I’ve been wrestling with the idea of starting a blog for the past few years. I first got interested in blogging at the Nature Island Literary Festival about eight to ten years ago when one person did a workshop about it. Then that blogging idea kept popping up mostly every time I researched about writing and publishing. The repetitive advice is to start a blog, gain a following so people can read your writing.
The ‘Buts’
What would I blog about?
How would I build a website?
Who would care enough to want to read my stuff?
Am I even a good enough writer?
The questions would pop up when my urge to start that blog became strong. These fears and excuses would shoot down the idea with arrows of doubt, and it would recede to the places of my brain whenceforth it came, and cower.
The Results
Can you guess what happened with my writing in the years that followed? Yeah you guessed right.
Nothing.
I’ve written stories and short articles, but most remain right where I left them – on my hard drive. What a waste!
So after signing up for a course by Jeff Goins called Tribewriters, and with the encouragement from people like Yuri, Mykala and Schuyler, I decided to start blogging. I decided to put all those negative thoughts aside and tackle building a website. And it took me about a year to start, even after I’d made up my mind. A website is so technical! I need time to focus on that! (That’s what Fear and Excuses said.)
SMH.
I thought I needed some mad technical skills to develop a website. In the end, WordPress made me feel like a genius – it was so easy! All I needed to do was read and watch tutorials. It’s still a work in progress but it’s off the ground.
Living, Loving & Writing was created to talk about life and love, their hills and valleys. I created it to share my writing experiences and short stories.
More Buts…
After the site went live in January 2017, I only wrote two blog posts between then and April.
What to write?
Who would be interested?
Can I really commit to this blog being a full time employee and single mother?
Questions upon questions.
My Commitment
So, I realize that in order to meet the objectives of this blog, and to earn the title ‘Writer’ I have to share my writing and combat Fear and Excuses. I’ve committed to posting two blog posts per month and one short story every quarter.
Fear and Excuses are real. And they get us nowhere. Nowhere! We ought to challenge ourselves to do things differently in order to achieve our goals. We have to intentionally put in the work.
I hope my writing and experiences can be a source of encouragement to you.
Have you ever felt discouraged by Fear and Excuses? How did you overcome them? Share your stories in the comments below.
Chat soon,
Lisa.
LLW
Living, Loving & Writing 