====== Blogging Workflow ======

A nearly-daily writing cadence built around joy and consistency, not optimization.

===== 1. Ideas =====

Sources:
  * **Backlog** — ideas accumulated over years, mulled over, eventually poured out when ready
  * **Moment-triggered** — something encountered sparks an immediate essay
  * **Work-derived** — a few hours deep in something technical reveals a post worth writing
  * **Blank page** — no thesis, stream-of-consciousness, results in more esoteric/philosophical work

**Pre-writing ritual:** Don't write immediately after an idea arrives. Go for a walk or shower. Distraction-free time solidifies specific points before sitting down to write.

===== 2. Writing =====

Primary tool: [[https://750words.com/|750words.com]] — private daily freewriting, 750 words in ~20 minutes. Writing streak maintained since January 2025; public blogging frequency followed ~9 months later.

Go as fast as possible. Don't slow down for research.

**TK shorthand** — from journalism, means "to come." Placeholder for anything that needs to be filled in during editing:

<code>
[TK look up specific stats on link rot]
[TK add image or link properly]
[TK verify this claim]
</code>

This keeps writing momentum without stopping for research. Fill in during editing.

Reach 750 words → that's "enough" for a post. Sometimes the post requires more.

===== 3. Editing =====

Copy-paste from 750words → **Sublime Text 4**. Drop into ''src/posts/'' with Jekyll-style filename:

<code>
2026-03-02-my-blogging-workflow.md
</code>

  * Fill in all TK placeholders with research and links
  * Use inline links for citations (not MLA/APA/Chicago — those aren't web-friendly)
  * Sublime Text built-in spellcheck, but typos still slip through to production

===== 4. Assets — YAML Frontmatter =====

Standard frontmatter for each post:

<code yaml>
title: "How are we preparing for the Long Web?"
date: 2026-03-01T00:00:00-07:00
tags: ["IndieWeb", "Digital Preservation", "Web Development"]
summary: "What will the Internet look like in 2036?"
description: "What will the Internet look like in 2036?"
featured_image: /assets/images/blog/time-capsule.jpg
featured_image_alt: "Descriptive alt text for the image"
featured_image_caption: "Caption with attribution | [Source](url)"
</code>

Notes:
  * ''date'' must include timezone offset (e.g. ''-07:00'') — otherwise Eleventy renders an off-by-one date
  * ''summary'' and ''description'' are identical: one for the site homepage, one for social sharing metadata
  * ''featured_image_alt'' — always written for accessibility

**Images** are saved locally (no hotlinking). Sources:
  * [[https://commons.wikimedia.org/|Wikimedia Commons]] — primary
  * [[https://www.rawpixel.com/public-domain|RawPixel Public Domain]]
  * [[https://www.flickr.com/|Flickr]] — Creative Commons licensed
  * Edits made in [[https://www.gimp.org/|GIMP]]

In-post images use raw HTML ''<figure>'' elements:

<code html>
<figure>
  <img src="/assets/images/blog/example.jpg" 
       alt="Detailed alt text description">
  <figcaption>Caption | <a href="url">Source</a></figcaption>
</figure>
</code>

===== 5. Publishing =====

Push new Markdown file + images to [[https://gitlab.com/brennankbrown/brennan.day|GitLab repo]] → Netlify auto-deploys on commit. No manual deploy step.

===== 6. Syndicating =====

^ Platform ^ Method ^ Notes ^
| Mastodon (@brennan@social.lol) | [[https://echofeed.app/|EchoFeed]] via RSS | Automatic on publish |
| Medium | Manual copy-paste | Paywalled on Medium; link back to free version on site |
| Threads, BlueSky, me.dm Mastodon | [[https://buffer.com/|Buffer]] | Manual trigger, simultaneous |
| Beeminder blogging goal | [[https://ifttt.com/|IFTTT]] | Accountability tracking via Medium posts |
| LinkedIn | Manual | Only when post suits professional context |

The honest assessment: most of the cross-platform syndication isn't functionally meaningful. EchoFeed + Mastodon is the only fully automated, zero-friction path. The rest is manual overhead worth automating or dropping.

See also [[indieweb:community|Community — Mastodon, Echofeed, RSS]] and [[indieweb:status_lol_twtxt|Syncing status.lol to twtxt]] for the POSSE approach.

===== Philosophy =====

> Choose joy. Do things the way they work for you.

This is not a guide — you can never replicate somebody's output by replicating their input. The workflow reflects a specific person. Consider it a behind-the-scenes.

The only sustainable writing habit is one that's actually enjoyable.

===== See Also =====
  * [[indieweb:start|IndieWeb Index]]

  * [[indieweb:blogging|Blogging Platforms]]
  * [[indieweb:community|Community — Mastodon, Echofeed, RSS]]
  * [[indieweb:principles|IndieWeb Principles — POSSE]]
  * [[guides:creative_commons|Creative Commons Licensing]] (image sourcing)
  * [[start|Return to wiki home]]