Where do blog posts come from?

This post was prepared in advance due to the octreotide trial I was supposed to be having on April 8th. On Monday 7th April I received a phone call to say the trial had been cancelled for Tuesday and been moved to Monday 14th April 2014. I will of course update you with all the gory details if indeed it does take place on 14th April.

I know some people are curious as to where I get the ideas and inspirations for my blog posts. Some are interested in the process I have for blogging.The answer to where I get the blog subject from is quite diverse and sometimes strange! The process of how I get the blog post idea from my head to the page can be equally bizarre.

My blog started out as a way for me to be heard, even if no one read it in the beginning it didn't matter to me as long as I got my thoughts and feelings down on the page. I felt like all the doctors I came into contact with weren't listening, my health was bad and I was being labelled with conversion disorder yet no psychiatric help was given.

I knew that I wasn't manufacturing my condition and they weren't some vague symptoms being complained about by a stressed out thirty something  woman to gain attention. So initially my blog was about what was going on in my life at the time.

When I first became ill I became convinced that I was dying or was going to die due to the lack of help I was receiving from the medical community. In a way my blog the last statement I could make should the worst happen. It could be used as evidence against all those doctors who had told me that I wasn't ill and that the problem was all in my head. It was a scary time and some of my earlier blog posts are very angry and desperate.

To begin with I tried to keep my personal life separate from my blog to give myself some anonymity. However I found this created a disconnect between myself and what I was writing. I felt I couldn't be honest and be the passionate person I am without you the reader getting to see me, the writer of this blog. So slowly I started letting my guard down and letting the readers of my blog get to know me a bit better. You can't empathise or understand a person unless you know them.

As time went on I realised I wanted the blog to be more than just about my health. I wanted to encompass other subjects that would be of wider interest to people within the world of chronic sickness and not just those suffering with EDS, Pots and dysautonomia.

I have been blogging a lot recently as my health has been so poor that I can not do my normal activities. Sitting  (or in my case lying in bed with the computer on a lap tray) at the computer / tablet and letting off some steam and thinking about writing has helped me get through this difficult period.

So I better answer the question as to where I get the ideas for my blog posts.

Some come from my life as in what new medical struggle I maybe facing at that time, some come from conversations with friends ( my blog post on friends and chronic illness came from a friend and two different peoples stories on two different Facebook groups which were literally posted within hours of each other) , others come from suggestions that my mum makes ( usually she asks me something and as I am explaining it to her I think wow that would make a great post!) Some come from reading other peoples blogs, reading their posts sparks an idea in my head for a subject. Some come from my memories recent or long ago. And weirdest of all some come to me in dreams. It seems currently after an 18 month hiatus my brain is back in blogging mode.

I really need to start carrying a notebook with me wherever I go - which is mainly around the house. The number of times I will be having a conversation with my husband and then suddenly think "oh that would be a great post" and then five minutes later realise I've forgotten it is getting frustrating! Usually the really good ideas stick in my head, they get me animated straight away and whenever I can I am thinking about them and trying to think of the right way to approach the subject.

Once I have an idea in my head, I start having a conversation in my head about it. I like discussing the idea with myself and seeing where it takes me. I know this sounds completely crazy but it keeps the subject alive in my head. Then when I feel happy with the subject I start to research it, if its a topic that needs better understanding or some basic fact checking. Sometimes I look at other peoples blogs and see what sort of things they have written about on the subject.  If its something medical I will research information about it and find good items I can provide links for. Sometimes its a subject that doesn't need any research (like this post) but these are few and far between.

Blogging is so much more than just typing words onto a page. For me its an escape from chronic illness and a way to express myself. Writing has become again to me as important as breathing. Although I only post twice a week - Mondays and then Thursday or Friday, I write most days. Either for future blog posts or editing / refining the ones that are already written.

My blog posts can take hours to write, which is something my husband really doesn't understand! He doesn't "do" reading and only saw my blog properly in the last few weeks. I do know that he is incredibly proud of what I am doing, even if he has never read it. I will chat to him about what I am writing about, he never complains that I take time out to write and he is very encouraging, always asking how many views my blog has received that day.

With the first draft of my blog post, I just let the words tumble all over the page, random paragraphs with random thoughts dotted all over the place. I am queen of tangent land - I am forever going off on one! I like to quickly get down whatever is in my head and then have a break from it for a bit.

The second draft I look at what is working and what isn't and if I have actually addressed the blog post theme or if I've gone off on a tangent. If the tangent is good and needs to be included I then work out a way to get it to link to the subject. This is then followed by another break.

Third, fourth, fifth drafts ( and possibly more depending on the subject) is about moving paragraphs around, changing things I am still not happy with and improving the flow of the post. Throughout the whole process I am constantly looking for errors and I never ever manage to spot them all. I hate it when I am really pleased with a post and its been published and then I see an error. Its horrible and happens far more than I would like it to.

The thing I struggle with the most is blog post titles, a lot of the subjects I am dealing with aren't that "sexy" so it can be difficult to come up with something that will catch peoples eyes when they are doing a Google search. Sometimes a post will have many different titles before I finally settle on one that I like. On occasions though it is whatever I can come up with before my deadline to publish. Some work, others don't. I am not a professional, I don't have an editor or anyone helping me write my posts this is a one woman outfit.

Once my new blog post has been published I then have to try and raise awareness about it. I do this through my facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/The-Myasthenia-Kid/205747292968956?ref=hl and my personal twitter account @kidmorris, I am also on google+. All this takes time and effort but a day "pushing" a blog post every few hours really increases the number of views it receives. I can get a bit fixated on the number of visits my blog receives. I have noticed that on the days I publish there is a big spike in views, which is music to my ears as it means my story is getting out there and I may be able to help others who are also struggling to get a diagnosis.

Currently I am trying to work at least one blog post ahead so that if I have a few rough days my blog can carry on without any input from me. This has been particularly important this month with a hospital stay coming up (fingers crossed that the bed is available) on 8th April (this is being written at 6am on the 7th April) and I have no idea what shape I am going to be in afterwards. As stated at the top of this blog post my hospital admission has now been moved to 14th April.

So that's how my blog posts come about if you were curious! As soon as I am able I will update you with how my octreotide trial went.