I saw this post last night on one of my Facebook Groups and the person who made the post simply said she wanted to challenge herself. Then I remembered the challenge I made to myself when I decided to transfer this blog a few years ago and created the links to my other interests about 2 years ago in order to develop my niche - aside of course from the fact that I am one OC freak. This is the very same challenge I made myself when I started my WP blog.
Bethylicious, this one is for my personal rantings and interests; And they called Me Mary is to document all the things I learn and discover as I go through careers, conversations and studies; Rhymes and Verses as an avenue for my inner poet; In search of Nirvana for sharing things that inspire me. I even intended for a cooking+DIY projects+crafts one to be called Bethy's Nook and reserved all my researched and formal writing for my WordPress blog I initially called Pavements and Skyscrapers.
Aside from my obsessive drive to get my writings organized, it was also a strategy to have them optimized since each blog, except Bethylicious and the WP blog, would have its own specific niche. I thought the number of the sites I had would be effective in establishing a more visible web presence. The downside however is that all of them had to be managed and while I had big plans, executing became the biggest hurdle and hindrance.
Now I am stuck with blogs that doesn't have consistent posts.
Add that to the sudden growth and impact of different social media circles then you'll be even more overwhelmed.
Then I have Covey's words echoing in my ear repeatedly, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." So what is the main thing? The main thing is to write.
The next thing is the purpose of writing. This purpose will help you get the words out in the right platform and shared with a targeted audience. True that a writer does not need an audience as much as he or she needs to write but keep in mind that the writer is an artist and in order for him or her to be true to form and really expressive, he or she must choose the right medium and venue for his or her creative expression.
Aside from the number, the fact that I was mostly writing for a living is also one of the reasons why I have had to set aside my own passion. I have been writing for as long as I can remember and I've had my fair share of praises for phrases but I never truly considered myself as a writer until a few months ago when I became a shadow/acedemic writer. Sure it was fun because I learned as I was writing and I also got paid but the need to bring in more project$ became the driving force behind my writing not my innate need to express in words and not with that much burning passion. It was not until I actually had a severe case of writer's block that I had my biggest moment of doubt as I writer.
It happened some months ago when I got a project. I was given sufficient time to turn it in and the client has even granted me one extension after the other yet I wasn't able to deliver. I was mentally shaking myself in disbelief asking how hard can it be to fill up 30 or so pages with something that was meant to be researched and analyzed. Someone on that team sent me an email that basically says, "...if you couldn't write it, then you should have said so. You knew this was paper was important to the client."
Those two words haunted my writing for the next few months and even now I still find myself stopping short at those two words: couldn't write. I maintain a blog for another client and I have to admit each post has had its own birth pains despite the fact that I am already quite well-oriented on the niche.
This prompted me do a writer's soul searching. And what I found is that writing is simple. It doesn't require one to get published all the time and while a book deal is great, its really not essential. The most important element of being a writer according to experts is that one must write. In short, in order to be a writer you have to do some writing. Hence, a blog a day.
Touchdown for Day 1.
Hopefully, you'll see one again tomorrow and the next day and the day after that...for now I have to go back to writing for a living but I feel great and I do appreciate your time. :-)
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