I have always struggled to write consistently. I feel like I have run out of ideas after a few posts and end up quitting.
I came across an Interesting article from the author Matt Dicks on how never to run out of ideas.
His advice is to start collecting ideas.
It’s simple yet effective. I have the intention now to collect ideas in my Standard Notes app. This centralised collection bucket will allow me to slowly percolate rough drafts into a publishable blog post. Hopefully, as Matt Dicks promises I may never run out of ideas.
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I'm really having a tough time generating ideas for daily blogging. I'm no stranger to daily writing or journaling. Blank page or blinking cursor never scared me. But, coming up with ideas and expanding on that nugget seems to be a bit hard for me.
I really admire writers who are really good at generating and curating ideas for their writings.
One way to generate more ideas, I have started to read consistently. I do read but inconsistently. However, consistent reading did make me more mindful of my thoughts and emotions. I shall be using James Clear's advice on reading 20 pages a day.
To summarise, reading leads to idea generation, which eventually leads to better writing.
I was searching for some inspiration for my next blog post. Thanks to Google, I came across this 100-day writing challenge. It does sound interesting to pursue this challenge.
The author recommends taking 10 – 20 minutes to empty your mind on paper. I do like longhand writing. However, at this point in time, I shall stick with my Obsidian workflow.
Unknowingly I was sort of doing my morning pages for about 10 – 15 minutes for about two weeks now. I have listed some topics I have written in my half-awake state:
Why Micro.blog does not have an option to schedule posts? If it was available, I could make Micro.blog my home for long-form posts.
Write.as or Blot? Apparently, this topic occupied my mind for 4 days straight. I'm still undecided!
Write, schedule and post one blog post a day.
Get more sleep.
Enjoying workout and treadmill / outdoor walks.
Revisiting the principles and best practices for GTD implementation.
Time management and overwhelm.
Building a reading list for 2022.
Build simple morning and evening rituals.
Relationship issues (no wonder)!
I enjoyed reading my previous entries. It helped me to pause and reflect. I wish to continue this practice as I strongly believe in the power of journaling & regular reflection.
I really enjoyed reading Derek Sivers's blog posts on the Thoughts On Journal. This will be a great idea to incorporate into my daily routine. Rather than spending time on infinity pools like Instagram or Twitter, I can start jotting down my thoughts in Obsidian and use it as a base for drafting future blog posts.
I have been meaning to be consistent with my blog. But, never passed a week or so! It's the age-old problem of not knowing what to write about after a certain number of blog posts.
Last year (in 2020), I came across Michael Wade's blog when I was searching for inspiration to write more in my Write.as blog. Michael had an inspirational post on some ground rules for new bloggers. I thoroughly enjoyed the post and tend to revisit it every now and then for inspiration and motivation.
The top 3 Rules I really liked are:
Determine your theme. This is a key rule for me that will make me write more. Some of my interests revolve around reading, productivity, religion, intentional living, history, food, travel to name a few. At the moment, I want to explore my interests and maybe settle on a major theme in the new year 2022?
Try to post every day. I have always wanted to do it. I assumed it to be to write, edit and post every day. But, it doesn't have to be like that. I can batch the writing process and schedule one post a day.
Don't blog when you are tired or angry. This might be obvious but I have seen blogs that seem to be written by an angry author. If you feel the need to write then use pen and paper. Paper will listen to you better than people.
My Write.as account is up for renewal in December and I was thinking about how to better use this service. I have a Micro.blog account for my daily short posts and photo uploads. I have used Micro.blog as my main blogging platform but I want to schedule my long-form posts and read them in one place. For this reason, I shall be posting anything with a title from my Write.as account.
I have a few ideas I want to explore using the Write.as platform. They are:
Sharing one learning a day.
Interesting quotes, anecdotes, passages from books I'm reading or read.
Book reviews.
Commentary, musings and thoughts.
If you have suggestions on how to better utilise this platform, I welcome them.