How to Find the Treasure in Your Archives

March 24, 2010 · by Joanna Paterson · in

How many posts have you published on your blog?

I’m at (gulp) 711 at the last count.

Now I’d be the first to admit that a lot of those posts are fleeting, of little lasting value. But I also know that there are lots of good bits of writing in amongst that 711: posts that are useful, helpful, insightful, that generate those ‘ahas’.

Posts that run the risk of getting lost in the depths of the archives if I don’t do something about it.

One of the things I did during my blogging break was have a good rummage around in the archives, followed by a fair bit of re-organising and tidying up. Here are some of the things I did and learned in the process.

1. Look for the Value to You

Reading your own writing can be full of surprises.  Words and phrases that make you go ‘wow, did I really write that?’ (in a good way ;-) ) or ‘yes, that’s it, that’s right’ or maybe, sometimes with a hint of regret ‘duh! I learned that two years ago! Why did I forget to remember?‘  Keep a note of those reactions – they’re telling you something.

Tune in for words and phrases that make you smile with pleasure, delight and satisfaction.  Some of your signature strengths perhaps, things that could only have been written by you.  Those times when you hear the sound of your own writing voice, and are happy that you do.

Watch out for new insights – things you didn’t (consciously) know at the time of writing.

One of the things I realised through looking back was that I neeed to stop feeling apologetic for writing too much about blogging.  Why?  Because it wasn’t an accident.  It wasn’t a sidetrack or a weird obsession (I don’t think)

Because what I had been learning and teaching through this blog, over and over again, was that blogging and other shared digital media give us the means to write with greater confidence.  To find your writing voice.

2. Start Mapping Out What You Find

As you read and learn, take notes and doodle around the themes and patterns that emerge.  Although it is possible your existing categories will match perfectly onto the writing you’ve been doing, chances are they won’t.  Why?  Because we learn as go, our writing evolves as we go.  We can’t know where we’re going to end up when we started with that set of categories (which is good in terms of learning, if annoying in terms of blog housekeeping.)

Working out some of those themes, patterns, categories, threads and connections will help you get a clearer idea of what your blog is ‘really’ about.  Or what it is revealing itself to be about.

3. Look for the Value to Your Reader

This is a different exercise with a different pair of glasses, but it follows on quite naturally from the first two.

With the posts fresh in your mind, with the value and meaning clearer to you than it’s ever been, with your greater knowledge of the stuff that’s really good in your archives, the stuff that really deserves to be a bit more visible… Well that’s the stuff you want to take note of, and then look for a way to show it off.

4. Point the Way to the Treasure

Some loyal readers will have been with you from the start and read all your best work, but most will have joined part way through.  Some people will just be finding you for the first time, looking to find what’s good, what’s brilliant, what’s glinting and shiny…  Digging through your archives is probably not the easiest way for them to find it.

The solution I came up with was to create new pages with ‘best of’ posts in a particular category or on a particular topic.  I can then link to and show off these pages (with graphics) in the sidebar, creating a slightly easier roadmap (or treasure map) for new readers, or people who want to explore some topics in greater depth.

I’m sure there’s still a lot more treasure in the archive that I haven’t yet mined, but it feels good to have gone in and had such a good look around, to take the time to learn from my own learning, and to try and find ways to make it easier for others to get their hands on the shiniest bits of the treasure.

What approaches have you used to find the treasure in your own archives, for your own benefit, of that of your readers?

Photo credit: Carte du Tresor by ToNToN CoPT on Flickr