Jeremy C Kester

On the heels of my post, “The Practice”, it has come time to admit that like normal, my desire to keep up with things on this site has started to wane. Writing itself isn’t the problem. What it comes from is the energy used to think about what I want to write about and post each day, then how much time is being used to do so. That is time that could be used for writing… fiction.

Writing is writing is writing. That is one way that I look at it all. If the prompt to write a blog post strikes, or to write some overt opinion on something, then it isn’t necessarily a bad thing to follow that lead. Practice, in any form, helps (provided that it is within the scope of what the practice is for). In other words, writing a blog post does help to flex similar muscles as to what is needed to write fiction. Sentence structure, holding a coherent movement around an idea, and habit itself (and more) each are useful when constructing stories. Even the best writing that isn’t fiction tells a story — or maybe a better way to put that is that it appears to tell a story.

Time appears to be my biggest problem here, however. It pushes against that desire to practice. How much time do I spend each day mulling over what to write? Then, how much time is then spent writing the post? Editing (what little I honestly do)? Scheduling it (same as posting the blog, I just schedule it for a specified time each day)? It’s all the time that is the largest issue. The question there is: is that time taking away from my time writing fiction? It’s a complicated question.

Managing time has always been a sore spot for me. Couple that with the ease of distraction and time slips away with surprising certainty. Another way to put it is that given habits, there is little evidence to show that the time spent writing for the blog will be spent on fiction instead. That may change eventually, sure. Now? What will likely happen is that if the decision is made to not blog every day, then that time will essentially vanish. Poof!

In a way, blogging is partly a warm-up exercise. After journaling and reading as the first activities of the day, the next task is typically writing a blog post for the following day. (Most days, the post for the morning had been written and scheduled the prior day.) The activity though starts up and stretches those writing muscles. It shakes them loose. It acts like the famed “morning pages” for writers. What if I did morning pages instead? Well, given that they are so damned similar to writing in a journal for many, which is something I already do, then it becomes a moot topic. Morning pages can be whatever a person wants them to be, so in a way, writing a blog post can be the equivalent exercise. Toss out that option.

I feel like the problem with blogging everyday is that I am approaching it like there is some inherent problem to be solved. When approaching something as though it is a problem places that meaning into said thing. Understanding that from a stoic’s perspective, it means that in viewing this activity as a problem, it becomes a problem. By shifting how I am viewing it will undoubtedly shift what it means to me. Blogging can be more useful and fulfilling than I am letting it be right now. Maybe it’s time to work on changing that bit by bit.