I agree, it is nice to have a small bank, but it does seem to make you want to take it easy more often.  I have struggled lately with having no time outside of work to put as much time into it as I used to

Yes. I've been at 30 for awhile, and just can't seem to get myself past it. I feel like I'm writing just to stay afloat. I would go it little over, and a week later, I fall right back to 30. I'll have to figure out how to get that burst of energy and motivation that got me to where I am, and then hopefully go gangbusters again. My biggest issue is that I'm not a fast writer, nor am I a fast typist. So, it makes it a little more challenging for me. I empathize with you regarding your time constraints, and hope that things will turn around for you at some point. It's great to meet you.

I usually keep a little notebook in my bag so that I can jot down anything that comes to mind. I was in the habit of writing my posts on the weekend, but I've fallen off terribly. So now I write my posts the day before (during lunch time at work). To even reach 20 posts would be heaven....

That's a very good method. I keep a small note pad with me just for that purpose. I had a plan to write posts on weekends so that I maintain my volume of posts. Unfortunately, that plan failed miserably, so now I just write during the week instead. Unfortunately, now that I've created my bank, I've noticed that I've gotten a little lazy. I really have to get back on track and stay focused.

I guess I differ from a lot of people - I need the pressure of a deadline to write well, and I also have to have something to say. When I try to write a post "just to have something for later" it usually sucks.

I do have about 20 drafts lying around. They're mostly posts I was working on, then inspiration struck and I abandoned them to write something different. I keep them in case I'm ever sick or busy, but honestly I don't see myself ever using them. Every time I get ahead and schedule my posts, something happens or I think of something else to write, and the scheduled posts get pushed aside. 

I applaud those who can have a huge queue of posts ready because I know it has to be much less stressful - I just can't be one of them. :)

I'm glad that works for you. But, like I said earlier, that method just would drive my nuts. I understand your point about writing a post just to have something for later, but I don't simply do it for that reason. I always write what i truly care about, and polish it up afterwards.

The main reason I prefer to have a bank is largely because I'm not really a writer by its true definition. In my opinions, the best writers are the ones who love writing everyday, and I'm not one of them. You can probably tell by the volume of work on my blog so far. Sometimes, I go back over some of my bank of articles and find that a few of them are pretty hideous. However, a good fix usually solves that problem.

As for my bank, I still have to keep up the pace up to maintain my volume. But, like you said, I keep them in case I get too busy or sick.

I do have about 20 drafts lying around. They're mostly posts I was working on, then inspiration struck and I abandoned them to write something different. I keep them in case I'm ever sick or busy, but honestly I don't see myself ever using them. Every time I get ahead and schedule my posts, something happens or I think of something else to write, and the scheduled posts get pushed aside. 

I applaud those who can have a huge queue of posts ready because I know it has to be much less stressful - I just can't be one of them. :)

Glencap said:

I never thought of that. And, you raise another point about one week off being equal to two. Makes a lot of sense to me.

Well, we just bought a trailer camper in the fall, so I know trying to figure everything out with that is going to take much longer than it should this year, so for me, it'll probably be three weeks for every week *lol*

On my! That's a lot of time. I'm going to say a prayer for you. Congratulations on the purchase of your new trailer camper. That's so cool.

There was one weekend where I thought up about six good topics to write about and scheduled them for the next week or so. Unfortunately I thought of this as time I could take off from concentrating on writing so I have never had posts ahead of time since then.

 

I have a hard time coming up with topics a lot of the time so I just write when a worthwhile idea comes to mind. This leads to longer than desired and sporadic delays between posts, but I would rather not write something than write something that won't help or interest anybody.

 

One of these weekends I am going to sit down and think of plenty of topics and then write the article right there, and then hopefully I will be ahead of schedule and will be able to remain that way. Good for you having 30 posts ready, wish I could do that.

I feel you. I don't want to put out a post that won't mean much to anybody. I hope you do get ahead of schedule and stay there. Thanks for your generosity.

I never thought of that. And, you raise another point about one week off being equal to two. Makes a lot of sense to me.

Well, we just bought a trailer camper in the fall, so I know trying to figure everything out with that is going to take much longer than it should this year, so for me, it'll probably be three weeks for every week *lol*

I have a hard time coming up with topics a lot of the time so I just write when a worthwhile idea comes to mind. This leads to longer than desired and sporadic delays between posts, but I would rather not write something than write something that won't help or interest anybody.

One of these weekends I am going to sit down and think of plenty of topics and then write the article right there, and then hopefully I will be ahead of schedule and will be able to remain that way. Good for you having 30 posts ready, wish I could do that.

I've been really trying to put a major effort, I just feel like I can write so much better content when I don't feel a deadline a few hours away. It's more a challenge on sites that have time sensitive content but still getting better in that regard. Congrats on the bank that you've built up:)

It takes a lot of effort, not to mention time. I've noticed that a number of bloggers write a post the day before, and then schedule it for the following day. Then, others write 2-3 in advance over the weekend, and then schedule them to be posted the upcoming week. I'm sure that this works for them, but it would drive me completely bananas. I'm not yet 95% confident in my writing skills, so I want to make sure I write lots of them in advance so that I can re-edit them days or weeks later. And, thank you for your generosity.

I'd like to have 30 in the queue, but I would probably post them all in one week.  They don't get indexed sitting as drafts.

 

I'm usually 3-5 days ahead and I post 1-2 times per day (including roundups and such).  I'm trying to get more guest posts out in the wild so usually I will write 1-3 posts for my own site and then concentrate on either generating more post ideas or doing guest posts.  Needless to say I have plenty of post ideas in queue.

I don't think that I would want to have 30 posts sitting as drafts all at one time. I think that would scare me a little. I like your plan of writing 1-3 posts for you site first, and then focusing on other posting projects.

30 eh?  We have 12 and we're a 3 man site.  Should be 90 by now, haha...

 

I need to pump some out!

You can do it!

I write about four posts a week not including roundups.  Right now I have about four weeks worth.  My goal is to stay a month in advance.  I'd like to keep writing +1 or +2 a week which then gives me the flexibility to do guest posts elsewhere, which is something I have not been able to do, largely because of not having built up a queue in the past. 

I'd also add an extra week to two weeks with summer coming up.  Many of us are going to be going on vacations, and if you're gone for a week, chances are you'll have a couple days before (while you pack) and a couple of days after (where you're catching up on work and everything else) in addition to the week you're off, so really every week you're off will likely translate into two weeks of not posting.  Build up that queue and you can run on auto-pilot.

Four posts a week is a lot. Four weeks worth is pretty good. Having enough in your bank so that you can concentrate on guest posting is a worthy blogging goal.

Adding an extra week or two is a good idea. I never thought of that. And, you raise another point about one week off being equal to two. Makes a lot of sense to me.