Writing Is an Act of Discovery
"Ideas are like rabbits,” noted celebrated writer John Steinbeck. “You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen."
Except it doesn’t always work this way when it comes to your own blog. I’ve been writing stuff professionally for years. But usually for other people. It’s a rewarding task. And takes you in some interesting directions. But producing content for yourself is a whole different ball game.
The procrastination gods have a knack of getting in the way. As the man said, “Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow.” Or the next day. Or the day after. Pretty soon, you realise it will never see the light of day at all.
So, I embarked on the Write52 challenge. Set up by freelance writer Ed Callow in June 2019 as a way of tackling his own writing hang-ups, the rules were simple. Write and publish an original blog post every week. For 52 weeks. On anything that took your fancy.
The adventure had begun. I freely confess I faced it with a degree of trepidation. But I had to do something to break the logjam. Clearly, I needed to find my niche. But that wasn’t too difficult. I decided to focus on offering random musings on the eclectic range of films, music, fiction and art that have inspired or moved me over the years.
You can’t use up your creativity
My first piece was on the cult Finnish filmmaker, Aki Kaurismäki and his wonderfully deadpan comedy La Vie de Bohème.
I proceeded via posts on the timeless children’s classic The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf; the pioneering jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby; Herman Melville’s thought-provoking short story, Bartleby the Scrivener; and Adrienne Rich’s remarkable poem, What Kind of Times Are These. I finished last month with a piece on Freddie Frinton’s brilliant comedy sketch Dinner for One.
All offered an opportunity to reflect on broader themes about the world we inhabit. With a dash of radical politics occasionally added to the mix for good measure.
Bizarrely, when I started out on this crazy project, I was worried that I might run out of ideas. No chance! As Maya Angelou said, “You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
Admittedly, I stumbled a few times along the way. Missing occasional weeks because of other pressures, lack of inspiration or those little voices in your head telling you to play with the cat instead of focus on your work.
But I got there in the end. And while part of me was relieved that I’d met the challenge, another part of me misses the weekly deadline.
Writing is its own reward
What did I learn from the exercise? Plenty. It’s been a real buzz. Here are the highlights.
It’s fascinating how one thought leads to another. You get an idea for a post. Things keep bubbling under in your subconscious and suddenly another one pops up. You’ve found your theme.
Never underestimate the value of an accountability group. They offer a real sense of community, moral support and wisdom.
There are no short-cuts to improving your writing. But constant practice really does help. The creative mind is like a muscle and your writing becomes stronger with exercise.
The challenge was an opportunity to try out new ideas, build confidence and develop my craft.
There’s real value in keeping a notebook close by to jot down those ideas that well up out of nowhere (even in the middle of the night).
Recognising the need for perseverance during those times when the words don’t want to play.
Why you need to stay curious about the world around you. It makes life fun, helps you connect things and opens new possibilities.
The importance of being yourself and finding your own voice.
How a weekly schedule forces you to stop overthinking issues, cut through seemingly endless edits and press that damned ‘publish’ button.
The insight that the more I wrote the more I realised I could trust my instincts about what constituted a good quality post.
Above all, I realised that I not only enjoyed writing for myself, but that I could satisfy a deep-seated creative urge by doing so.
Getting yourself noticed
It’s great sharing ideas you’re passionate about. But at a purely practical level, there have also been some very tangible benefits.
Publishing a regular set of blog posts has significantly improved my visibility online and increased traffic to my website. It’s moved me up Google search rankings (surprisingly effectively in some cases and often not the posts I would have picked). And it’s increased my contact network.
It also provided the opportunity to guest-edit Issue No. 48 of the Write52 newsletter. That certainly concentrated the mind! But was very satisfying.
A massive thanks to Ed for setting up the project. I’ve met some lovely people in the Write52 community. Reading their posts has been a real joy, in all their richness and variety. You can find the other writers on Twitter at #Write52. And archive newsletters that pull together that week’s posts on the Write52 website.
And finally. I might have finished Write52, but this isn’t the end of the story. I aim to keep blogging – though probably at a rather more sedate pace – as I continue my voyage through language, meaning and experience.