While the topics I write about vary in subject and opinion, my underlying reason for writing hasn’t changed. I’m passionate about words and ideas. And writing is one of the easier ways to share those words and ideas. Writing isn’t simply something I do but rather something I am.
When I started this blog it seemed another avenue for sharing, another way to express myself. But somewhere along the way, I started writing for an audience, second-guessing my words and ideas, debating whether someone else would find them of interest.
These thoughts have kept me from writing much on this blog for the last few months. I could take the easy route and blame it on my increased workload and the demands of everyday life, but that isn’t the truth. Instead I kept silent, waiting for the moment when the words would start to flow again. Now comes the time to face the hard facts.
I’m selfish when it comes to my words. The more I shaped my words around a potential audience, the less the words meant to me. The more I looked for “relevant” topics to interest my audience, the more I felt I was following in the footsteps of others instead of exploring new territory. The more my site visits went up, the less attention I paid to the words that wanted to escape.
I started this blog under the premise of examining the bold words of others, and while I may continue to do so, I think it’s time I generated a few of my own. I think it’s time that my writing reflected who I am instead of who I think potential readers want me to be. I’m not dismissing the content I’ve generated to date. Instead, I believe I can do better.
For my writing to regain its meaning, I’ve decided that the usual measurements will no longer suffice. I no longer care if I write something I want to post every day, but I will write every day. My writing may be long, it may be short. Ultimately, it will be just right. You may hate it, you may love it, but that can no longer be a driving factor behind why I write. I write because I love it and that is enough.
Amen. When I get caught up in thinking about why I blog I fall a little. When I relax and write for writing’s sake, no matter the subject or audience, it is cathartic - in the sense that there is both a product, and a sense of accomplishment.
…when you have the product ONLY, you’re forgetting why you’re writing.
relax, and keep it up.
Write because you LOVE to write and not because you HAVE to write. Write from your heart.
No one can tell you to write when you don’t want to write.
The same as no one can tell you not to write when you want to write.
I think I’m going through a period of self-questioning and self-doubt at the moment. I started blogging about 5 months ago and I flew with it. I wrote constantly and enjoyed every second of it.
Now I find myself searching for a theme, a direction, and I end up not posting anything for days, which is stupid becasue I have so much I want to say. I’m beginning ton consider ‘my readership’ too much. I will take your lead and try to write each day, regardless the topic or motive.
Cheers!
@torbjornrive: Cathartic is an excellent description of what writing can achieve if I’ve done as you recommended and write for the sake of writing.
@nursarahlam: I think there’s something to the idea of perceiving that someone may is telling you not write. That might be the underlying reason for some of my hesitation, the unspoken sense that I shouldn’t be writing.
@darrenbyrne: I wish you good luck. For what it’s worth, I’ve found that shifting my focus to the writing and away from “publishing” has made a difference in my level of enjoyment and the quality of my work.