Why I started a daily blog in 2021

To put it mildly, 2020 was a terrible event. I want to hit reset. I am publicly committing to writing a blog post everyday for all of 2021. I have my reasons:

To be a better writer

This is my number one goal. I discovered writing nearly a decade ago in a screenwriting module at film school. I never got around to writing as much, and as often, as I did in those three weeks.

‘Writing is rewriting’, ‘Writing begets writing’, ‘put one word in front of the other’, ‘inspiration strikes at 9am every morning’… you’ve heard it all from the masters. It’s common knowledge that writing is rigorous and is something that calls for a lot of practice to get good at. Starting a daily blog is an opportunity to do just that.

To be a better reader

I read all the time on the internet: posts, comments, headlines, tweets, reviews, replies. A lot of it is junk. I don’t do enough long-form reading: articles, essays, journals. And I don’t read books. I intend to change that before it gets any worse. There is no way I can aspire to write well without ‘reading well’.

To stop being a perfectionist

If there is something I have struggled with the most, it is ‘perfectionism’; The mirage, the age old snake oil— the perfect version.

Much of my ‘writings’ have not been written because they weren’t perfect in my imagination. Having to click ‘publish’ everyday is having to let go even when it isn’t ready. I’ve spent an embarrassing amount of time not pursuing something because it wasn’t 'perfect'.

To get out of my own head

I’ve found some of my to-do lists/notes that were a decade apart which had the same entries. These ideas were stuck in my head that bounced around, disappeared and appeared cyclically. I hadn’t explored them for years.

Writing something everyday is self-reflection and self-exploration. It is putting those ideas on paper, organising my thought; getting out of my own head and way.

To build an audience

I need to find my people. People who are interested in my thoughts and my work, people who would like to collaborate, who would show up and support me. This is unlikely to happen overnight. I need to earn the trust of an audience through dedication. Writing everyday will help with that (… I guess).

Because it freaks me out

It’s scary to commit to this publicly. I don’t know if I can actually write something everyday. I am certain I will run out of things to say. It will be embarrassing to peter out after a few blog posts or to be inconsistent.

It will be fun to look back

Or not.

And hindsight is always 2020

Now that I got that terrible pun off my chest, I can wish you a happy new year! Happy 2021!

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