Return of Project 52
Back in 2007, I proposed the idea of posting a blog entry every week for one year. It didn’t go quite as well as hoped, but I still believe that the core idea is solid. I’ve needed something to kick my writing back into gear.
I recently grumbled on Twitter about having too many drafts (which I do) and end up not writing any of them (which I also do). Chris Wallace suggested making a pledge to finish articles on a regular timeframe, with a self-signed agreement. His tweet reminded me of my old Project52 plan. Which I had, until now, completely forgotten about. So, here's the new & improved plan: to revive the old project, invite new members, and get as many of us to start producing fresh content as possible.
The Proposal
To begin, we should first examine where the first iteration failed, which turns out to be planning. There was no real sense of accountability with the original project. It was just an idea thrown against a wall and expected to stick, with the expectations that we would all be self-managed. There was also no true sense of membership. I had a few people express interest, but a more thorough way of tracking actual participants seems to be more in order. It was all so informal back then.
What’s needed:
- Write a clear vision of what p52 means to people who want to participate, how to join, and how to spread interest.
- A sense of membership/community for those who are participating.
- There should be a way of publicly browsing the participating domains that have been updated.
- Total accountability. Letting yourself down is far less stressful than letting an audience down. If someone misses a week, it should be public.
What’s Next
p52 could easily begin on January 1st, 2010 (or sooner, if possible)! You’re more than welcome to express interest here if you'd like to join me in my quest. Keep in mind though, that this article won't be the page to track p52’s progress. I believe that a single dedicated page will be easier to track. From there, we can take it to the social networks and hopefully allow it to grow. I’ll update this article as I work out some of the finer details.
Update (Dec. 9th): The website is live! You can link to it at http://project52.info. Please go there if you‘d like to sign up. All the information you need to get started is there.
Comments Back to Top
1. Chris Auel
Dec 7th, 2009
I might be interested. Right now I took down my site because I wasn’t updating it often. This could kick my butt into gear to actually write something.
2. Matt Robin
Dec 8th, 2009
Chris: I agree, this could be the catalyst to more frequent* writing from me too!
* Or any!! ;)
3. Anton
Dec 8th, 2009
Excellent! That makes three of us so far.
4. Matt Robin
Dec 8th, 2009
Anton: Bigger problem for me at the moment is that my blog is still getting its redesign sorted out.
Maybe I should just get the blog part live first, and build the site around it? That would be fugly/dangerous though.
What d’ya think?
5. Keith Homel
Dec 8th, 2009
I guess that would mean I’d have to implement a blog on my site… I’m up for it!
6. John F Croston III
Dec 8th, 2009
I think I could have my arm twisted to write in my blog more than 5 or 10 times a year.
What about donating say $1, $2, $5 or whatever to a charity of your choosing for every week you don’t do a blog post? Or if you want to get out of the whole deal just donate $50, $100, or whatever in one lump sum to get out and call uncle.
What about blog posts having to be more than a certain amount of words, like 100 or so you can’t just say “Here’s another blog post.” and be done with it. In the case of designers you can do a nice screen cast tutorial like @Anton has done or a cool design piece or an illustration and it would count too.
Just a few ideas to throw into the mix and see if anyone is up for the challenge.
7. Anton
Dec 8th, 2009
@John. Wow, you don’t mess around. Making people pay up if they don’t write. :) I do like the minimum word requirement, however. It would be too easy to skate through the challenge with simple updates.
8. Chris Harrison
Dec 8th, 2009
Count me in. I’d like to improve my writing, and the only way to do that is to write more. I need to make the time to do it.
9. Anton
Dec 8th, 2009
Welcome aboard, Chris!
10. Greg Newman
Dec 8th, 2009
I’m interested Anton. I’m a little leery simply cause I’ve failed on NoNoWriMo and sitesprint but having it spread out seems a little more achievable with my insane schedule. What I’m interested in is doing a p52 for my illustration blog; a piece a week.
11. Bridget Stewart
Dec 8th, 2009
I feel ashamed that I let my blog run into the ground. My problem has been a lack of inspiration to really force me to write something. If I get a spark of an idea, upon examination I realize I’m not saying something new. I’m just saying what has already been said, probably a thousand times.
This might be a vehicle to help me overcome that, but I still don’t even have an idea what I would write about. :D I’ll be watching to see what you guys are up to, at the very least
12. Anton
Dec 8th, 2009
@Greg. I can’t wait to see how that goes! You can even mix it up… some illustration, some writing, you know?
