I’m ashamed to say that out of probably 1,000+ posts I have written, I have very few of them saved on my computer. 

I have spent most of the last week in my rare spare time copying and pasting them into Word files, and saving them, indexed by month, into folders for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.  Then, borrowing an idea from julochka (I think she does this…) I am going to print out each post and put them into binders by year, so that I will have a hard copy of each one. 

The electronic files of each post will be saved and I’m going to put all of the files onto a zip drive/USB drive that I can put in a safe place.  Just in case, you know?

It’s been strange re-reading what I wrote, especially in the early days.  I limped along the first 100 or so posts and then seem to have found some sort of voice in 2008.  This year is a little different, but I’d like to think I have figured out what I’m trying to accomplish here and it’s become an easier habit to keep, writing every evening after dinner for at least an hour. 

Everyone’s habits, styles and preferences are different, but I would advise this:  be consistent, write at a regularly scheduled time, and if you are thinking you want to post every single day, try not to post multiple things in one day.  Pace yourself.  Have four or five posts that you put together as “spares” so that you can put them on quickly on a day when you might be away from town, out of range of a computer, or just suffering from a migraine or PMS. 

Write, and keep writing, and don’t stop.  Talk about your day.  Talk about what made you laugh or cry or roll your eyes.  I promise you, when three years have gone by and you’ve forgotten it, you will look at your old blog posts and think “Oh that’s right!  I remember that day!”

Write about the people you love.  Write about what you ate.  Write about your fears. 

Or not.  But these are things I have done, and they have helped me rediscover myself.  My own self.  Not someone’s mother or sister or wife or aunt. But me.  I was hidden for a while, and now I know who I am.  I know my voice now, and I may not write about the same things I did three years ago, but I like to think I’ve honed in on my voice and have gotten better.

And for heaven’s sake, back up your work!