Dear Friend,

Several weeks ago, I stared at my blog wondering what to write. I had mentioned that I would publish twice a month or alternate weeks. Why? I asked myself. To be consistent, of course. Why do I need to be consistent? At that moment, I challenged the aspect of blogging consistently and discussed it with a blogger friend, Lisa.

I asked her, why do bloggers post consistently? Of course, we both knew the obvious answer was to gain followers. But was this my intention? Nope.

Of course, I wanted to reach as many people as possible. I however didn’t want to vomit content for the sake of consistency because I wanted to write properly for Christ. To clarify my meaning, there’s nothing wrong in posting consistency. The important aspect lies in the purpose.

What’s my intention to blog?

I recalled the moment I created this blog. Actually, I created it on Blogger during high school. It had the similar “Train” concept. I wrote book reviews and rambled about my life. However, I had no vision or long-term goals for it, and it wasn’t His timing for me to blog. I closed it.

Once I started writing seriously, His time for me to blog came. Thus, I created it again using WordPress instead. I wrote about the Conductor’s (Christ) guidance in my writing journey, and what I had learned from Him.

My intention was to share my lessons with other writers. To tell them that this writing journey can be lonely and difficult, but the Conductor is with them every word of the way.

Gradually, this blog changed to include the TCK email ministry, and my writing style changed. Despite those, my purpose remained the same: to write what the Conductor taught me during my personal journey with Him, so that He would use it to reach people.

To reach these readers included having followers or subscribers; thus, I incorporated a form of consistency. I initially posted once every week. (Keep in mind that the number of readers is not my primary goal.) However, my writing projects increased and I struggled to maintain quality content while risking myself to a burnout.

So, I asked Lisa on which she values more:

Consistency or Quality

We both agreed that to us, quality is more important than consistency. I thought of an example of a particular blogger who doesn’t post often, yet I’m still subscribed to her because her articles are high-quality to me. Specifically, they are truth-filled, and they draw me closer to my Lord.

At the same time, yes, it’s possible to publish quality posts while being consistent. But this might not work for everyone, well, it didn’t work for me at least. I could even challenge the aspect of every writer or author needing a blog. Blogging itself is not suitable for everyone; however, let’s not chug off the track, Clarissa.

After discussing with my friend, I prayed about it. Then I decided to post as and when God leads me to it instead of sticking to fixed dates. (To clarify again, I’m not saying that He did not guide me to post each week. I did not have much work back then.) At the same time, I won’t post inconsistently in a way that I publish content once every three to four months.

Rather, I set a general target of one to two posts a month. So far, I’m less overwhelmed than before, and perhaps, just perhaps, I’m improving in quality. But we shall see as I continue. Ultimately, the most important thing is that God is building it, and not I (Psalm 127:1). And that focusing on the number of readers does not take His place in my life because

being close to Him and loving Him is my goal.

How about you, my friend: is blogging consistently working out for you? Are you blogging to increase the numbers of followers or because you love your Lord? And is He building your house?

Very Sincerely Yours,
Clarissa Choo-Choo Train

P.S. You can peek into Lisa’s blog here.

P.P.S. Sarah who wrote the article on productivity also has a Part 2 of it! I highly recommend you to read it because it’s a very important lesson for all of us: Part 2: Has Productivity Become Your Idol? And if you miss Part 1, here it is: Productivity from a Biblical Perspective.

P.P.P.S. Also, should I write an article challenging the aspect of every writer/author needing a blog? Just kidding!

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