          |
         |
            |
The photos say it all.
Each photo above represents one of the posts I wrote this past month. Click on any image to lead to the post. In the month of May, I wrote 31 posts. Contrast that with the months of January through April, where I only wrote 41 posts in total. Clearly this past month was a crazy whirlwind of activity.
Happily, I have finally started making a sizeable dent in my backlog of food photos I’ve taken over the last couple years, though I’m nowhere near finished.
In this month, I’ve written about restaurants in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Napa / Sonoma Valley, Las Vegas, Sydney (Australia), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Tokyo (Japan), and Montreal (Canada) plus a handful of recipes. I haven’t even started on the rest of Canada or New Zealand.
Still so much more to write.
What was it like?
My original goal in trying publish 31 posts in 31 days was to see if I still “had it”. Did I still have the same drive, passion, and pure energy to “pump” out high quality, detailed posts like I used to when I was first ramping up Tiny Urban Kitchen?
This is no surprise to me, but the experience reaffirmed to me that I am a very goal-oriented person. Give me a goal, challenge, or contest, and my motivation skyrockets. Pending deadlines are good for me. They force me to execute at my highest, most efficient level.
Sure, there were a few nights where this challenge caused me sleep deprivation. There were times when I felt like kicking myself for setting such an unreasonable goal. It would happen on those days when an evening activity would occupy most of my night and I wouldn’t get home until closer to 10:30 PM. Church stuff would take up a couple more hours, and then I would begin writing the next day’s blog post . . . . at 12:30AM.
Thankfully, those days were few, and by and large, I managed to front load photo editing on weekends and just focus on writing during the weeknights, which wouldn’t take more than 1-2 hours.
What’s next?
Ha ha, depends. I still have A LOT of backlog content to post (e.g. recipes like quick Taiwanese beef noodle soup in a pressure cooker (!), Boston restaurants I’ve visited lately, plus many other travel photos).
But I don’t want to overwhelm the blog either.
I would love your feedback.
Please comment below and tell me what you think. I am extremely motivated by what others want, and since this blog is totally for you, my readers, I want to do what you all prefer. Below are some things I’ve been wondering, and I would love to hear your thoughts.
And to those who have emailed me personally supporting me in this challenge and telling me how much you love it, THANK YOU. It means so much to me and it really keeps me motivated to work even harder to make this blog as enjoyable and useful as possible.
OK . . here are some questions for thought!
Questions
Did you like how I skipped around between travel series or would you prefer to have each series be serial?
Do you wish for more Boston and recipe posts? Or do you like the heavy emphasis on travel?
Was a post every day too much to keep up with?
Would you prefer less frequent long, detailed posts or more frequent shorter, “snapshot” type posts? (Of course, I can do a mix of both, though I think currently most of my posts are on the long side)
Any other general feedback?
Thanks everyone!
I’m not sure what I’ll do next month. I may still continue to increase my posting frequency compared to before. However, I just may give myself a break on weekends.
🙂
Thanks everyone for joining me in this fun little challenge!
Jen
All Rights Reserved
I applaud you for doing a post a day. That seemed like a huge time commitment. I hope you will continue to post more frequently, but maybe not everyday. I love the travel posts, as I travel quite a bit as well and having suggestions of where to eat is always helpful. I also enjoy trying your recipes. So far I’ve enjoyed your mix of posts verymuch and hope you will continue for many years. Thank you so much for writing this blog.
What a feat. Congrats for the achievement. I enjoyed all your travel photos and I do prefer a mix so I get a glimpse of everywhere everyday. I think frequent posting is great, but not everyday. I think that is quite a strain! Please add some recipe posts from time to time. Thanks for writing!
I have absolutely loved the daily posts and hope you continue to post frequently! I love the travel posts and have definitely used your suggestions in the past, to great success. Thank you so much for your blog.
I love the hopping around! But personally, while travel and restaurant reviews are fascinating, I found your blog through your recipes and I would love to see more of those.
