Friday, April 06, 2007

I was doing so well!

I was posting furiously, and then...a trickle. Maybe I put too much pressure on myself to post things of real substance, be they a poem I wrote on a whim because I was thinking about how much I disliked walking home alone at night and feeling cranky about it or my paper that I proudly turned in last week.

Maybe I shouldn't put so much pressure on the quality of my posts--I want them to be interesting reflections of my life as a grad student. I also want to post everyday (except maybe weekends, due to limited internet access). So I think there just have to be some days where I post mediocre. And I can be okay with mediocrity, as long as you, my dear readers, don't mind it.

I like posting things of substance. But let's be honest: as busy as I am and as often as I would like to post, posting something interesting and wonderfully written each day is too lofty of a goal. Now posting everyday, that's a good start. Making myself write and reflect each day, also a good aspiration. I like how blogging is helping me be a better writer, so I just need to quit worrying about it and write. It won't always be good, but I'll be doing it (the writing, that is).

2 comments:

the secret knitter said...

One of the things that has always held me back as a writer is holding myself to an unattainable high standard every time. I just have to get over it and plug away at what I'm doing. Some stuff will be better than other stuff. The important thing is that I'm doing it (and that it gets done). Otherwise that aspired perfection never gets glimpsed because I wait for the inspiration to come and don't write anything.

As for whether we are OK with mediocre posts on some days, the answer is, "Of course!" This is your place to do with as you please. As a reader it's nice to get new posts on a regular basis, even if they aren't all brilliant. As a writer I understand the feeling, though.

donnadb said...

I don't feel bad about posting completely easy or stupid stuff some days. Well, most days. Well, yes, I do feel bad, actually. But then I post something that actually has to do with stuff I supposedly know a lot about (religion or film). That gives me permission to post a whole week of links to stuff I wrote, stories about cute things the kids said, short bullets about nothing in particular. You gotta do it or give up on writing every day.