@Bridget. I’m not sure if this helps, but I’ve made an interesting discovery over the years: It’s okay to say something that’s already been said, as long as you feel that it’s important enough to say, and it could possibly affect new readers. There is a ton of content out there that’s been re-hashed over and over, but when it’s written well and from an interesting point-of-view - people don’t really seem to mind that much. It also helps to credit alternate sources where your readers can cross-examine similar information.
I hope that helps.
13. Alex Jones
Dec 8th, 2009
I love the idea as I routinely cycle through plans to post regularly, which ultimately fail as I get distracted. It is too easy to let myself down, but being held to consistent updates by others would be very motivating, so count me in. I’d love to have more content on my site than the aggregation of my activity from around the Web.
14. Justin Kendall
Dec 8th, 2009
I’d like to participate. I had planned to write 4 or 5 entries a month when I first started my blog in the beginning of this year but I did not. My writing was sporadic. One entry this month, 3 the following, none for 2 months, etc.
It should be interesting to do.
15. Martijn van der Ven
Dec 9th, 2009
It seems to me that the checking of the participants blogs should be done automagically. It seems most blogs have RSS these days. Couldn’t a simple script run everyday at 0:00 UTC or so to check the RSS feeds of all participants for updates and keep track accordingly?
I hope to get my blog design done before new years and will surely jump in before the first of January.
As for the nitpicking, be sure to define how long a week actually is! Wikipedia tells us that a week can be “between 4 and 20 days” long.
16. Ben Lilley
Dec 10th, 2009
This is an excellent idea. I’ll be joining in and will be building myself a simple site to write on. I also like the idea of being accountable, the naming and shaming needs to be really strong otherwise people will find it too easy to just miss a week, maybe something along the lines of $10 to charity for any week that is missed/late.
17. Anton
Dec 10th, 2009
@Martijn - Absolutely. The checking and showing will be automated. This is a starter site intended to get the ball rolling early. I didn’t want to wait until the end of December before getting people involved. Thanks for your thoughts! I didn’t realize that about the week length, you would think that something like that wouldn’t be an issue. Hmm…
18. Dean Harris
Dec 10th, 2009
Despite the fact that my blog has nothing but random drivel, I’ve signed up. I really hope that this pushes me to start writing again.
I like John’s idea of financial penalties for not contributing. Looking at the number of sites that have signed up already, I’m sure that some serious coin could be raised for some worthy cause after around about February.
The way I hope to use this is to help improve my writing skills, and with that in mind, I’d really like to see some kind of community aspect to this. I don’t know what shape that could possibly take, but I know I’d love constructive criticism about my writing
19. Anton
Dec 10th, 2009
@Dean - The penalties aren’t a bad idea (and not the first time I’ve heard them mentioned) and am definitely keeping it in mind. Also, I agree – there should absolutely be some kind of community behind it. I started the Google group as a way of reacting to the turnout, but honestly I wasn’t expecting more than 20 people to join in. The number of people that have signed up has been a great surprise, so I’m needing to adjust my role in the process very quickly.
20. Chris Calitz
Dec 10th, 2009
Great idea Anton! Also onboard. Really need to make a commitment to this.
21. Kirsten Mitchell
Dec 15th, 2009
I have to admit I am a writer but I struggle with blog posts. One of thoe things you just gotta do. This reminds me of Julia cameron’s the Writers Way or Vein of Gold. It is discipline, schedule, format, clear—concise easily imlemented instructions and interactions in an organized format that allows for community support and pressure. I need this in the worst/best way. Count me in 100%
Kirsten
22. Karla Dudley
Dec 15th, 2009
Can’t wait!
23. Cory Farinacci
Jan 2nd, 2010
This sounds great… I’m actually doing a Project 52 of my own, a photojournalistic review of people, places, events and curiosities in my hometown of Cleveland, OH. The idea is definitely to blog all of the results, so hopefully I can keep up!
Found you guys while setting up my stuff, so I’m going to continue… but I’ll be in touch! Hooray for taking on 2010 with an enthusiastic, community approach to creative thinking!
24. Shannon
Jan 5th, 2010
A few things… when does the official week start and end according to P52 so we bloggers/writers can make sure we get our entries in for the week (even at the last minute) in fear of slacking or missing a week :P
we are almost a week from january 1st but I dont’ think that should count as nobody writes on New Years Day (or do they?)
How will you interestingly (not embarrasingly) announce the slackers? Are there any prizes? (none required ;)) will there be a special recognition for those who keep up regularly? What if you write more than once a week?