A week ago, I wrote this in my journal:
I’ve said over and over that I want to blog more. Why is that so hard? Yes, I have a day job that requires mental energy and focus, but I know I can do it. I’ve enjoyed Michael’s posts based on WordPress prompts. Maybe that’s a way to get started. I’ll challenge myself to write a blog post from a WordPress prompt each night for a week. The worst that can happen is that I fail.
And I tried it and I succeeded. Seven days, seven posts. I was reasonably happy with each of them. What did I learn from the experiment?
I can do it
I honestly wasn’t sure I’d pull it off. I’ve challenged myself similarly in the past and given up. Some posts took longer than I wanted, but there was only one that I almost abandoned. That was “Felt it but didn’t act it,” because I distracted myself with a rambling discourse on “what does it even mean to feel like a grown up.” When I realized that I was engaging in the equivalent of a sophomore-year dorm room bullshit session, I put it aside for an hour. Then I came back to it with the instruction: Just answer the question.
Start with a question
The prompts were all worded as questions, and when I got stuck, reminding myself of the question helped get me going again.
I have a notebook filled with ideas for blog posts. Personal, professional, and hobby-related. But I rarely can focus on a topic, which doesn’t do wonders for my motivation. When I looked over one of my lists, I realized that if I asked myself a question, it would help me focus. Many of the ideas can spark multiple questions.
I suck at titles
To be fair, I already knew this about myself. If I don’t start with a title in mind, it’s super difficult to come up with one after the fact. The novel I’m about to start querying was “Sonny and Caesar novel” for a long time, then went through I don’t know how many titles before I settled on As Above, So Below. Which I’m still not wild about, to be honest.
Words cannot describe how much I loathe the WordPress block editor.
It is awkward and counter-intuitive to work in. It disrupts my flow. It’s like trying to pick up a ball in a claw machine.
OK, I guess there are some words to describe it.
What’s next?
I’ll try another week of daily posts. If I can’t come up with a topic on my own, I’ll fall back on the daily prompt. I want to develop my ability to write short posts quickly and this is a good way to practice.
And I’m going to write them in Word and paste them here. Because seriously, screw this block editor.
