Blog or You're Fired!

When I was invited to blog for the Huffington Post, I smugly predicted that I would blog at least once a week -- probably twice a week. No problem. Well, since I first launched I have written a grand total of 2 blogs, an average of one a month. It's not that I can't think of what to say. In fact, I email myself several times a day with ideas. The problem is that I work best on a deadline and no one is standing over me whipping or threatening me; and my job doesn't happen to be on the line.

In college I was always the one who handed in my paper on the last day -- having started it only the night before. I pack the night before a trip. I make plane reservations hours before departure time; book birthday dinner reservations the day of the birthday. I have yet to renew my son's passport since we are not leaving for England for another 3 weeks. If my children didn't need physicals for camp or for school they would doubtless go years without seeing the pediatrician. Sure, it is risky that I may not get into the restaurant I want at the time I want. Or I may end up sitting in the middle seat instead of on an aisle, which would be my preference. But I am just one of those people who is averse to planning ahead, and who doesn't feel life is real unless it is barreling down on me. As a news producer, a newspaper editor and a weekly columnist I always faced a deadline. The newscast had to air; the paper had to go out. There is something just a bit more exciting about living on the edge; the skin-of-the pants planning that means you never know in advance how your story is going to end.

I should note a fortunate corollary to my unwillingness to plan ahead: often it yields the best results. Someone has inevitably just cancelled his restaurant reservation or her hair appointment. And the only way to get an expedited passport these days is to wait until the 11th hour, at which point you qualify for "It's Easy's" 3-day service. Go weeks in advance and they can't help you

Ive been told that only a regular blogger will attract consistent readership. I want to be read, don't get me wrong. But do I have what it takes to overcome my natural instincts?

Which brings me to the larger question: is the world divided into people who do and people who don't? People who do plan ahead and people who don't? Those who need a deadline before they produce and those who are self-starting? Children who are self-motivated and those who need to be prodded? Does the child who needs to be prodded and who leaves his homework undone until the day before it's due grow up to be me? And if so, can I stop anticipating failure and accept that he will find a fitting career?

As for blogging, the sport is still in its infancy. Which means it should be able to accommodate even the reluctant, the slow-posting practitioner. Or at least I hope it can. Or maybe what I really need is the threat of being fired before I can truly bloom as a blogger.