Planning for Blaugust 2026
If you take a cursory look at a calendar you will see that the month of July is fast coming to an end. That means that Blaugust 2026 Festival of Blogging starts in a few days time! If you’re participating, or thinking of doing so, the next few days present a golden opportunity to do some practical organising and basic preparation. You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Feel free to just do things as they come, so to speak, if that’s your approach. However, for most of us, it helps if we have some kind of plan in place and make some arrangements in advance. I personally prefer this approach and like to have some ideas for blog posts in the bank. It is also useful to have “options” if something doesn’t go to plan. For those who are new to Blaugust, here are a few ideas regarding preparation that may be of use to you. As ever, your personal mileage may vary and ultimately you are best off adopting a strategy that suits your writing style and personal schedule.
If you take a cursory look at a calendar you will see that the month of July is fast coming to an end. That means that Blaugust 2026 Festival of Blogging starts in a few days time! If you’re participating, or thinking of doing so, the next few days present a golden opportunity to do some practical organising and basic preparation. You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Feel free to just do things as they come, so to speak, if that’s your approach. However, for most of us, it helps if we have some kind of plan in place and make some arrangements in advance. I personally prefer this approach and like to have some ideas for blog posts in the bank. It is also useful to have “options” if something doesn’t go to plan. For those who are new to Blaugust, here are a few ideas regarding preparation that may be of use to you. As ever, your personal mileage may vary and ultimately you are best off adopting a strategy that suits your writing style and personal schedule.
Basic planning
Blaugust is about creating content, be it written, videos or audio. Hence now is the time to start brainstorming ideas for potential material. I’m a stalwart advocate of notebooks and their electronic equivalent. If you have an idea, write it down. As for written content, establishing regular columns and recurring posts if useful. Providing a diary of your progress in a game or a project is useful and straight forward to write. Developing ideas into an actual post can be turned into a process. Start by writing down your blog title or a sentence describing it. Then add bullet points about different aspects of that subject. These can then be fleshed out into paragraphs. Impose structure via opening and closing statements and voila, you have a blog post or at least the first draft of one. If you’re out of ideas the Blaugust community has a list of prompts that may help.
Gonzo blogging
You may want to experiment with writing a stream of consciousness instead of planning a post. Some writers find this suits their temperament and will just sit and write whatever comes into their head. However, it is a very personal and exposing style of writing. When it’s good, it is a very engaging and powerful form of writing, that can be insightful and charismatic. However, it can also go the other way and come off as rambling and incoherent. There’s also a school of thought that some of the stuff that is in your head and that you don’t say out loud, is in there for a reason. Hence I wouldn’t recommend this style of writing to everyone.
Hunter S Thompson and the concept of Gonzo Journalism
Staying motivated and “doing the thing”
Let’s not kid ourselves. Writing or indeed producing any sort of creative content on a regular basis for a hobby is hard. It requires a degree of focus, time and self-discipline. Staying motivated is hard. Which is why I strongly encourage all Blaugust participants to talk with each others on the Blaugust Discord Server. It is an invaluable source of encouragement and support, irrespective of what sort of content you produce. Advice, constructive criticism and a kind word are always available. Or if you prefer, you can just shoot the breeze and unwind if it helps your creative processes (yes you do have them. We all do). And when I say talk, it’s mainly a text based discussion. Or you can just lurk if you want to. Passively observing is a useful tool in itself.
Adjust your expectations and be realistic about what you will achieve
Be realistic with your Blaugust goals. The key to building an online presence is to publish content regularly. Even a post a week can be difficult, especially if the only time you have to write is after work, when you’re tired and have other demands on your time. Remember that every post doesn’t have to be an in-depth essay or a literary milestone. A few paragraphs or even lines is sometimes all that’s needed to make your point, convey an idea or express a sentiment. Remember it is your blog and you should do things your way that you’re comfortable and content with. Don’t overreach yourself but don’t sell yourself short either. Realistically consider what you can produce over the course of a month and attempt to achieve it.
Go with the flow. What could possibly go wrong?
Go with the flow
Plans and reality make for uncomfortable bed fellows. You may plan a series of blog posts or videos and then discover that you’re no longer interested in the subjects or the content doesn’t come out as you thought it would. You favourite Aunt may splinter her pancreas and you find that the subsequent care you provide impacts upon your writing schedule. You may simply discover that writing or whatever it is that you create online is not for you or that you’re going about it the wrong way. Fear not. That is part of the point of Blaugust. The event gives you a broad overview of not only the mechanics of content creation but the “lifestyle”, so to speak. Hence adopt a go with the flow philosophy. That’s not to say you should be a lazy git. Blaugust is often a case of you get back what you put in. Just be mindful that things can change and that shit happens.
So to summarise, it never hurts to be organised and for many, imposing a degree of structure upon a month-long writing event, will make it far easier to navigate. Yet, there does come a point when you have to stop fine tuning your plan and just get on with writing, podcasting, streaming etc. It’s a bit like getting into the swimming pool when on holiday. The water looks inviting but you know it will initially feel cold. Once your in, past experience tells us it will be fine but the main obstacle is just diving or climbing in to the damn pool. Publishing your first Blaugustpost is a bit like this but once it’s done you may wonder why you worried about it so much. So take the plunge, stay in touch with other participants and see where the month ahead takes you. If you get stuck then help is at hand. Just ask on the Discord server or via a post comment. Enjoy the month ahead and Qapla’ as the Klingon’s say.
