I’ve had this domain name for about a decade but I didn’t have the good habits, self esteem, organization or consistency required to post on a regular basis until now. The strange thing is, blogging may seem out of date to many. The popular DIY bloggers that inspired me a decade ago have switched directions. But honestly, so have I.

why would someone start a blog in 2024?

Blogging morphed into a different ballgame for a while there, when Instagram became a part of everyday life for many. Social media was a means to drive traffic to websites and blogs, and sponsored posts were through the roof for creators. Though sponsored posts surely will continue to be prevalent, much of those stay on the preferred social media channel where the creator has a large following.

People blog now for the same good reasons that people blogged before money was considered a possibility: to express themselves, explore their interests, and drive traffic to their website.

but why am I blogging?

it’s part of who I am

I started my first blog over twenty years ago, when I was a freshman in high school. I’ve always been one who journals, and I have stacks on stacks of those that I’ve written in as recently as last week and as far back as first grade. Journaling and blogging fill different roles in my life. Journaling is an activity that allows me to dump all my thoughts out, in a quick, train-of-thought method that enables me to release pent up emotions. Blogging is a more pensive activity. It allows me to organize my thoughts, come to conclusions I otherwise couldn’t, and create something new along the way.

it’s bringing me closer to who I want to be

I believe blogging is the most effective way for me to reach my goals in my personal life and my career.

What is your career plan?

first, my career goals

I aspire to be a traditionally published memoirist. I’m a voracious reader and many of my favorite books are other people’s life stories. I have stories to share: childhood cancer, parental abandonment, a years-long physically abusive high school relationship by a boy who was an underage gay sex worker, my teenage pregnancy and toxic first marriage, and the rollercoaster of flourish, wilt, and flourish since.

I want to sell my paintings and show them in galleries.

I think of my role as a wife and mother as a perfectly valuable career as well, and I will continue to bring light, build a garden and house that are cozy and fun to share with others, and nurture the relationships I have with my husband, children, neighbors and friends. Through the process of consistency, my life work will involve pursuing my values and being of service.

cool story, bro, what’s the plan?

Plans are really effective for many tasks. Making a PowerPoint presentation, for example, is something done most efficiently in a step-by-step fashion. I thought I could use this technique with my writing in the past. I would create headings for subsections within posts to outline what I thought I wanted to say. This proved very ineffective, as I would often get held up by one of the categories I had initially chosen.

the case for going without a plan

In Dani Shapiro’s Still Writing, she discourages using outlines:

“When it comes to creative writing […] outlines are not necessarily helpful. […] if we know too much about where we’re going, the work will suffer along the way. It will convulse and die before our eyes. We’ll end up dragging along a corpse until finally, exhausted, we just give up.”

Dani Shapiro, Still Writing, pp. 114

This resonated with me because it was precisely my experience.

In the chapter, she continues to make a case against outlines, asserting that they’re used as a crutch for a writer to experience a semblance of control. Yet, that sense of control is what takes away from a creation that is meant to be alive, breathing, wild.

If we are painting by numbers, how can we give birth to something new?

Dani Shapiro, Still Writing, pp. 114

She advises to work within a frame of a topic and to not stray away, and that it is through mistakes, through the resulting pivots, that make a creative work come alive. Your creation comes to life and brick by brick, structure reveals itself.

When I adjusted my writing process after reading this a few weeks ago, my productivity skyrocketed.

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, advises to focus on systems rather than setting specific, actionable goals. I’ve seen firsthand how his habit stacking method has allowed for good habits to compound and that systems and identity are more effective than strategic planning.

my blog is my system.

My blog is the space where I practice showing up to my writing practice–a system of regular practice to become a better writer. It’s where I can notice that I haven’t shared a DIY or painting in a while (like now) so I can acknowledge that I need to incorporate more art practice into my everyday. It’s where I can hammer down who I am and my values, so I can take them out into the world with confidence.

Some people see blogging as another channel to talk about themselves, but I see it as a framework to create discipline. Instead of having a direct plan like: reach out to galleries, take photos of art to sell as prints or begin book submissions, find book agent, I’m still in the phase of creating a work of art–my life in itself. My job is to show up consistently, the structure–or “plan” will reveal itself through the process.

What brings you to blogging? I’m curious if others share similar reasoning!