A Tree Falling in the Forest

It’s time to let go of this experiment. Even though this entry will probably end up long enough to keep me on track, the whole business of blogging one or more posts a day to meet a daily average of 274 words is having too negative an impact for something that nobody else cares about. There have been too many filler entries, and too many entries—like this one—talking about the challenge itself rather than something substantive.

It’s holding me back from doing the more substantial entries I used to write. Those sometimes used to take days of chipping away in the background before I posted them; now, though, the pressure to post 274 words every day (or more if I fall behind) means that I ignore more worthwhile possibilities in favour of something quick, immediate, and ultimately disposable. Because my writing time is at a premium (usually running from 11pm to midnight), there’s never time to get properly ahead to create room to tackle those bigger themes. And whose stupid idea was it not to count pictures towards it? (Oh. Yeah.)

Also, life is about to get seriously busy again, only a couple of weeks after it was last seriously busy. I’m coming into another marking month in May, and for the next few days I’ll be tied up in Away Day meetings. Now that our roof is fixed, our kitchen and bathroom are about to be repainted, with all the disruption that entails; and after that, we’re embarking on some serious modifications to the flat to accommodate our growing family. The summer is going to be hectic enough without worrying about this blog at the end of each and every day.

So, the new rules are: No rules. No self-imposed requirement to post every day, and no 274-word average. At this point the challenge has had its main effect, which was to break the drought of 2011 and get me posting again. I’m hoping that the momentum will continue once I loosen the reins a bit, and that I don’t end up galloping off into the sunset; but whatever happens happens.

I may well end up posting every day anyway, give or take a handful of days. Even if I don’t, I may end up posting 100,000 words by the end of the year, or a decent chunk of it. Either way, it will be because I want to post here each and every time that I post, rather than because Past-Me told Present-Me to.

23 April 2012 · Site News

This is a reasonable place for the monthly reckoning. I did manage to post every day in April, a total of 7905 words or 263.5 per day, for a grand total of 32844 words or 271.44 per day since January first. As of 2 May, I need to average just over 276 words a day to hit 100,000 by the end of the year.

Added by Rory on 2 May 2012.