Back around December 3rd I wrote a post talking about not having written a post in the previous two weeks. In fact, there had been several months of intermittent posting any where from me.
I’d go days or even weeks without opening Scrivener and writing a post. Scrivener is the software I prepare all my posts in and then transfer them to wherever I plan on posting. I like being able find my articles without searching through the platforms I write on.
But, I digress.
Going For the HiveBuzz
Some where around the same time I noticed a post from @drabs587. He’d fairly recently started writing on Hive after several months of playing Splinterlands.
He discovered he was having fun writing as well as playing. The gamer in him took notice of the @hivebuzz badges. He wrote about his determination to earn as many as he could.
His post got me thinking. In all the time I’ve been on the chain, I’ve never earned the Monthly Author badge and had only earned the Weekly Author badge about 3 times.
I decided I was going to give writing every day a try. I wouldn’t be able to do the Author badge in December as I’d already missed a couple of days.
I could certainly start adding to the Weekly Author badges and then shoot for all of January to get the Monthly Author badge. Here we are, three days away from the end of January and I’m on track to get that monthly badge. Three posts and I’m there.
Getting Past the Imposter Syndrome
Coming up with posts every day is not always easy. I often post on topics that takes some reading and note-taking before I compose the post. I enjoy the learning and there are several topics I want to learn more on.
One of the challenges I had to get past was the idea that I needed to know a lot before I could write something on a topic. Some of that imposter syndrome I talked about yesterday trying to stick it’s nose in.
I sometimes have to remind myself, I don’t have to an expert to write on a topic. I just need to know more about a topic than at least one other person.
I do work on having enough knowledge on a topic to form some opinion or perspective on a topic.
Once I get that firmly entrenched into my thinking, I am then free to write as I learn on topics I want to learn more about.
There are several topics I want to become more fluent with my know on in the coming months. You’ve seen me writing on some of them, like Web 3, the creator economy, creativity, note-taking etc.
The Value of Note-Taking Consistently
The note-taking topic in many ways is pretty central to my learning.
In the past I’ve taken notes for a post and then moved on. Much like when we were in school, we made notes and learned them enough to pass our exams and then rarely gave them another thought.
Note-taking on a consistent basis starts to build a database of information. Instead of just consuming information and then trying to rely on my memory to retrieve it later,
I am working on being more deliberate about making notes and processing what I’m reading.
Where Newsletters Fit In
I’ve mentioned a few times that I receive several newsletters each day. I’ve chosen them deliberately to bring me information on topics I’m interested in. Many of them send curated links that I comb through for articles of interest to me.
Part of my note-taking process is setting up a note for each article I want to read, even if I don’t read it right then. They are all sorted by topic and I’ll be able to find them when I get some time to go back and read or I decide they need to be read for what I’m writing that day.
Doing this saves me a ton of time finding reference material.
As I work through these articles making notes and creating tags, I’m building sort of a second brain. As it builds, I will be able to readily access information I’ve already learned and my research and reading time builds out from there instead of finding the same material over again.
Does that make writing every day easy?
No, but it does help me to making my writing time more efficient and gives me a place to go when I’m seeking inspiration.
I’ve gotten into this habit of writing daily and will try to continue on past the end of January to see how long I can extend the streak.
I’d like to reach the point that writing a post is as much of my daily routine as making coffee or feeding the cats.
I also want to continue working on my other creative pursuits so the more effectively I organize my writing time, the better.
Shadowspub is a writer from Ontario, Canada. She writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms and enjoys creating books you use like journals, notebooks, coloring books etc.
She created Prompt A Day to share with others. You can subscribe to Prompt A Day to get started.
the way I tackle the imposter syndrome is to write on subjects I enjoy. That way, I don't worry about being an expert, only an enthusiast!
I enjoy the subjects but will find myself holding back because I don't feel I know enough to share. Getting the awareness that I only need to know more than someone else made a difference on that. And if someone comes along who knows more than me and shares, well there's some research I'm ahead on LOL.
Hahaha that's a nice challenge you gave yourself: Writing every day a post for a whole month. With more than 1000 posts done, I thought I may have had the pleasure of having reached the month post batch, but I didn't. I must say, in the last two years I've been much less posting than the years before. But when I post, I seem to spend at least 3 hours on a post, so when I would like to challenge myself with the same challenge you gave yourself, I need to find a lot of time.
Regarding the 'notes' thingy: I do something similar. Whenever I encounter a topic that I think I can write something about, I note it and maybe add some keywords so I remember what I was thinking when the topic was in my mind. But, I rarely seem to use this list. Not sure why. What I do know is that a few times I actually went through the list to get inspiration, I felt most of the topics on the list were either not the topic I wanted to think about now or a topic of less interest than I thought, or a topic that passed its momentum, or... Many or's :)
Anyways, I guess I won't give myself the challenge you gave yourself, and I do hope you'll be getting there soon, batched up and all! Wish you all the fun with this journey of yours ;)
The author Jeff Goins has built a brand off of challenging his followers to write 500 words a day. Doesn't matter what they are or if you publish them, just write 500 words a day. The principle behind doing so is to prime the creativity pump.
Julia Cameron is known for author pages which is starting each day by writing (by hand) 3 pages. Again doesn't matter what, just put the words on paper. Same principle.
I have found when I write more consistently that my words do flow more. But then, I've usually found once I have read or made enough notes to get started on writing the words, I can hit 1000 words in 30 minutes or so. It's getting the thought process flowing that takes me time.
Then having written 1000 words, I spend the next 30 minutes chopping the extra language out of my writing. The writer's version of 2 steps forward, 3 steps back except we end up with tighter, cleaner writing.
Wow, 60 minutes only? for 1k words? The 3 hours I mentioned, is from zero to publication, which usually includes an image I create, the formatting, the publication itself. Not sure what time I usually take for 'just' the writing. Maybe 60min instead of your 30min? Maybe a little less, or even more? Need to time it next time 🙃
I have the experience with long-form comments, I write quicker; I suppose writing a comment is easier to write an interesting post.
Jeff and Julia: Both interesting concepts! A few years ago when I was writing more frequent, I believe I was more creative. Yesterday I was saying this to a friend when reading some of my old posts of 4+ years ago. So, they may be right in what the claim 😉
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This article just came at the right time ! Thank you! Yours @mammasitta 😍
Being away from blogging for so long, I felt I kinda needed it, but saying that I never stopped writing the difference was I have not been writing for myself which is something I missed. Which is why I love this platform that gives you the ability to be creative and publish it for the world to see. I am really glad to see you take these steps, and always enjoy reading what you publish of course. And I must add thanks for the hint about the newsletters never ever occurred to me about this.