Earlier this year, writing blog posts felt like a real struggle.

But how could I be stuck? 

I had plenty of ideas and lots to say, but actually getting the words out coherently and succinctly was another matter. I had been blogging for about a year and a half by then. 

[Writer’s note: In looking up that timeframe, I just noticed – today marks the two-year anniversary of my first post! I’m so proud of myself for having stuck with it all this time. Celebrate those little wins, my friends!]

I had far more drafts, half-baked ideas, and abandoned posts than I did published ones. I was struggling with what to say, how much to say, and how to say it, and it really prevented me from – well, saying what I needed to say!

So I slowly pecked away at old posts, indulged in ideation, and tried to edit what I did have on the go. The results were meandering, and (I thought) not worth publishing. 

How on Earth were people writing multiple posts per week?! I could barely manage two per month.

I love the writing process, but there was something about it that was feeling too… Laborious. I was experiencing blogger’s block.

That is, until it was inadvertently suggested to me to write a book.

Here’s how that idea shifted my approach to blogging.

The book I wasn’t writing (but thought I was supposed to)

When I started this blog, I felt like I had seriously lost the knack for writing that I once had growing up. (I still do two years in, but I’m joyfully giving myself permission to build it up again.) So the thought of writing a book – becoming an author – had essentially been out of the question. 

…Until now. 

I couldn’t… Could I? 

Wait – why couldn’t I?

I could, couldn’t I…?

I started to think about what type of book I’d write. How I’d plan it. What readers would hope to get out of it, and how I would deliver on that and then some. I thought about the feeling. The chapters. The approach. 

And then it hit me: I had already been thinking these thoughts!

I was dramatically overthinking my blog posts. 

I was aiming for breadth and depth – in every post. 

I wanted to take you on a journey, rather than have a quick visit. 

I was trying to make everything interconnect, unfold, and tell a story.

The parallels between planning to write a nonfiction book and trying to write a blog made me realize that I had been approaching my blog as though I were trying to scrape a book together. 

The approach didn’t make sense for the medium. Nobody is looking to sit down and read my entire blog, chronologically, start-to-finish.

With that realization, a weight lifted from my blogging efforts. 

Finding creative freedom in blogging

When I started this blog, it was a creative outlet for me. I wanted a chance to play with words and ideas, to practice non-business writing, and to contribute positively to the web. It developed into a desire to help you creative souls navigate busy lives while staying connected to your creativity (and therefore, to your innate humanness).

So, how do I write that? I had accidentally boxed myself in with rigid expectations and sequential patterns.

It turns out, there’s more than one way.

I forgot that when blogs first came about, they were used for personal updates, thoughts, and insights – like digital diaries, designed to be public. Blogs still do this, but we’ve added tutorials, guides, ideas, and other aspects to which the timeliness factor is less relevant.

I can still have fun planning out series and playing with post ideas that “unfold”. I can also write freely and “in the moment”, out of sequence, and in response to whatever is inspiring me at that time. This narrows the scope and makes the writing process a lot snappier!

Here at the two-year mark, I think I’ve designed this blog so that you could come on a journey with me if you wanted to, but I’m also challenging myself to write on one succinct idea at a time, which is much more digestible to those on the web.

I suppose this is (yet another) permission slip to myself: write short, focused, imperfect, and in-the-moment – one idea at a time. 

This is an art, too, and I still have a lot to learn!

Parting words

To cement what I’ve learned (and in case it’s helpful to you, of course!) I’m working on another post about exactly how I’ve improved at writing short(er). 

This post happens to be an example of that process: It started as just one section I carved out of the longer aforementioned post that I was outlining. I could see that the point of this section was to be a bit more reflective, and provide a window into my creative process. The rest of the post was more of a summary of how I accomplished a goal – writing shorter, more focused posts.  The natural separation made sense.

I look forward to connecting in the next post! In the meantime, a question for you: What underlying belief do you have that keeps you feeling stuck in your creative project?

For more Adventures in Writing (and to continue to watch me struggle with writing well), click here!