Well, make that 10 minutes a week
At my current pace it seems I need to modify my goals. My goal was 10 minutes a day. I think I'll modify my goal for now to 10 minutes a week and try to exceed that by 200-300%. It takes a while to develop habits, and this one is becoming harder to develop than most.
The most frustrating part is that most afternoons I think of things I'd like to blog about. But I am not going to risk blogging from work. Then after the commute home, etc., either the idea is gone or the desire is gone. The afternoon is definitely my most productive time. I need to figure out a way to harness that. I've tried using the mail-in-a-post thingy in blogger, but can't seem to make it work. Anyone out there have that working and care to advise me? Any advice welcome.
I've also got a couple of ideas on things to write about, but for now I'll keep those to myself. I spent a lot of time finding ideas to steal, so why give them away so soon?
Somewhere I have in me stories to tell. Stories about childhood. Stories about high school. Stories about young adulthood. Compelling stories? Doubtful. But they are the kind of stories I like to read on other blogs, when they're well written. That is the writing I really want to do - at least right now. I just don't want to do it too soon. I don't want to mess it up because I tried too soon. And that, more than anything else, is the biggest stumbling block.
The most frustrating part is that most afternoons I think of things I'd like to blog about. But I am not going to risk blogging from work. Then after the commute home, etc., either the idea is gone or the desire is gone. The afternoon is definitely my most productive time. I need to figure out a way to harness that. I've tried using the mail-in-a-post thingy in blogger, but can't seem to make it work. Anyone out there have that working and care to advise me? Any advice welcome.
I've also got a couple of ideas on things to write about, but for now I'll keep those to myself. I spent a lot of time finding ideas to steal, so why give them away so soon?
Somewhere I have in me stories to tell. Stories about childhood. Stories about high school. Stories about young adulthood. Compelling stories? Doubtful. But they are the kind of stories I like to read on other blogs, when they're well written. That is the writing I really want to do - at least right now. I just don't want to do it too soon. I don't want to mess it up because I tried too soon. And that, more than anything else, is the biggest stumbling block.
posted by learningtowrite | 9:14 AM
2 Comments:
I think part of why you're struggling is the security constraints you've placed on yourself. When I started blogging (before blogging was cool) I felt some of the same concerns. I did not use my real name and did not post anything personally identifiable. I hid my blog from my family and most of my friends and I hated every minute of it.
One day I realized that my efforts to keep myself safe were the very things that were keeping me from writing what I wanted to or what I needed to. In more practical terms, I remembered that my personal information is readily available for the enterprising Internet detective. Also, my safety comes from the grace of my Creator and I have nothing to fear.
Overcoming the technical challenges of posting from work may help as well. For example, you can set up a secure VNC tunnel between your work computer and your home computer. But really, unless your place of employment has specific requirements concerning Internet usage, why is posting from work such a bad idea? I don't post from work simply because of the time I put in to writing something for my site. I will stop and write comments like this because it is good to take a short break from the grindstone and take a new perspective on something. I think it helps keep me sane in an often insane environment.
Also, you could write your post in an e-mail to your home account and simply cut and paste when you get home. In any event, I encourage you to take a look at what you're doing and why. We all like to feel safe but often that can be a hindrance to what we're trying to accomplish.
Corey:
Sorry for the slow response to your comments. I read them they day they were posted and I've been thinking about them at least daily since then. I haven't replied yet because I've been giving them careful consideration.
I agree with your comment about my safety coming from my Creator, and that I have nothing to fear. Amen! But I don't keep this anonymous to maintain my personal safety. I keep it anonymous because at this stage I think I'm too shy about my writing (or really my desire to write) to actually have anyone know about it. And thinking back on my life, that is how I've approached most things new that I've tried. I try it alone or with someone trustworthy and see if it is something I can do or can at least learn to do. I try to build up a certain amount of competency with something before I even let people I know find out I'm trying to learn the new thing. I guess in some way I want to say something like "I want to be a writer", then BAM! I'm writing things that are at least somewhat interesting to read. I think it's also because of things from my childhood - lots of ridicule in school - that I don't want to subject myself to that without a fighting chance of proving people wrong. I'm still thinking through all of this.
As to the technical challenges of posting from work: I've tried the VNC thing to get to my home PC from work in the past for other purposes. I use VNC around my home to get between various computers, and I love that tool. The problem is my company IT department blocks the packet types used by VNC. When I work from home, which I do from time to time, I use VPN to connect, then use Remote Desktop to deliver my work desktop to my home machine. That is all they allow.
My company definitely has an internet usage policy. It is strict enough (on the books) that every single person in that company from the CEO down has broken that policy at least once, so that is not the reason to not post there. I have a particular lack of trust in the IT department there. I know they have the ability to monitor the internet usage of individuals at will, and due to my relationships with people who no longer work there, I feel like I'm on the watch list. Besides that, it's just not worth the risk that someone might see me posting or something, discover my blog, and start reading it. The emailing idea is a good one, and I'd thought about doing that before. I may start doing that now.
Thanks for the thoughtful comments. I know you spent quite a bit of time making them, and as always your help is much appreciated.
Post a Comment
<< Home