Notes – Writing For More Than Two Years

So I've been writing for over two years now.

I realized I have two modes of starting to write:

• Inspirational fuel shooting me to the literary stratosphere
• "God, do I hate writing"

Nothing in between.

A little harsh, but also true. For some weeks, this one question won't leave my mind:

Do I really like writing?

I've been publishing a weekly blog post for over two years now, so something I must like about it. But then again, it's also painful. That might just be what any endeavor is, anyway. To some part, at least. But with writing, there's not much joy accompanying the discomfort. I also have to be honest: I'm writing this post on the day I have to publish it. I struggle to write every day. Usually, it comes in bursts of inspiration and, well, anxiety due to deadlines.

Yet it's still one of the best things I've ever started. I sometimes have these epiphanies where I think "I must tell the world about this!", so there must be something about it.

Writing is communication, and communication is one of my great passions. But looking at a white blank page feels not visual enough. The blank page is the beginning, but there's no right or wrong way to do it. I don't know who said it (probably Tim Ferriss lol), but it's not a crime to ask yourself the following question:

"What would it look like if this were fun?"

So instead of abandoning the practice altogether, maybe I have to change my approach to writing.

I feel like the problem lies within the topics I usually write about. It's almost always about a life philosophy I learned by living through it. This is fun enough, but it feels not creative enough. It's just a retelling of what happened to me. Yes, by using storytelling and vivid language it gets much more fun, but it's still just text.

This got me thinking again: not one brain operates in the exact same way, and just because there's an established way of "doing something", this doesn't mean it's the optimal way – especially when it comes to individual preference.

What I've found after more than two years of writing, I found out the following: just seeing text is not enough for me. I love reading and writing, but it's more the means to an end. It's always more about the story, visuals, and the applicability for me.

And guess what – that's ok! Because instead of just adhering to someone's method, why don't we create our own? Only if something works for someone else doesn't mean it has to work for you. That doesn't mean disregarding the first principles of a craft altogether, but how we get our work to the status "completed" and – most importantly – "fun" is up to us.

Writing in itself doesn't seem practical enough. Gosh, that's harsh, but it's how I see it at the moment. Or, maybe, I just haven't written about things that I deem practical? That inspire me? I don't know, but I'd like to find out.

Man, this is turning into a stream-of-thought-post again.

So instead of keeping writing about it, I'll go and find out by taking a page out of Tim Ferriss' (when his books are an indication very long) playbook:

What would this look like if it were fun?