My ten rules for blogging in 2025

I am attempting to write regularly again, a habit I have not had since leaving Poynter in 2010. (Not counting a book project that took three years…)

The incentives to blog have changed since 2010, and my goals have changed. The notes below are meant for me, not for anyone trying to build a business of writing, or on top of their writing. Nothing below is new or revelatory. I wrote it as a reminder to myself. (See point #7 below.)

1. Platforms cannot be trusted with your work. Engage, but don’t try and build equity there. If I have a thread more than 3-4 posts long, it goes to the blog with a post/link on socials.
2. It is about the content. Time spent on other details are wasted. The design here is minimal, as is the copyediting.
3. Don’t lock readers into one channel. I am running a self-hosted Ghost and each post is available on the web, email or RSS. And, Ghost is working on ActivityPub integration.
4. Perfection is the enemy of good. Getting a 3/4-finished thought published and attracting feedback (or crickets) is better than leaving a post in drafts for a month.
5. Write short. A key to old Twitter was the character-length constraints. I am aiming for less than 500 words to minimize time spent on wasted explorations.
6. Process is the enemy of progress. Posts should be written in the lowest-resolution, most accessible tool, allowing ideas to be saved or discarded guilt-free. I use IA Writer on my Mac, iPad, and iPhone to take notes anytime/anywhere and refine as practical. IA exports drafts directly to Ghost and feels low-investment/low-risk until that point.
7. Write for yourself. Hopefully, others read, but I am running no analytics, so I don’t know. Of course, any feedback on social media does help refine and develop the concepts.
8. Write when you feel compelled to. I can’t generate ideas on arbitrary deadlines and may go a week or month without posting here.
9. Challenge convention. This list has nine items. But if I had a subscriber tier, number ten would be absolutely amazing.