I was looking through some archived email last night, and stumbled upon an image that I sent myself last summer.
It really made me think about one of the elements of my Operation Twenty12 project — writing more. Of late, I have been posting (or curating content, if the action needs to be dressed up a bit), but I have not been writing. While I am more than happy to share my bookmarks posts and interesting infographics that I find online, I still feel the pang to write.
The challenge, which I suspect is not all that uncommon, is figuring out just what to write about. I don’t know if I would call what I’m feeling writer’s block. It feels more like writer’s noise. I usually have a million things running through my head, and I am having a hard time silencing the multitude of thoughts and focusing on just one thing. I am frustrated that I can not always put together a stellar long-form essay/blog piece. Perhaps, that’s it. Maybe it is simply that I am holding myself to the pressure of creating long-form pieces. (That may have something to do with my background thoughts of becoming a novelist.)
Additionally, I must admit that I have found myself worrying about something that probably causes angst for many writers. Peter…?
I know that I need to let go of this feeling. If people are interested, they will read what I write. I don’t want to fall into the trap of obsessing over page views and the of comments I receive. Most of the time, my posts don’t receive comments. Fortunately, my pride is not that fragile. I make peace with the lack of comments by rationalizing that I am writing about stuff that interests me, and merely I hope that it may resonate with others. I do notice the big ’0 Comments’ on top of blog posts, though. To be completely candid, I have come —>this<--- close to asking people what they like me to write about. Fancying myself as some type of relationship columnist, fielding questions for the troubled and/or curious masses.
I think that I simply need to sit in a quiet space, and see what comes to me. Maybe I need to carry an idea book around with me, or possibly send notes to myself on Evernote.
How about this? Instead of asking for your thoughts on what to write, I would appreciate some feedback from those of you that write. What do you write about? How do you organize your writing? Where do you write? Do you struggle with filtering a million thoughts and ruminations? How do you filter? I am open to your thoughts, because I really want to explore how to better, and more regularly, express myself in writing.
Thank you!