Every so often, I get hit by the writing bug.
“I should write a blog post about this!”
“Why don’t I publish more writing?”
“I want to become a better writer, but I don’t know where to start!”
“What do I even want to write about?”
And that’s where I get stuck. One of my fatal flaws is decision paralysis, which can prevent me from actually moving forward with a list of tasks. But why not practice the method that I follow in my design projects and my business? When I feel overwhelmed with a list of tasks and competing priorities, I always say to myself: “Just start doing something.”
So that’s why I’m here, starting to do something. My goal is to establish a consistent writing practice, much the same way as I’ve established a consistent pilates practice and am working on a meditation practice—it’s not necessarily for any particular end goal, but for the joy of the process itself and the welcome challenges that it brings. I used to be paralyzed by the lack of ideas for content related to web development, design, and freelance business operations because those topics felt very saturated. I also felt like I couldn’t come up with any compelling ideas related to those topics because I was stuck and didn’t have the practice to actually create content. And most importantly, it felt like I had nothing new or interesting to say, that everything’s already been covered by folks who are seemingly more experienced, interesting, funny, [insert other adjectives here] than me. But that’s a false assumption! Why not put my thoughts out there, even if the topic has already been covered? Don’t I have an interesting perspective to share as well?
I want to give this advice to my clients who want to establish a blog on their site but don’t know where to start. Write about what you know, or what you wish you knew! Start by doing something, anything, even if it’s just typing out a stream of consciousness. That stream could very well turn into a new perspective, or perhaps some inspiration for your readers and customers!
I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself to commit to a consistent schedule necessarily, but I want it to feel regular enough that it doesn’t feel so daunting every time I open a text editor because it’s been too long. Wish me luck as I continue this practice!
