Today is the last day of November, the 30th day of the month in which I challenged myself to write daily. I’m almost to the finish line, and as I limp towards it here are a few of the things I’ve learned this month.

  1. I really do enjoy writing. It has been difficult to churn something out to post daily, but I liked that it forced me to make time to write and think daily. I want to be more purposeful about this as I move past November, even if I don’t choose to hit “Publish” every day.
  2. It feels like nobody is reading, most of the time. I get almost no “engagement” on my posts, even though my stats tell me that I have a fair amount of regular readers.
  3. But it doesn’t really matter to me. I started blogging in August 2006! Over eleven years ago. Back then there was no brand building and advertisement and monetizing; people just wrote because they wanted to write, and it created community. It was simple, and that has always been my motivation for blogging. I write because I want to, not because I’m building a product or brand or whatever. I love when people read because I often share things about our life that other people may not understand or experience for themselves, but I’m not in the market for all of the new style of blogging drama.
  4. I think a lot about my faith, evidently. When it was time to put my fingers to the keyboard, that was often where my mind wandered. I used to blog predominately about the kids, but as they grow up, their stories are much less mine and I am much more selective with what I share. I’m a mom and I like to blog, but it isn’t necessarily mommy-blogging anymore.
  5. Some topics need more than one day to flesh out. I had several ideas for posts this month that did not come to fruition. I needed more time than just an hour or two to work on them, and I couldn’t “waste” that time if I had a deadline to write and publish something before they day was out. I often like to write something in a moment of passion and let it simmer for a few days, rework it, and then post when it feels right.
  6. I write my best when I need to write, not when I have to write. I prefer my writing that is born of a place of “I need to write this out, right now.” than when I’m just looking at a deadline and writing. There is something more powerful and real about it. There’s a difference in words that naturally spill out of me and words I’m purposefully drawing out.
  7. I would definitely do it again. While some nights I was not thrilled to give up my down time to force myself to write, I am glad that I stretched myself a bit. Being with a toddler all day really addles your brain, and while I really like zoning out at the end of the day to mindless TV, I also really like to use my brain at times. This was a good motivator.

That’s all I’ve got. It was a looooong month, but I survived! If you read along, THANK YOU! 🙂

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