“Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.”
I had this idea in December to post at least one thing a day in my blog.
I post a lot of stuff on my Tumblr, share a lot of pictures on my Instagram, put videos on my YouTube channel, and do dumb things every day with Twitter. I’m also starting a regular thing on my Twitch channel (more on that later), so I can honestly say that I produce a lot of content or at least share a lot of content online. But it feels like my blog, which is where the whole thing started, is largely neglected, because I feel like I can only post bigger things or deeper things or heavier things here.
So I’m giving myself permission to post whatever the hell I want, so I can just get past the internal gatekeeper slash critic who prevents me from using the one space on the Internet that is entirely mine.
Therefore: I hereby challenge myself to post one thing a day during the month of December, no matter what it is. It can be a picture, a few lines from a work in progress, a video, a collection of links to things, or even just one link to one thing.
I did it, and it was an interesting exercise. It helped me change my routine, shake loose some stuff in my head, and it did get me back into a mindset that I was in over a decade ago, when I would look at everything around me as a potential source of inspiration for a blog post. In that sense, it was helpful. But it didn’t make it easier to post quick dumb stuff, like I thought it would, and having something new here every day did not seem to make a difference in the readership stats in a positive or negative way. In that sense … well, it wasn’t worth the effort. But I think that these obvious things aren’t equal, and the seemingly intangible benefits that came with thinking like a writer every day outweighed the lack of tangibles like increased readership or reach. I’m sure someone has already done the obligatory Medium thinkpiece on this sort of thing, so that’s all I think I have to say about it.
I did experience a fundamental shift in my writing and how I chose to invest my creative energy, and that change was not good. I went from working on one of a couple different writing projects every day, to not working on them at all. I was putting my thought and time and energy into blog posts, and all I have to show for it is a little over a month of stuff that just sort of takes up space, instead of a finished rewrite, and a completed first draft.
I’m not saying that there isn’t anything good in the stuff I wrote here over the last fifty-ish days, just that the good stuff would probably have found its way here, anyway, and the stuff I look at as filler was just a way of avoiding the rest of the work. Maybe I needed a vacation, and wasn’t willing to give it to myself. I don’t know. Feeling like a fraud and a failure takes up a lot of time and energy, and it clouds my judgement and perspective.
Anyway, I’m retroactively giving myself permission, beginning Saturday, to go back to posting in my blog from time to time, when I have something that I feel like I need to say, instead of every day no matter what.
Now I’m going to get back to work on this rewrite, because I did about 1100 words on it yesterday, and I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed living in that world. I’d forgotten how good it feels to make a big pile of words and then carve a story out of them.
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I enjoyed your daily blog posts. In fact it got me back into blogging, which was something I had really wanted to do.
But now its more project focused. So a weekly post for me is fine. What I am doing with my Pi, my Arduino or my little iPhone developing stuff.
when you hit enter too soon, and it wont let you edit…
I enjoyed your daily writing and look forward to what else you put out there.
Perhaps you might benefit from short, daily or semi-frequent writing exercises/challenges. I’m an aspiring illustrator and I’d freeze up if I aimed for a set amount of finished pieces per week. Drawing prompt books and websites, that encourage creativity and growth rather than complete and polished work, help me not to overthink.
Good against remotes is one thing, good against the living, that’s something else…
I think pierogi has the gist of it, setting goals is fine where appropriate but when it comes to dragging up a creative gem from the mind mine they can be more of hinderance than a help
And now you know you could do daily posts and what it costs elsewhere that’s a lesson learnt, I’m all for the practical over the theory
I suppose I can forgo my daily Wil Wheaton blog fix in exchange for the (short story that became a) novel you’ve been promising. Also, thanks for the post on 2 player tabletop games. We bought Pandemic and Hive. Lots of fun!
I noticed a posting on Slashdot that an asteroid has be en named after you. How awesome is that! And this writing was very insightful.
Just as an aside, I’m the guy who wanted to change the world with Bulldog Linux. I’ll forward the pic of you and me standing next to each other at a Star Trek convention, when I come across it again (hopefully not too many days from now 🙂 ).
Keep up the great stuff Wil,
Brett
Hey, that beast over there in the corner? It’s called “Do whatever the fuck I want” and it needs to be fed. Feed that beast, Wil.
FEED IT!
God, i hope that the bold/italic editing doesn’t get screwed up… 😛
I enjoyed reading whatever you posted here of course, but I would love to have a sit down with a good story or book you created. Write on, Wil..
Wil,
I thoroughly enjoyed “getting into your head” this last month, but if you feel you’ll produce more stuff you’re proud of by ditching it, so be it. Looking forward to whatever you choose to write.
