Amy asked in the comments what I meant when I referred to a “link dump” entry that I rely on throughout the day. Since I think it might be helpful to her – and to others – I thought I’d explain it here where it won’t go unnoticed. But if blog techniques bore you to tears, just keep scrolling down the page.

Actually, having a “link dump” is a habit I acquired when I started blogging back in March. At the time, the war was just starting and I found myself wanting to focus on news and war-related posts in the morning, but in doing so I worried that I’d forget about other great sites or entries I wanted to link later in the day. So I started a “link dump.”

Basically, this is an entry saved in Draft mode and dated very far into the future (I think mine is set for Dec. 31, 2010), which MT keeps on top of the list, making it easier to access from the Edit Entries menu.

The one trick to using a link dump is that you have to keep replenishing it or its useless. So, when reading my aggregator feeds in the morning or catching up on blog-reading at night, I post only some of the things while “dumping” others for later posting. I do the same with sites that I run across but, for whatever reason, don’t want to link to just yet. Or when reader e-mail brings links that I don’t have time to check out, I copy them to my “link dump” to follow-up on rather than leave the e-mail sitting in my In Box where it might get overlooked.

Yes, I realize I could accomplish the same thing by having numerous separate Draft entries, but it seems like whenever I put too many things into Draft mode, I wind up forgetting about a number of them. With a “link dump” I only have to look in one place, and since it happens to perpetually sit at the top of the Edit Entries list I’m not likely to forget about it.

What I like best about using a “link dump” is that it gives me a ready supply of things to post when opportunity strikes. Like Amy, Kelley and quite a few others, my chances to blog throughout the day consist of a couple of minutes here and there, squeezed in between activities with my kids, household chores, taking the dog out for a walk and Willa’s unannounced visits. Having a link dump means that when I do get a free moment, I can spend it actually posting, rather than looking for something to post.

So, there ya go: that’s 90% of the “trick” that explains why EV manages to get updated so often despite the never-ending stream of chaos, chores and children that constitutes my Venomous life. Use it in good health!