Thirty days of writing: a retrospective
Wow - I’ve made it! I’ve actually managed to write at least two paragraphs of publishable content for thirty days in a row.
Considering how much I had struggled with writing in the past, I wasn’t sure how this particular experiment would turn out. But looking back now, I think it was wildly successful: Not only did I manage to finish ten articles during that time (something I didn’t think I was capable of), but I also had so much fun along the way.
In fact, the way I experience writing has changed enormously. Writing a blog post no longer feels like trying to move an enormous boulder in vain. Instead, it feels more like carrying around a few pebbles comfortably. Writing no longer fills me with dread. Instead, it has become something I look forward to every day. I’m still surprised that all it took was working in smaller increments.
Since the experiment was so successful, I’ve decided to repeat it for another thirty days – but with one change: I’ll allow myself to skip ten out of the thirty days.
‘Dailyish’ is a much more resilient rule: it’s less of a high-wire act, where one mistake could end everything. [...] Deep down, you know that doing something twice per week doesn’t qualify as dailyish, while five times per week does, and in busy periods, three or four times per week might get to count. – Meditations for Mortals, Oliver Burkeman
Even though I’m still planning to write every day, sometimes life gets in the way: be it sickness, summer holidays for the kids, or a visit from relatives. In cases like these, I no longer want to force myself to write or to resort to extreme measures like getting up very early. After all, I want writing to be a part of my life – and not the center of it.
And as long as I’m getting back on track eventually, I should still be able to make meaningful progress towards my writing goals.
This change should help me to keep writing sustainable and fun – I’ll see how well it works in another thirty days.