Well done on 31 in 31!
I loved this month of daily posts and think it’s definitely not too much that it overwhelms the blog. For those who are regular readers, skipping around between travel series is a non-issue, and you do such a great job of providing links within each entry that even an occasional or binge reader should follow along easily. Long, detailed posts are my favorite.
Would be great for you to do a Vermont travel series…King Arthur is great and all but there’s so much to eat up here.
As someone in the Boston area, I *really* appreciate the Boston area posts, although I do enjoy the recipe posts and the travel posts as well.
What I wonder about is if you get so hung up about your “backlog” on travel posts that you don’t get to more current new content. Quite honestly, If you haven’t posted about a particular restaurant in over a year (ie, Australia), it’s probably okay if you skip it. It’s not fresh in your mind anymore, the restaurant involved might have changed in quality since then, etc etc. Just because it was a great trip for you, and you ate some amazing stuff doesn’t mean you “owe” us posts about it. I, personally, would rather you move on to whatever it currently going on (whether that’s Boston, a recipe, or more current travel) than try to post details about something from that long ago. I mean, life happens, but if you haven’t blogged about it in a year an a half, you’ve clearly had other priorities. (Which is good! Which I trust!).
In that vein, I think that sometimes, travel posts should be shorter. A bunch of pictures, somewhere around a paragraph or two per restaurant… I mean, if it’s a Boston or Cambridge place, you may eat there 5 times and have 10 different dishes before you review. That’s a lot more quality, thoughtful info/analysis to communicate than if you, while super jetlagged, eat a wonderful meal somewhere once.
Hi Jennifer,
I really enjoy your blog and truly appreciate the time that you put into it. I wish I had the opportunity to travel more so I enjoy the posts that you share that give a glimpse into a different spot. When I do get to travel to a place you’ve been I sometimes look at spots you’ve recommended. Over and above the recommendations I just enjoy your writing style, I’m always happy to read whatever you post and read the blogs start to finish. Many other blogs in my feed have been deleted (for a variety of reasons) but I continue to love yours and thank you for continuing to entertain us.
Sarah
hello! i live in your neighborhood and am a longtime reader and fan of your blog. thank you for every word you writ and every picture you take. i always feel as if i have been there right with you. unfortunately, i have no budget to dine where you do, so i live vicariously through your posts–and you have educated me in a way that i enjoy. re: posts, i think that whatever works for your life is what you should do. what excites you? what is outstanding? i will be reading every word! (sorry for typing this way, broke wrist, am glad i can still type at all)
Thanks for the encouraging words! I agree that the posts about which I am excited typically turn out better. 🙂 Sorry about your wrist and hope it gets better soon!
Awwww, thanks so much for your comment. I appreciate the time you set aside to write it.
Hi Cosetthetable,
Thanks for your insightful comment!
I know I get hung up on backlogged posts, and there’s nothing more frustrating than trying to write a post when you don’t remember the meal well. I plan on taking your suggestion to do a few summaries for my AU/NZ trip. There are definitely lots of meals that are not worth blogging about, and I plan on skipping those. Perhaps AU/NZ will be more travel summaries than single restaurant posts. 🙂
This past month I have tried to be more intentional about rotating between different series precisely so I can be current (at least sometimes!). Hoping once the backlog reduces I’ll have more and more pretty current stuff on the blog.
Thanks again for your support and super helpful comments!
Jen
Hi Jon,
Thanks for your feedback. I’m hoping to increase the frequency of posts (hopefully I still have the stamina to keep it up!) and I really want to visit Vermont again, hopefully this summer! I’ve only eaten at one restaurant there and spent most of my time baking the last time I was there. I would love to do a cheese tour or something!!
Jen
Hi Tara,
Thanks! I know my cooking posts have dropped in frequency A LOT. I really want to increase it, but I’ve been traveling so much lately it’s been hard. I totally hope to increase the number of cooking posts. I’ll start receiving my CSA farm share next week, and hopefully the increased cooking will follow!
