Post #15 – where we realise we’re halfway through #blogjune
The past two weeks of blog writing have passed quickly even though I’ve been very aware of my commitment to write every day. I’ve appreciated the challenge of writing regular and appreciate the tag line of Stephen Downes’ blog, ‘Half an hour’ – “A place to write, half an hour, every day, just for me.” I’ve always thought it would be useful to get some of my thinking and reflection out of my head and into some form so that I can process the ideas. I haven’t been able to find a regular time to do this and initially thought that I could get up early in the day and spend that half hour writing some things down. I’ve found myself doing my writing at the end of the day rather than the beginning and that’s OK.
Where I’m finding things difficult is in the process of writing and getting a ‘solid’ piece written. By solid I mean something that’s not a short comment, more a piece that is able to convey a significant idea and more than one hundred words. So, I’m finding that half hour is not enough time for me to write what I’d call a considered piece of writing. I’m probably a slow writer and need time to ‘craft’ the words into something I think will be worth reading.
I guess there’s some art involved in putting words together, and like using a brush to arrange paint to make a picture, I see good writing as creating a word picture for the reader to enjoy. I like to have some ’substance’ that gives some volume to the writing, and so I struggle with gathering the words together for that. Words can be like leaves scattered about l, as well as gathered together in clumps in the gutter – how can we arrange them to make some sense?
Maybe I’ll try writing some shorter posts to see if I can do that without worrying about being deep and meaningful. I guess I’ve got the rest of the month to play around with that…
Autumnal ground cover
The Word of the Day is ‘beget’ – not a French bread stick. 😉
Tags: blogjune
what a beautiful photo of leaves.
One of the best things i’ve ever heard about art/craft was my second year art lecturer. she calmly told me once ‘don’t worry, they sorted that out in the 70’s. it’s all art.’
Good stuff. It is quite a challenge to write every day isn’t it. I’ve found having a couple of writes up my sleeve has slightly relieved the end of the day pressure to post. Also allowed for variant time of posting.
thanks for your comment Elizabeth, I like the idea that what ever we do is creative and artful 🙂 I must catch up on your story – sounds like you’re on an incredible journey – best wishes…
thanks for encouragement Graeme, I’ve occaisionally thought of something for a future post and started a draft, it sure helps for the times when there doesn’t seem anything to say… While it’s been hard at times, I found the #blogjune challenge worthwhile 🙂