Setting up a blog is an idea I have toyed with for a long time. There was a phase of my life that I used Tumblr and would occasionally write about what’s on my mind, but it was never designed as a traditional blog. But I’ve now been inspired to finally set up and regularly contribute my words out to the Internet for the people to read, and I figured it was worth talking briefly about why.
My Passion For Writing
I’ve always had a soft spot for writing, and that’s the main reason I started this blog. In high school I wanted to be a journalist, and I’ve always dreamed of writing my own story to completion (whether it be executed as a novel or if I get the capacity to build a video game of my idea, who knows).
But I feel like over the past couple of years I’ve let my writing skills take a hit. In grad school, most writing I did was technical to explain the statistical analysis I did, and since joining the workforce my writing hasn’t deviated far from that path. I never thought I would say I miss writing something like an essay, but I would find ways to make them fun and funny, which isn’t as easy to do as a working professional.
So, one main motivation of writing this blog is to simply sharpen my writing skills. I know my first posts are going to be relatively sloppy when I look back in a few months (or so I presume), but I’m accepting that not all my work needs to be a 10/10, and sometimes a 7/10 is okay if more work overall ends up completed.
What Have I Learned So Far?
Blogs are more visually appealing with images. I’ve read through the formatting of my blog and having only words for a lot of posts makes it less visually appealing. So while I’m content with my minimalist blog design I think that adding pictures to posts will make them pop more. (Now figuring out the best pictures to add so that posts aren’t cheesy is a whole different can of worms…)
A tendency for filler words. To be fair, this is something I realized due to coworkers pointing out all the “dead” words I was putting in technical reports and presentations. But writing out my thoughts in a targeted manner, it’s easier to see how the “fluff” can dilute my main point.
Writing regularly takes discipline. It can be hard to write and get words on paper. Like many other hobbies, it takes effort to get the results desired. And sometimes you just gotta do it.
Conclusion
Overall, I’ve found blogging to be an interesting experience. I haven’t actively tried to show off my writing to anyone as of yet, as I’m mostly seeing what I can manage without any expectations behind my writing. But so far I’ve enjoyed the process and found it therapeutic, especially in these trying times.