So I’ve had this post idea about a hot topic for about a week now. Since I decided I was gonna write about it, I’ve found myself jotting down notes and key points at random times but never writing the full article. I’d be walking to or from work, sitting at my desk, or standing on the train and then something that I considered genius would come to mind. I’d open my phone or a word document, spill whatever was in my head (pause), then go back to whatever I was doing — usually reading. I felt like a rapper sporadically coming up with hot punch lines and adding them to his or her rhyme book. I was compiling a dope ass song and just needed to piece together the bars, add some transitions, pick a hot instrumental, and it’d be ready to go. I thought I was gonna be 1-take Teddy and produce a 3 to 5 minute read in 20 to 30. Then Wednesday evening I sat down to write the post.
It didn’t turn out how I wanted at all. Matter a fact, it wandered in a completely different direction and the cadence of the punch lines was lost in the sauce. I kept looking at the original thoughts I jotted and wondered why they didn’t piece together as well as I’d expected. I never really found the answer. They just didn’t.
There I was on Wednesday night at 10pm staring at a mediocre post and wondering how I was gonna move it from meh to aha before my self-imposed deadline. I ate dinner then I looked at it again. Still nothing. I just wasn’t happy with it.
Disappointment set in as the deadline drew closer, and my brain yawned and prepared for a shower before hopping in bed. I should’ve known better than to work on a post after 9pm. It’s proven time and time again to be an exercise in futility. But then I thought for a second. I’d learned a few quick lessons from the experience and thought they’d be worthwhile to share here:
- If you wanna do something well, know when your mind functions the best. When it comes to writing or studying, the closer it gets to midnight the more my brain starts to turn into a shitty pumpkin.
- Execute when you have the enthusiasm, not just when you have to. I should’ve written the post when the idea first came to mind and my passion for the topic was at the highest. I also should’ve tried to piece it together when the cadence kept coming back and fresh punch lines were hitting the rhyme book.
- Don’t publish or submit something just for the sake of hitting a goal. If you don’t like what you’re turning in, then they probably won’t like it either. Every post I write is a 1st impression for somebody. Whether they love it or hate it, I want to have no questions about the quality of my work. I’d rather someone say “I don’t like his type of writing” as opposed to “he seems like a shitty writer.”
LOL, i’ve been there so many times. I have so many half-written posts and “notes” in my drafts its not even funny. i really just think that some ideas are better as thoughts or active conversations rather than blog posts. *shrugs shoulders*
LMAO @ your brain turning into a sh!tty pumpkin!
” i really just think that some ideas are better as thoughts or active conversations rather than blog posts.”
I have now found this to be true. I had a conversation about the topic and it was dope sauce. Maybe a vlog? Who knows?!
I think you’re absolutely right. I used to store away a whole bunch of thoughts/topics and have discussions with one of my friends. He loved it, and it made for great conversation. Writing a blog post would have been infinitely less satisfying.
“Don’t publish or submit something just for the sake of hitting a goal.”
That’s my modus operandi. I’ve submitted an assignment an entire week late before and gotten 20% off. My final mark? 80%, and the TA asked if he could keep it to show future classes. If I’d handed it on on time, it would’ve probably been closer to 60 with a #palmface from the TA as he was marking it. With that said, I’m a procrastinator by nature, so #1 is definitely a challenge. My brain has adapted, though, and can function when I need it to with the necessary determination. As for #2, I rarely get enthusiastic about anything so…yeah.
I think procrastination really comes with certain personality types. It’s an issue for me too. I get things done, but not the things that realllly need to get done. It takes a lot of focus and effort.
You may be on to something. I think at least part of it has to do with cultural/societal atmosphere, though. All three of us kids in my nuclear fam are procrastinators. Back home, my parents didn’t really have that option. They were expected to be working from sun up to sun down, and lights out was strictly enforced. Oh yeah, boarding school was definitely a big part of that. My mom and I have similar personalities but dissimilar work habits. An all-nighter for me means taking a nap from 11pm-1 a.m and then getting busy, and for my mom it means lights out at 1 a.m, period. She doesn’t understand how I can put off studying until the 11th hour. She has no sense of #thestruggle.
great blogging advice
Maybe this is why this is my second time failing my 30in30 goal. I just didn’t have much to say this month.
cosign on the other comments too.
you should vlog..once in a while
’tis all!!
I’m just trying to figure out what I’d talk about for 3-5 minutes and not feel foolish about.lol