How I decide what to write about

In theory you hear from me three times a week 4 if I’m currently training for something. That’s a lot really. We have a fitness related post every Wednesday and Sunday except every second Wednesday (like today) it’s about some other random thing. Fridays you get a weekend motivation post and in training season a weekly recap (that’s been a minute hasn’t it!). I wanted to explain a little bit about how I decide what to write about and where I get my ideas. This time of year I find I have the urge to pull back the curtain a bit. So I guess we’re talking about how I decide what to write about next. For this one I decided to include some pictures of the rest of my life since I do things besides work and running!

While we’re on the topic you might have noticed that here and there I’ve been skipping the odd post. There really isn’t a good reason for that at the moment. It did start this summer when we were super busy and I think it just ended up bothering me less than I thought it would. In the past I would have traded some sleep to get a post up but now I just don’t do that anymore. I still plan to maintain that schedule but if there is a gap or two I can live with that.

Fitness stuff

Long term readers will remember that when this blog started it was under a different name. I planned to write stuff about lifestyle, hobbies, relationships and probably home making stuff. Stuff that would still be helpful but pretty quickly a lot of the focus was fitness and a little bit of health. Thus the name change and the focus.

I want to create a space where the concerns and needs of all runners (and athletes) have merit and are taken seriously. After all I’m not an elite athlete but the vast majority of us aren’t either. Some of our concerns are just the same and some are totally different too. I come up with most of my ideas when I’m running and more when I’m running regularly. Often if I’m struggling with an issue or overthinking something I realize others are too. If I think something is funny I might write about that too.

One of the things I used to write about pretty frequently was race recaps. I noticed that not a whole lot of people where I live ( Nova Scotia) were doing that. I write about big races and little community races too. It’s always nice to read if there is an insider tip before you sign up or on race day. On a related note: registration for EPIC Canadian is open but hasn’t been publicized yet so go check it out right now! And… drum roll please… it’s an in person or virtual event!

Other stuff

As much as I love fitness, running, paddling and triathlons, and I do, just like everyone else I’m doing my best to fit it into my life otherwise. Sometimes in the rest of my life something comes up that I want to write about. Sure I could ignore that other stuff and keep it fitness all the time but unfortunately I’m not that one dimensional. Lots of them go largely unread which I’m okay with but I still think my one about the CRTC is a must read for all Canadians! Every once and a while some are more popular or hit all of a sudden. This one about winter pick up truck hacks is going nuts in the states over the last week. I wonder what longhorn state might be responsible for that? Even if you’re not here for the other stuff that’s cool. I do like writing about it so I’ll be keeping that up!

Construction secrets

You might notice a recurring theme in the other posts and that is the construction secrets posts. Well it is the field I work in every day but it’s more than just that. Construction is well over 10% of the economy making it pretty important overall. I write about things that are meant to be helpful to those in the field and homeowners too but for different reasons. Construction is a field where someone who hasn’t had an easy go of things really can build an empire. Not everyone has the same head start and education but it’s one of the last fields where you can learn everything you want to know on the job while making a living wage. In the workforce today that’s a pretty special thing. It is a competitive industry but if you do things right and are smart about it you can really build a company from nothing. If I have something to offer someone else who works in the trades get ahead I’d like to help.

The other side is for homeowners. I challenge you to find a place where you can spend money faster than on work for your home. Occasionally we spend it faster than your bank will even let you send it to us! So it’s a place to take some extra caution. But not only that you want to have a good working relationship with your contractor, know the things you are unwittingly doing to drive the cost up and you know get the most out of your investment. There’s also two polar opposites that are often believed too. One is it happens like it does on HGTV, those people pay too and sometimes there are lawsuits and that contractors are a shady bunch. Sure maybe sometimes those things are true but actually we’re just people doing our jobs too. I write about this stuff because I spend a lot of time in that world and I do think people should understand it better.

Weekend motivation

These are posts about things that are on my mind, sometimes at least sort of. These usually come from something I’m thinking about more deeply at the moment. But they aren’t exactly a window into the inside of my life. I try not to get too specific because I want everything on here to apply to more than just me. Sometimes I’m writing vaguely about something that happened to someone I know. I really don’t view this blog as a personal platform for just me. If something hits me in the moment I will write about that if I can find a way to open up the idea more broadly. 

If something is striking a nerve in the moment sometimes I will start writing about it. If I find myself getting too specific, fired up or rant-y I’ll put it on the shelf for at least a month and come back to it. Right now for example I stumbled on a someone’s very, very, personal blog who was pretty mean to me in the distant past. That sort of hit me and I started writing about it but I’m not fully done thinking it out yet so I know I’m not ready to write about it. I want all the posts on here to be positive or at least neutral things that make you think and this category is no different.

So that’s how I decide what to write about and how I come up with the ideas. At least it’s what I aim to do. For all my blogging friends how do you decide what to write about? Leave it in the comments below!