Blogging when you don’t want to
February 24, 2011 at 8:55 PM 4 comments
Why do we do it? Why every day? What is going to happen if I miss a day? I’m not getting paid for it; there are no Daily Blog Police to come round and arrest me if I miss a post; there is no prize for managing to post every single day for a whole year (is there? Seriously, is there? :D)
It’s not even as bad as missing brushing your teeth! Or is it? Do you grow a furry scum round your brain overnight and have to go get cavities in your mind filled by a scary person brandishing a whiny drill?
I’m stubborn. Those of my lovely readers who know me in person will not faint with amazement at this revelation. It is one of my major defining qualities, which I prefer to call determination, but at heart I know that stubbornness is the more appropriate term. So that’s the main reason why I plug away at this, day after day, even when I am not in the mood or am too tired to write a proper post.
Maybe I should give myself a break and switch to PostAWeek, but that would feel like giving up, admitting defeat. I don’t want to be defeated by a little blog! It’s not as if I have committed to being profound every day! (Or even ever…)
A hard lesson I have continually failed to learn through life is when to quit. Starting with my A-levels, when I was doing one more than I needed, and lost the thread of Maths totally when we got to algebraic long division. Things I should have done include:
1) admit that I had forgotten how to do simple long division (I felt like such an idiot! That was something we had learned back in Junior School and here I was unable to do it! But I had used a calculator for years, so hadn’t needed it. There was no real shame in admitting it, but it felt like there was. I should at least have asked my Mum for help!)
2) failing that, drop out of the class so I could have more time for other subjects, or bumming around.
Instead, I tried to discover just how small I could make my notes. It turns out I can write such tiny writing that I can get five lines of writing on one ruled line of normal lined paper! Also I looked out of the window at the trees and chatted to my friend. Calculus was not going to happen.
When my results came through, I was more chuffed with my grade C for Physics than either of my other two better grades, because I had managed it with almost no mathematical ability.
But I didn’t learn from that when it is time to quit!
Both in my studies and in my hobbies I have this stubborn streak a mile wide that stops me quitting even when I need to. I am not sure how you tell when to quit, before the faecal matter hits the rotating aeration device!
If you know, please share.
Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: postaday2011, RandomBlog2011.
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Knotrune 
1.
Rocket | February 25, 2011 at 9:32 AM
Ah! I know what you mean. I admire that you do not know when to quit, because there are people out there (including me, yes) that have thought it’s time to quit when it’s not time, and only knew that they could’ve done better and persevered (in any endevour, including blogging, which can be) until said person has quit. I am just trying to have fun with this whole blogging thing, and learn self insight, and just hope that the discipline that comes with writing can catch up!
2.
Tom Chalfant | February 26, 2011 at 2:25 PM
Posting every day is really rough – I started last April, so my first year is almost up,and I post at least 800 words a day.
A lot more people are reading my posts now than at the beginning, so that sort of motivates me, and also it comes easier with time. But a really awful feeling is when you have about an hour left in the day and you don’t know what to write and you’re not feeling funny or insightful or even awake.
My attitude was, what the hell, I’ll just post garbage once in a while. Nobody bats a thousand. I even made a category for it – Phoning It In – to alert readers that I really wasn’t into it today.
Also, when you’re feeling energetic, trying writing the first paragraph on several topics and then save them for when you’re tired. It’s easy to finish one than think of one.
3.
knotrune | February 28, 2011 at 10:50 PM
Good ideas, I should do that.
4.
sterlingsop | March 1, 2011 at 1:22 PM
I laughed out loud at the thought of scuzzy scum round my brain if I don’t post! And you’re right – there’s no prizes for doing it and no punishment for missing – but for me it’s the satisfaction of knowing that the little calendar on your sidebar has got every single day underlined and seeing my stats go up (and down….). I love that graph!