One of the promises I made to myself was to write more this year. I have journals that I keep for myself, a way to express whatever personal dilemma or quandary I find myself in. But then I also have this blog, which I'm terrible at updating, so I resolved to change that. The problem is that when I finally sit down at the end of the day and feel like I should write something, I can't think of anything to write.
One of the worst problems any writer can have is too much freedom. When you're in school and you're given a writing assignment, there's usually parameters. Write five pages on the demise of Hitler's Germany and the Nazi party. Compose 2000 words relating contemporary icons to the characters in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales." Rarely do you have the opportunity to simply write whatever you want in whatever form you want for whatever length you want. And that's the most daunting task, like staring at the base of Everest knowing how far you have to climb till you reach the summit. And once you reach the actual summit, after that feeling of accomplishment has faded, you remember that you have to make it back down too. Similarly, once you figure out what you're going to write about, you then actually have to write it.
I could document my baking and culinary trials, as that seems to be quite the fad these days. Or I could chronicle my days as one of the ten-percenters, just trying to make it to the next billing cycle without incurring late fees. Or I could simply compile the trials and tribulations of island-dating, where everyone knows everyone and you can't make it through the grocery store without running into someone who you used to date (or someone who knows someone you used to date). But why would my scrawls be more interesting than someone who can actually offer advice and practical tips? I'm not a professional baker (yet) with years of experience, and a day in the life of the unemployed is really just not all that interesting. So, what now? What do I write about? Honestly, I just don't know. And maybe that's the problem with the decisions I'm trying to make about my future: I just don't know what I want to do or what I want to be. I'm five years old again, with no idea of what I want to be when I grow up.
My advice? Until you find a project you think worth chronicling here, I'd just write about everything and anything. Once it becomes a habit, it gets easier to write every day. Then you can decide what posts you do best and write more of those. Oh, and I've tried keeping a notebook with a list of topics, but it seems like whenever I consult it, none of the topics appeal to me. But it might help you.
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