.
Remember that the more you input into your blog, the more you’ll get for an output. Just like in other facets of life, if you put 50% into something, you’ll get 50% back. With blogging, if you aren’t posting frequently, you lose voice and mindshare.
Dan:
I think you’re right to an extent. I find that the posts I spend the least amount of time on tend to be the best posts. Don’t ask me why, it just works.
There’s also a lot of other facets to producing a good blog. Comments, networking, emailing, etc. They all come into play, but I didn’t really cover them here.
There’s also such a thing as posting too much. Sometimes it’s in your best interest to let a post sit in the feature spot for awhile and get more traffic, comments, links, etc. But that’s another story.
Long story short, blogging is not just about putting a lot of time in, but also about having patience to let things happen.
I try not to take more than an hour to actually write a post. However, I usually think of a topic the day before or in the morning, and I go through the points in my head while I’m exercising or eating lunch etc. Then I can sit down and outline it quickly before I write.
The best posts are always the ones I write the quickest.
I write almost all my posts on the train to work by keying them into my blackberry. It’s nice - I only have 25 minutes to write something, so it has to be on a topic I’ve already given a lot of thought to. I usually list my key points as headers and then write a paragraph about each one. Later I take maybe 30 minutes to edit and add introductions, conclusions, headers, and links.
I find that commenting and responding to emails usually takes longer - it could be half a post worth of writing per comment/email.
I always shake my head at posts like this. I probably spend about 5 - 15 minutes per post. For me, blogging is a fast-moving medium, and since I live in a hectic schedule, I just input when a thought pops into my head on lunch break, or whenever. I don’t store up posts, and unless it’s something that just won’t come out in one go, I hardly ever save and return to re-edit posts.
And yet, no one has yet told me that my writing is sloppy. Do you suppose they’re just too polite to say so?
Monica:
The Blackberry method huh? That’s a new one to me. Nice use of your train time though.
It’s funny that your mention commentary and emails taking longer for you. For me, they’re a piece of cake.
I guess we’re all different.
Kate:
I wish I could churn out posts the way you do. That’s pretty quick if you ask me.
I’ve never seen anything sloppy in your writing either, but our styles are also very different. Maybe your style thrives on short spurts of writing. Mine however, does not.
Either way, keep up the good work. If you can make it work, go with it.
This oughta give everyone a good chuckle: someone I work with (who will remain nameless) told me I should be able to churn out 4 posts an hour if they’re short. Yeah, right, like we could write anything meaningful in 15 minutes!
The time I spend varies widely. Sometimes post comes to me quickly and I can write one in under an hour, but other times I write it in fits and starts over a couple of days as I get inspired or think of things to add.
Plus, if I’m guest blogging for someone, I make more of an effort to find appropriate links and make my writing flawless. Not that you should be sloppy on your own blog, but guest blogging is an opportunity to gain new readers and you want it to be your absolute best possible work. I think it also depends on the nature of your blog: a personal blog should take less time to update than a corporate or professional blog. And of course, the longer you’ve been blogging, the easier it becomes.
I’m in the middle of my midterms week in law school but I just really wanted to comment on this post. ^_^
Blogging takes me about an hour or so each time i post. More if i am just doing research and then get sucked into the topic. It takes about the same time for me to write a column. The most time is spent on the research, definitely.
What i do now is i usually stay on the lookout for anything that can apply to my column (current events) or my blog (business, career or law) and then save it for future reference, either in a bookmark on my browser, or if in paper version, cut out and placed in a folder marked “future writing.”
And yeah, linking is essential if its a blog. But generally, since they are placed in a bookmark for me then it doesn’t take that long (usually. There are days i forget).
And now, back to my midterms. Wish me luck!
Susan:
Thanks for sharing. I got a good chuckle out of that. 4 posts in an hour…yeah right.
Kelvin:
Good luck on your mid terms. Don’t get too distracted by the blogosphere.
This is a tough one to be too specific on. It’s different for everyone, and different at different times, on different ideas.
In the end, it’s usually not the amount of time spent writing that determines success - it’s the quality of ideas.
Now time comes into play, because if you’re taking too much time and/or writing too much, your posts can get like a recipe that’s had too many spices thrown in or has gotten over-stirred. But if you’re spending too little, then you won’t get your ideas to relate and communicate with all their potential.
Ryan,
This post couldn’t have come at a better time. As a senior in college who is graduating this May, I’m running into that “should I blog?” “should I job search?” or “should I actually study?” dilemma. While I want to keep my blog updated regularly, I’m learning that it’s perfectly fine to write some short posts along with the essays I tend to write to balance my time.
Thanks for putting it all in perspective in a concise way! I’m definitely going to try linking more now, too.
Take care,
Meg
I like the don’t think, just write. On the other hand, however, I’ve ended up writing full posts, gotten to the end, hated them, and then not published them (which leads to a half hour - 45m down the drain).
One thought I’d like to bring to the table is expanding the thought of “blogging”. When it comes to how much time I spend blogging, I include both reading and commenting on other people’s blogs along with writing on my own. I find that by combining the two into my concept of “blogging” reading other people’s blogs becomes much more of an active task (I comment more) instead of an active task (I read more).
My biggest issue at the moment, I think, is locking down my audience so I can really produce posts they’ll like (and I like).
Tiffany:
It sounds like the idea you’re trying to get across is to stay balanced. And as someone who loves to cook I can respect the metaphor too.
One thing we should always take into consideration is how much or how little we’re giving to our readers.
Meg:
I think your dilemma perfectly illustrates why so little of the college community blogs. Maybe you should write a post about it. I for one would love to read it.
Between your workload, the job search and blogging I’m sure you have your plate full. But don’t forget about the other important part of college life: have some fun!
Nathan:
Hey Nathan, don’t cut yourself short. 45 minutes of writing a post you end up hating is not a waste. If that was the case, I’d have a serious problem with my life because most of what I write in a first draft is nothing but crap.
Instead of just tossing the post, read through it and search for something worth expanding on. If you write 8-10 paragraphs in a typical post, I guarantee there’s 1-2 paragraphs in each that is absolutely brilliant and worth expanding on the next day.
It’s all part of the process my friend. Don’t count your eggs before they’re hatched…so to speak.