I see you having problems very similar to ones I have and your struggle is inspiring me to get over my issues. You seem to be much happier when you’ve wrestled the problems to the ground and I’m hoping the same will happen to me.
Write what you want, when you want, I’ll be happy to read it.
That’s cool man, in order to be creative in other places you don’t have to use it up here. Sorry readership didn’t increase but we appreciate your presence!
I loved your blog posts, but do what’s right for you. I do what’s right for me so it be hypocritical to make someone do something that is not right for them. I enjoyed reading your daily posts i’d often read them on my phone, but replying via phone is a bitch so i’d wait til I was at a computer. Wil you are a good person, and the reason i keep replying to you is exactly that. i have a good sense of who is good and who isn’t. I’m sometimes awkward but realize that i always mean well and if i thought you weren’t good i would not comment nor follow you on twitter.
Well, you know…December is typically a shit month when it comes to being productive at work for most everyone. There’s no fucking light, the weather is shit, and that xmas thing just fucks everything up. So maybe your work writing would have suffered anyway. But at least you were writing something everyday during the darkest shittiest time of year (and I’ve heard that just writing something every day is what writers are supposed to do to keep the writing machine tuned), so I’d say December was a success.
For me, I didn’t get dick done at work all month. A damn poor performance if I do say so myself. But I exercised everyday and am getting back into the swing of work in January. Putting December behind me.
For me it’s Jan-Feb that get all gloomy and dismal. Utah is great for skiing but bad for productivity in those months.
Sad to see the posts grind to a clink, but I did like what you said about “posting what you want.” This is a leaf I may someday take out (on, over, whatever the metaphor is). At this point I’m just writing weekly about writing, achievement, practical philosophy. I kindof want to post more, rather than less. Lots-o-thoughts-o rattling around in here.
My opinion is, that you probably shouldn’t think too much about what this blog should be or how many readers or comments are reached. It is good to simplify things and to blog, if you want to. No obligations.
As a reader of December I will give you a feedback. I am checking at least 10 websites in the brief time, the real life let’s me. So, reading your blog is a couple of moments. After that I am moving on without leaving “thank you Wil, I needed that!” or something else, except I feel, it is important for me to comment.
Nevertheless it was an inspiration and I really enjoyed reading it. You have a wide range of themes that are mostly quiet interesting. And your blog is very authentic, because you are.
There is only so much time in the day to write and to edit. The more you take for that, the less you have left to take in the very experiences you might write about. I think you were wise to set your mind to the exercise of “one a day” for a set period of time, and to stick to it for that time.
When I set my mind to writing a novel, it took less than six months while working full time and doing a light load of college work on the side… But the editing (which I was determined to do myself) took two years. I don’t regret the two years I spent polishing and rewriting, the final product was much better for it.
I think that as a creative, you need to write and share at a rate that you are both comfortable and confident about. No more, no less. I enjoyed your daily posts, but I also look forward to what comes from your more controlled approach in the future. Keep up the great writing! ^_^
New reader here. Quotas are terrible for restraining creativity sometimes….and sometimes they force you to become better at your pursuits. Double-edged sword. I’ve enjoyed reading the random musings in this thought-space. I encourage you to keep it up, at your own pace.
Well, I for one am sad you will no longer have a daily post. I have to wake up obscenely early six out of every seven days and thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog as the start to my morning. I’m glad you got something out of it, and thank you for doing it as long as you did.
Please attribute the intro quote: “Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.”
That is inspirational. Dare mighty things people, dare mighty things.
I believe that is from Frank Herbert’s “Dune”, alas I forget which character voiced it.
Was it Patrick Stewart ‘s character, perhaps?
It has been great having you every day Wil. Do what you need to do, we’ll be here.
I’m not going to lie – I’m a bit disappointed. I liked seeing something daily from you. I just don’t check Tumblr all that often (too much noise). But obviously this whole exercise was good for you if it helped identify what you want to work on. I’ll echo some people here, it got me back into blogging. I’m currently working on a bit of a daily streak myself. Eventually I’m going to stop posting every day but the drive to just write something daily is helpful. But I’m also not trying to write a story / work on other creative things at the same time, so there’s that.
I have greatly enjoyed your daily posts. I find it so interesting that, at any age we are, we can discover more things about ourselves. That we can find depths, or shallows. That what once gave us pleasure or happiness now no longer does, because we have found something else that is deeper and fulfills us more. I think intelligent, sensitive, aware human beings go through this process continually throughout their lives. And you are, in your life. I’ll still look forward to your posts; I just won’t look for them daily.
