observations from two weeks of writing everyday
As of my writing this, I have kept up with my New Year's goal of writing at least every other day for two weeks now. If you count last year, I have now written for sixteen days straight, which is the longest streak of wordvomits that I can remember.
I know sixteen days is not very long, but I'm trying to celebrate the small victories this year. Pushing myself to write everyday has already yielded some meaningful observations.
For the first few days in this challenge I felt like I was trying to squeeze water out of a rock. There's no way I can keep this up for a month, I thought, let alone a year. Then, without me doing anything, it got easier. There were days this week I had so many ideas I wrote multiple wordvomits. I guess the most important reminder I have from these two weeks is this: inspiration comes and goes; the important part is to be writing when it strikes.
Engagement works the same way. Some weeks I get lots of views and upvotes and emails, and others go by without so much as a peep. The only logical conclusion is that much of this comes down to chance. As Visa says, optimize for survival. You can't get lucky if you're not playing.
I've been surprisingly busy lately. My days are filled with writing, lesson planning, job searching, and myriad other personal tasks. I've found that in general, it's easier for me to write when I'm busy and doing other things. It doesn't make much sense to me, but for whatever reason trying to focus on something (else) and paying attention to what thoughts distract me is the most consistent way I find inspiration. (This is terrible for my productivity, I know.)
Trying to do something everyday (and actually succeeding, even for a short time) gives me a newfound respect for creators who do the same. Casey Neistat is probably my favorite example of this, after he vlogged everyday for 800 days straight. In that video he mentions how much he enjoyed having the clarity of purpose of doing something everyday, of just knowing where to put your inspiration each day. And I agree! There is comfort in being able to think, Today I'm going to write a wordvomit because that's what I did yesterday and the day before that. In that way the creative process becomes a habit like brushing your teeth or making your the bed in the morning.
Yet all that said, the best part of writing everyday is far simpler than that. There are so many areas of my life that I can't control, no matter how hard I try: whether companies call me back, how my parents treat me, whether my friends reach out. Writing every day is a refreshing source of freedom from the fickle winds of chance. Rain or shine, good day or bad day, writer's block or not, I can always sit down, string words together, and hit 'Publish'. And it feels so good to point at what I end up with and say, I did that.
And I'm proud of it! Here's to many more days.