After nearly two blog post-less months, I have finally gotten my act together. The MA graduation celebration is finally ending and it’s a return to the normal rhythm of the semester. This semester, that rhythm includes blog posts on Friday (and Thursday, but more on that further down). To keep the blog fresh, I have decided to alter the way I write my weekly posts. Instead of writing simply what I feel like every week (though I certainly reserve the right to ramble), I have chosen to have four different types of full length blog posts each month. The first Friday of each month will be a normal blog post, my ramblings and rants. The second Friday of each month will be a Follow Friday. Inspired by twitter’s #ff, I will pick out one blog to check out and explain why it’s worth your time. The third Friday will feature me musing about my dissertation. The fourth Friday will be a review of a website/digital project/book/something else. If there are five Fridays, like next month…well clearly I haven’t thought that far ahead.

So why do I feel the need to make even more useless categories of blog posts? Part of it (probably 60%) is to keep myself accountable. Instituting Follow Fridays, will make sure that I am reading things outside of the readings assigned in my courses. Similarly, reviewing projects forces me to explore what other people are already doing. Writing on my dissertation will force me to continually think about the project and, ideally, will stifle my impulse to procrastinate (I mean come on, it’s not due for another four years).

The other main part (35%) is my relatively recent pledge to open my research process. Blogging my dissertation progress is the most obvious way in which I am opening my research process. However, I also want to show how I think about the digital humanities, which ultimately influences my research. Also in the spirit of openness, I will have another new feature this semester, reading reflections from my digital humanities seminar. Every week our class has a set of readings and will have to post a short reflection. Since I am already writing the content, simply re-posting my work here (every Thursday) is only a little extra work for me, but an action that holds potential for increased discussion.

The remaining 5%? I want attention. By consistently producing content that others may find valuable (particularly reviews of projects and blogs), I hope to get people checking my blog every so often as a resource.