Writing Review – Year 1

On the 19th July 2019 I set myself the rather ambitious task of blogging every single day.  I did this because I wanted to create a solid writing routine, practice my writing skills and work towards becoming the published writer that I have always wanted to become.

And, as one year has now been and gone I thought it only right to do a bit of a review of this first year and see what I’ve learnt and detail a few plans for the next year.

What have I learned from a year of writing?

First of all, if you haven’t gathered I didn’t hit my target of publishing on my blog every day.  I have written in some form of another most days but it hasn’t always been on my blogs.  I managed to post a total of 170 days overall.  Or in percentage terms, I published a post 46% of the year.  That’s nearly half the year which means I’d posted almost every other day and at least three times per week which is actually a better outcome than I’d been fearing (before I set to writing this).  

Considering I’m working full time, have a myriad of other projects on the go at the same time (gardening, running, walk 8k steps every day etc) it’s wonder I’ve actually completed as much as I have.  And while writing is important to me it still alludes me while other things either take over or get in the way and I then find it’s much easier not to write than to get the writing done.

• Finding time to write continues to be my biggest hurdle to tackle every day and I continue to use it as an excuse not to write sometimes.
• I love writing about nature and what nature means to me.  At the start of this project I thought I wanted to write novels and in some respects I still do but in terms of non-fiction areas, nature is a strong go-to area I find myself turning to it again and again.
• Reading is still so important to me – and it doesn’t matter if I read fiction or non-fiction each book finished sits firmly in my subconscious.  
• Being consistent is hard (see first point!).  But I’ve gained experience by being more consistent, even though, at the time when I am being consistent, I never think it’s actually working.
• My confidence in writing still needs some work.  Mostly I have none.  Still.  And while I don’t it means that it makes another great excuse to not sit down get words down on a page.
• Setting a small word count like 250 or 500 words per day definitely helps.  I may not produce anything of any interest to read but it’s a small achievement to know I’ve reached a daily goal.
• I write more when I’m inspired but inspiration can come from the strangest of places.  I’ve been inspired by podcasts, films, documentaries, someone’s post on Facebook and even sometimes just from my old work that I’ve re-read. The important thing is to keep an open ear and eye out for it so as not to miss it.  I’m always on the lookout for listening to and seeing new things and pushing myself to meet new people.  Going this can teach me so much.
• All forms of writing are writing.  I often forget this.  I journal on a daily basis but never count it as “proper” writing, or count it towards my daily count because it’s so personal but it’s still writing and I’m still exploring through that writing even if no-one ever reads it.
• Social media is a huge life-sucking force that can be both great and terribly, terribly bad.  I’m much better than I was with it this time last year but it’s still a force to be reckoned with.
• I think writing is a very selfish act – it doesn’t involve others (it can but I don’t want it to), and it doesn’t help others until after it’s been published.  I sometimes wonder if it’s guilt that writing brings me because I rarely have anything useful or entertaining to show for it, unlike other projects I’m involved in.  “Time that could be better spent”?  Perhaps.  

Knowing what the past year has been like I’m not going to commit to publishing every day but instead will commit to carry on writing every day.  I know what I need to do to become a good writer but I’m not in the right place to make this happen without giving up other things.  And seeing as I’m not prepared to give up those other things in my life I will instead fit writing as best I can in my life.  I want to carry on growing and developing as a writer.  

Last year I started with the following post:

I love writing and that’s principally why I started this blog, and my other one (more about that later).
And there are two main reasons I blog:

• To hold myself accountable to writing every single day by posting something that is useful or entertaining to read.
• To build up a portfolio and experience of writing posts that are entertaining to read or share useful information that help me gain further opportunities to write.

And those two mantras are still very much why I am here.  I need to hold myself accountable if I’m to ever get the experience of writing under my belt and the blog gives me a much-needed space which can be used for entertainment, reflection and experiment with all sorts of writing styles.  It doesn’t have to be the same theme all the time because it’s not that kind of blog – it’s a portfolio of work.

I would also add this year that this blog is also documenting my life as a writer – whatever that happens to look like.  And if I struggle with writing, or use excuses not to write – this too is part of the experience.  

Where would I like to see myself in July 2021?

A big bold statement like – have a novel written and 12 solid pieces about nature writing published would be a good start.  So that’s indeed where I’ll start.  It’s a huge goal – still but that’s where I want to be so it needs to be written down so I can start working towards it.  And to keep telling myself the only way it’s going to get done is by…you guessed it, writing!

And to help me get there I’d also like to have completed the following by next July:

1. To have written every day – whether that be in a notebook, in a journal or hunkered down over a computer pounding away at those keys on a very real first draft.
2. Published at least 50% of the year through blogging
3. Read 24 books
4. Know that life will get in the way and still have written every day
5. Get feedback on my writing – and build on that feedback
6. Stop getting so distracted by social media – unless it’s useful

Here I go then – round two!

Thank you for reading.  See you tomorrow (probably) 🙂