Thanks! I will try my HARDEST to post more frequently, hopefully ~20 posts a month is my new modified goal (31 was a bit nuts).
Hi Mabel,
Thanks for your feedback. It’s consistent with what others have said: more frequent is great, but not necessarily every day (which is good for my sanity too!), and more cooking posts.
Thanks!
Jen
Hi Kyalyn,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. Heh, I’ve been writing this blog since 2007, so likely it will be around for many more years. Thanks again!
Jen
Um, it was awesome knowing that everytime I checked your blog there would be a new post to devour. It was an eye-feast these last 31 posts. I think you do a good balance of long and short posts, giving deserving meals more detail. Series are easier to keep track of or to get the sense of a particular city, and I particularly appreciate the travel posts as they have the ability to transport me to places I would likely never be able to visit myself!
I loved the frequent posting, though I wouldn’t expect you to keep up the post-every-day pace – because I also love your detailed posts! The trait that first drew me and kept me reading your blog was the great detail you include in your restaurant posts, especially.
I would perhaps prefer keeping travel posts in one series as it gives it more continuity and makes it easier to follow.
I have always enjoyed reading your blog, regardless of how frequent or how long/short those posts have been. They are all very entertaining and extremely helpful. I use your blog search function a lot, whenever I go somewhere and trying to decide what to eat, I’d look up to see if you had been and what you’d think. Your pictures are awesome too! I’ll support whatever ways you decide to organize your blog. It is your blog after all.
I loved the increase in frequency though could see how you’d need a break. I do like it when you post contiguously about one place then move to another.
Hi. I loved the 31 in 31. Obviously don’t expect you to keep up that pace. Whatever pace works for you, works for me. I also don’t need the travel series to be serial. Sorry to not be much help-I pretty much like your blog and whatever you write and have for years so it all works for me. You are an amazing lady and have amazing adventures-in your kitchen and elsewhere-and I enjoy reading it all. And feel lucky to be able to.
Your travel pieces (long and short) are always great, as are the photos. I like that you jump around from place to place. I look forward to when you cook, too. Thanks for the great posts.
Hi! I really enjoy reading your blog. I first stumbled upon it late last year when I was looking up restaurants to visit on my upcoming trip to Japan and I had great fun looking through your archives. I’ll be visiting 4-5 of the places in Japan that you recommended! I really enjoy your travel series / Boston posts (since I am not based in the US, it’s really entirely like a travel series for me). I think the draw of your blog is the long, detailed entries of your experience interspersed with those wonderful pictures of the food / dining environment! Hope you’ll be doing this for a long time to come!
I’m so impressed that you managed to post 31 times in 31 days! I always
really enjoy reading your blog and food descriptions. I like how you
skip around between travel series, and I enjoy both the Boston posts and
the travel posts. The recipe posts are less interesting to me because I
don’t do much cooking. In the long term, a post every day seems kind
of overwhelming. Three posts a week is my favorite posting rate, at
least to read. I love the long, detailed posts, and I love your blog!
Thanks for doing this! 🙂
Congrats on completing the challenge Jen! Definitely not easy, but you totally owned it.
Personally, I love all of your recipe posts, however I understand how hard that can be if you’re not in the kitchen cooking as much due to travel, etc. That said, if you need to have shorter travel blog posts for older backlog travels, don’t hesitate to just keep it shorter. 🙂 Either way, thanks for a month of awesome posts!
I think daily posting would be hard to keep up with in the long term, but I’ve enjoyed reading them this month. I dont mind skipping around in the travel series but I do looooove the Boston posts best since it gives me new places to try!
yay for finishing the challenge!!! i love it!! the more you write the more i read 🙂 so yay for more 🙂 i was a way for a few weeks in may, so when i got back.. i had like tons to read… it was awesome, like a TV show i was really into and i could binge watch, “binge read” for a few hours!!