by Chris McGinty
I’ve tried to take responsibility for my shortcomings on the writing front. It seems like the best way to approach a problem. Look at yourself before trying to blame the world around you. It may not be 100% accurate, but you certainly have more control over that which can be changed.
Ahead of January 1, 2025, I had a couple of really good days where I sat down with pen, paper, laptop, soda, music (I totally should have called soda “pop” there and confused everyone) (also, I’m not sure where to put the comma in this case, so I’m going to guess), and plenty of time with my thoughts to create. It’s that ideal by which I could judge all other days. I didn’t get a lot of writing done, but I had plenty of time to get to the thoughts that interested me.
Once I tried doing something the problems started. I’ve spoken so many times that I hate streak habits. They create an unnecessary stress to perform, and my personality doesn’t seem suited to them. Once I stop them, I get nothing done. I don’t know what to do with that. If I wake up, go to work, come home, and basically do nothing then I have this sense I should be doing something, but not the same frustration as trying to do something and not having the time or energy.
When I wake up, the first thing that I usually have to do is go to work. This is the time that I should be sitting down and spending hours creating, but I’m going to earn money instead. The obvious fix for this is to earn money from writing. Easier said than done, I suppose. This is where my frustration lies. The true streak habit that I need is to spend full time hours writing each day, not squeezing in a little bit of time here and there trying to meet some vaguely defined assignment to post a blog daily. My jobs aren’t friendly to that time and waking up in the morning isn’t really an option consistently for me.
If I have a daily assignment then I might be frustrated with the results, but there are usually results. If I don’t have a daily assignment, then I tend to go for months without results. I’ll write, sure, but I’ll have a lot of started works and no results. Am I happier with no results or bad results? I have this vision in my mind of the blog being scheduled three weeks in advance, so that I’m not racing to get something done before midnight every day, but just like last year I can’t seem to get to that place.
Chris McGinty is a blogger and a streaker… um, a streak habiter… streak inhabitant? What the hell do you call that?