When I started my weblog about a year ago, I had the express purpose of blogging so that I could work on my writing, (anyone who wants to write needs to write at least every day), keeping a personal knowledge base, and communicating with peers. I've not wavered from that purpose, but many who have started blogging and dropped it, have wavered.

David at Ripples (via Jennifer Rice@BrandMantra) discusses the topic of staying in blogging for the long haul, and outlines some of his ideas for what you need to do personally if you're going to be around in a few years.

"Would you like to be writing your weblog a few years from now? Can you even stand the idea of blogging for that long? I don't have the answers for you, but it has made me think about my own future as a blogger."

1. Understand why you are writing. Have a mission statement, even if you don't publish it.
Revisit it occasionally if production drops.
2. Write about things that interest you
3. Write so you do not have to apologize for your choice of words.
4. Try to make your topic as interesting as possible, without bending the truth too much.
Parodies are excepted, of course.
5. When the words don't come, work on something else.
6. Keep track of what you have written so you will know when you are revisiting subjects.

I started writing several years ago by writing every day for an hour, or until I had written 500 words. It was an incredibly effective technique mentioned in the classic book "Becoming a Writer" by Dorothea Brande.

After several months, I had written a 60,000 word story and felt like I had finally gained the ability to write 1000 words on cue. At that point I began learning the craft of writing a novel, which I am still learning.

If I had know about blogs back then, I would have made some headway in getting a public developed for my work.

I think a blog is a natural platform to launch books with. We'll have to see if the Cory Doctorow model can be duplicated.