Writing Daily

Writing daily is taking more than it's fair share of my time. Aside from the time I spend doing some intense work, all other time, my mind is busy crafting out a possible blog post. Constantly searching for a blog post in everything. And when I finally sit in front of my laptop to type out the blog post, I still spend between 1 hour and 6 hours putting the words together. In total, everyday, I spend  between 3 hours and 12 hours to write a blog post. And about half of those hours is spent subconsciously oscillating between several blog post ideas. 

image: terronjames.blogspot.com

For me, I get the opposite of a writer's block. I get so many blog ideas that my biggest problem is picking the one to write on. I have to sieve out the ones that I consider too crazy, I give priority to non-technical ideas, then I do some reading, and finally, I have to make it flow. I occasionally scrap an entire blog post and start all over just because I don't like the way it reads. Half of those times I restart with something entirely different. I value the flow more than the message. I would rather write an article with no message than write one with a great message and no flow.

And to justify the huge amount time I spend on writing daily, I have been researching the benefits of writing daily. Here are some of the popular benefits --

1. History has been written in journals. Ever stumbled on a creative article you wrote over 10 years ago? Now imagine experiencing that pleasant feeling almost everyday. Well, that's what I hope to achieve 10 years from now. I want the question that comes up most in my mind to be, "Wow! Did I actually write that?" The best albums are journals (including e-journals).
2. Brighter grammar. When I read my latest blog post and another post I wrote a year before that, I see the huge improvement in my use of grammar. And that's not all. Even in my daily conversations I find myself using words I have only used before in my writings.
3. Shifting stress from my mind onto paper (e-paper). In fact, my best days are fast becoming days that I have troubles. They give me something to write about without much research. Shifting stress from my mind into a blog post has helped make my life much easier. I get great advice and I don't get bogged down by any unpleasant feeling.
4. Increased confidence. I can write a mail to anyone, and I'm constantly doing it. Gone are the days I send emotionless, academic-like mails. Even my CV (though it's now more like my professional profile than a regular CV) reads like an interesting story. Everything I write carries my personal touch and reads with my unique voice. My writing voice. 
5. Wins me credibility. I have gotten business mostly from people who came across my writings. I have made a lot of friends via my writings, right from the day I used to contribute to Punch Youngsters (10 years ago).
6. I earn between $80 and $250 monthly from my blog posts. Not much but I see it as a beacon of hope that someday I will be making much more from my writings. In fact, I plan hope to publish up to a hundred novels. It will require more than all the bad luck in the world to not make money from that many novels.
7. An active mind. From the moment I wake up till the moment I'm fast asleep, I'm never bored because my mind is actively engaged. There is always something keeping it very busy. And for a great part of the day, what to write is that something.
8. Content provider. One of the Windows phone app I'm planning to build is an app that will gave you daily notification of new articles on Linda Ikeji's blog, Bella Naija, TechCabal and my blog. I now see myself as a content provider. 
9. Creative. I now write off-the-cuff. On some days, I feel like writing till the next day. Once I have picked an idea to write on, I just keep typing furiously on the keyboard. I re-read once or twice and post the article. No elaborate review.
10. On this blog alone, I have already published 540 articles. By June 14, 2020 I would have published 2732 articles. Mostly articles you can't find somewhere else. And that is something worth bragging about. I have something to show for every single day. 

But right now, I have to figure out a way to stop spending half of the day on writing and thinking of what to write.