Tag: Jim Yong Kim

Getting past writer’s block by looking back at 2012

Chris Steinbach
Julie
Clockwise from the lower-right corner: Mark Evans, Dan Rose, Chris Steinbach, Dave Humeston and Julie Rose were among the Muscatine bicyclists who stopped for a break at Reason’s Locker in Buffalo Prairie, Ill., during a ride last March.

This morning, I’ll let you in on a little secret: Many of the things that get posted early in the morning in this little corner of the Internet are often written the night before.

Such is the case with this installment. The only problem is what seems to be a temporary case of writer’s block. And the only cure I’ve ever found for that is to just write until you find something — then go back and revise.

So, since it’s only Jan. 3, I’m hoping it’s not too late to just start writing about 2012, because that’s what I’ve done. March was my most-productive blogging month in 2012 with 56 posts, according to WordPress. They included posts about:

  • Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim, a 1978 Muscatine High School graduate, being chosen by President Barack Obama to lead the World Bank.It was one of my most-read posts of the year and I’m pretty sure Brome Hill was the first place in Muscatine that the news was reported.
  • Bill Decker, superintendent of the Muscatine Community School District since 2009, being one of five finalists to interview for the same job in the Cedar Falls Community School District. He stayed in Muscatine, but this was another scoop for Brome Hill.
  • Two new shops that had opened up in the 200 block of West Second Street. Doc Cindy’s Doll Hospital & Shop at 207 W. Second St. and Simple Solutions Nutrition Club at 201 W. Second St. are both still in business.

In my slowest month, I wrote one blog post. But I averaged 19 per month for the year. And I have good reason to expect to write even more this year. In December, I wrote 49 posts. This will be my 11th post in January. That equals nearly four posts per day. Doing that consistently should enable Brome Hill to have more days like Tuesday, Dec. 18, when I posted four stories and had 173 unique visitors. They visited the blog an average of nearly three times per person on Dec. 18.

Clearly, the secret to driving traffic on a blog is to post consistently and often. So that will be a goal for 2013. Another goal: Get more of you to post comments.

Writing more blog posts should also result in an increase in photos. Here are some of my favorites from March 2012:

Pies
Lunch served at the Button Factory Woodfire Grille to Kiwanis Club members included homemade pie of almost every imaginable flavor. They were baked by Maxine Calvert, 76, of Muscatine, mother of Guy Calvert of East Moline, Ill. He owned the Button Factory at 215 W. Mississippi Drive with his wife, Jan. The restaurant has since gone out of business.
china-3
Yang Guoqiang, the Consul General of People’s Republic of China in Chicago, spoke in March at a luncheon held at Geneva Golf & Country Club in Muscatine.
charlie-12
Charlie Harper, from the left, Carol Ward and Chuck Vesey loaded bikes on a nice Tuesday afternoon in March at Harper’s Cycling & Fitness for the tailwind ride they held to celebrate Charlie’s 76th birthday.