I have five days left until my year of blogging is officially over. It feels kind of crazy that I’ve blogged (pretty much) every day for the past year, but also kind of normal, like this is a reoccurring thing for me (hi, I’ve been blogging since before I could talk).
As my official year of blogging draws to a close (though I will continue blogging. Pfft, as if I could stop now that I’ve started) I thought I’d share what I’ve learnt from this experience. Technically I could save this until my last day, because it’d be all dramatic by then, but I’m sure I’ll have something else to say by the time that rolls around. I also haven’t written a list in a while, so I’m excited though kind of proud of myself.
Here we are. Lessons I’ve learnt from blogging every single day for one whole year;
1/ You always have something to say (even when you don’t)
How many times did I sit at my laptop and stare at the page wondering what I had gotten myself into? Doing that always made me feel a bit like I had failed, like I hadn’t had enough life experience to write about. But in actual fact, as soon as I started writing, something came. Sometimes it was vague and airy and I wasn’t sure I could make it work, but generally it turned out to be something of substance.
2/ Like everything, some days it’s easy and some days it’s hard
It wasn’t a walk in the park every day. Some days it was. Some days the words would come so easily, and I would find myself enjoying the writing experience. Most of the time, actually. But every now and then, it got hard. When I felt like I had nothing to say, when I felt like what I said wasn’t good enough, when I didn’t have the time or energy to write anything. Everything in life goes up and down. Do you feel like cooking dinner every night? Sometimes you do, other times you don’t. Simple.
3/ Write first, think later
One the beneficial writing tips I’ve gathered from the year is to write now and edit later. If you edit edit edit now now now and try to get it perfect perfect perfect, you won’t get anywhere. Now when I write more of my novel, I’ll write until I’ve said all that’s in me. Then I’ll leave it, and come back to it later to tidy up. Even then, I don’t do a full edit. Not every detail matches up, there are inconsistencies. And that’s because it’s still in draft-mode. If I edited it all now, I wouldn’t have nearly as much story line, because I’d be too busy and concerned with making it perfect.
4/ Weirdness is unavoidable
What was I expecting, that me writing every single day (regardless of emotional state, circumstances, and tiredness levels) would churn out normal level-headed posts every day? Noooo. And that’s part of the fun. You get to see how your brain works in every circumstance.
5/ If it’s important to you, it’ll happen
Campers, I only really missed maybe, five or six posts. Four or five of them were due to internet problems, the other one or two being emotional-flatness. If you prioritise something, you’ll fit it into your schedule somehow.
6/ You’re better than you think
How many posts did I not enjoy publishing, because I thought they were inadequate? And how many have I read recently that have turned out to be completely fine? Nearly all of them! My writing is fine, I don’t know why I thought some things were bad when they’re actually not (if I do say so myself)
7/ God reads my blog even if no one else does
Now, I know I have constant readers, and you campers are amazing. Thanks for sticking with this. But let’s face it; my blog isn’t the hottest thing on the internet. But I don’t do this for popularity or views or follows. I do it because I love it, and it’s incentive when I hear that you guys love it too. Regardless, God reads my blog, and I haven’t really thought about that before, but I think that’s pretty darn amazing.
Well. That’s my list of top things I’ve learnt from blogging this year. It’s been good.
Sarah xx
the softest words 