17 days

So, Write31Days is over. And I wrote 17 days. It's possible that I should feel worse about this than I do, but I'm actually kind of excited about it. I wrote 17 blog posts in a month! That's more than half the month! I started co-mananging a local blog as well and this month was our first 'live' month, which meant I spent a lot more time working on blogs than just those 17 days. I'm pretty good with 17.

I learned a lot through this challenge, more than I thought I would. I learned that serious writing takes an extreme amount of discipline and determination; you have to set aside the time to do so, ignore pretty much everything around you, and work through brain fog, tiredness...whatever is impeding the though process. Writer's block; the struggle is real. With 2 littles in the house, it's hard to feel like I'm ever 'caught up' on anything around here, which made writing very difficult for me. I had to intentionally set aside other things that I could have (or felt I should have) been doing, so that I could write.

I learned that sometimes the posts that I think are the best aren't the ones that others will, and what others love may not be what I thought was my best writing. I also learned that sometimes, we all just want to read something funny and lighthearted: my most-read post was by FAR the one on mom style. I found it ironic, because a) I am not the queen of style, not by a long shot and b) I usually enjoy the more weighty, thoughtful posts.

Writing a book is on the top of my someday to-dos. I haven't quite figured out what it will be yet, but I definitely want to do it. I have ideas; whether other people will like them is a whole different question, but, this exercise has taught me that I need to write what I want to write about. If it's going to take time and energy and investment, it needs to be worth it, just like anything else that takes those things. So while readership is a wonderful thing, staying true to my writing is far more important. My other top someday to-do? Be a guest on the Today Show. I don't really care how; but dream big, people.

I learned how easy it is to waste an extreme amount of time online. I mean, I knew this, but there's nothing like having to do something on the computer that makes you want to do all the other things on the computer. Oh! I haven't read that blog in a while! Oh! I forgot to check so-and-so's update on this thing...etc. etc. That's something I'm still working on, but I do want to put up some serious perimeters surrounding my online browsing, especially on my phone.

I also learned more of what my preference is for a blog template (this isn't it!) and that it's something I want to be working on. And writing ahead and scheduling posts...this is of infinite value in writing land, and something I definitely want to do more of!

Overall, I'm so glad I did this. I learned about myself, my writing and about others. I think I'll continue on the 'Simply Living' genre for a bit; I didn't get all my posts written that I wanted to (damn you, capsule wardrobe!), and it's a good, broad category for my ramblings.

Here's to new challenges, stretching yourself, and to a baby who woke up at 6 then fell back asleep, which is why I'm currently awake. Thanks for reading!