by Katy Kauffman @KatyKauffman28

A new year means fifty-two new blog posts to plan. Fifty-two! Or less if you blog every other week. Regardless, that is a lot of posts. The excitement of a new year brings joy, especially with the hopes of a vaccine in this pandemic. But how about your blogging calendar? Does it bring you joy or apprehension?

Turn any anxiety about blogging into joy by creating a series on your blog. A series acts like a road map, showing your readers what you’ll be blogging about for a while and showing you as the author where you’re headed. When we know our broad topic for weeks to come, we can relax a little and enjoy the journey. 

Consider one or all of these ideas for a series, and invite writer friends to be your guest bloggers. The journey is more enjoyable when you travel with friends. 

Idea #1 – Build on the hope of overcoming this pandemic. 

Create a series about one of these p’s—perspective, perseverance, or peace. How can one of these qualities help us wait until a vaccine is available? How can one of them help us to overcome the troubles we faced in 2020? Share stories and Scripture verses that will encourage your target audience to grow in the theme you selected. 

Idea #2 – Use your favorite Bible story to share application for life today. 

Take your favorite Bible story and make three or four posts about it, showing different points of application. Share why you love this story so much, and end each post with a principle of takeaway for the reader and a question to start some discussion. 

Idea #3 – Take advantage of cross-references for your favorite Bible verse. 

Write down your favorite verse, along with four or five cross-references. Turn each verse into its own post. Ask writer friends to pick one of the verses to blog about, and make a series of these verses based on the theme they discuss. 

The best writing advice I’ve heard is this—write what you know. Which of the “p” words above do you know well? Which Bible story would you love to share on your blog? How about your favorite verse with its cross-references? Tell us in the comments below which idea you would want to try the most, and happy blogging in 2021!

Katy Kauffman is an award-winning author, an editor of Refresh Bible Study Magazine, and a co-founder of Lighthouse Bible Studies. She loves connecting with writers and working alongside them in compilations, such as Feed Your Soul with the Word of God, Collection 1 which is a 2020 Selah Awards finalist. She recently started The Lighthouse Connection, a monthly writers’ newsletter including writing tips, inspiration to write, and news of submission opportunities.

In addition to online magazines, Katy’s writing can be found at CBN.com, thoughts-about-God.com, and three blogs on writing. She loves to spend time with family and friends, take acrylic painting classes online, and do yard work in the morning sun. Connect with her at her blog, Winning the Victory, and on Facebook and Twitter.