You seem to have your quota of supportive posts, and I certainly echo everything said above. But I thought I’d add this thought for you to mull: no web statistic in the world is going to tell you how satisfied your readership is on a given day. Your daily posts may not have increased the size of your audience, but I suspect that your existing audience enjoyed the blog more thoroughly because of the extra effort you put into it.
So, yeah – thanks!
First time commenter, long time fan. I will take whatever it is you have to offer, however often that might be.
I have thoroughly enjoyed your daily posts (I read them on my lunch break) and will continue to check the site for new entries. Your recipe posts were among my favorites (no hint dropping here) 🙂
Praying you continue to be inspired with your rewrite and in all of your creative endeavors, and that the dregs of discouragement would be deftly defeated.
I enjoyed every single day of it. and I read on the livejournal RSS feed. So I don’t know if that registers in your stats. But I know quite a few people who follow blogs that way. But I did read every single one.
you inspire me in so many ways. Thank you!
I just hang out here waiting for you to announce you’ll be doing nothing but TableTop from now on.
I’m finally getting over a nasty flu. When it started I decided to binge-watch all the TableTop episodes as a distraction from my distress. Better than friggin’ chicken soup!
I also got to look at TableTop as a whole, and I noticed a few things.
TableTop is so much more than just a “play the game” product review show: It’s also a bit of an interview show, a bit of a reality TV show, a bit of “Friends”, a bit of a party, a bit of a warm fireplace glowing in my living room.
You get the idea. It’s what table-top gaming means beyond the game itself.
No host could possibly do it better then your geeky, nerdy, often-bleeped self.
Thanks!
I started blogging shortly after your lovely wife did, so while I was at it, I also linked both Wheaton blogs on mine. I also went through a period of daily blogging, back at the turn of 2015, I think. My blog was/is my only creative writing outlet, primarily due to the stories I tell being my retelling of events in my life, rather than ever setting out to tell a NEW one. I’m definitely not a writer, but I think I AM a blogger. When I got bored with reading what I’d written, I quit the daily grind.
All that said, I was glad to have ridden along on YOUR experiment, and I’m glad you’ve come to your senses (you learned the good, bad, and indifference of daily blogging). When black friday was the last post for more than one 24-hour period, I think I knew you were done. I, like so many others, appreciate what you have to say, especially here on your blog. But it is YOUR blog.
So post when you feel like it, and when you don’t, know that your readership is here anyway, just waiting for the next delicious morsel.
You daily blogposts made me visit your blog on an almost daily basis. Even when it were just small things, I enjoyed them.
But I also understand that it can be challenging to write everyday on a blog.
Take care, you got a fan in me 😀 (put that last one on the Toy Story tune 🙂 )
So relieved to see you back today! It had crossed my mind that, as of January 20, maybe you were just going to leave the countdown clock up for the next four years as a form of political protest art. (Which would have been awesome in its way, except that we all would really have missed you.)
Definitely got spoiled having a new Wil post to look forward to each day. That said:
You are a writer. You may feel like a fraud or a failure sometimes, but that just verifies that factually you are a writer, because I’ve rarely met a writer, including those at the highest talent/publication levels, who doesn’t feel like a fraud or a failure about 80% of the time. I do not know what the hell is wrong with us, I swear.
Anyway: You are a writer. A talented, engaging, insightful writer who has the persistence and humility to devote your energy to working through the development of your craft. So I join everyone else here when I offer giant buckets of support for this endeavor: Do the writing that you decide you need to do.
We’ll be thrilled to read the results in whatever form they arrive.
I wish I had the drive you have
The drive you wish to have is there in you. You just need to think different thoughts.
I think we all appreciate Wil and what he has accomplished in his life, and that he has a life.
I’ve come across some amazing books in my life, based on friends’ recommendation.
For writers, there are number of great books.
When you have a quiet moment in your day, read ‘One Continuous Mistake’ by Gail Sher. Subtitle is ‘Four Noble Truths for Writers ‘
You may find that the noise in your head quiets down and that you will be able to address any issue in your life with confidence and singular attention.
Any book I recommend is by Thomas F. Crum called ‘The Magic of Conflict’ The author is an aikido master ( remember aikido: non-violent, non-competitive, dance with energy) who has applied the principles of aikido to daily life. The foreword of the book was written by John Denver, as Thomas was a ‘ body guard ‘ the John years ago.
Good fortune to all of us to find that small spark within ourselves and to ignite our lives with passion and love.
Namaste,
Brett
Thanks for this 😀
When I am writing up a new RPG character for a game I am playing in I write plenty of background for them (a bit too much sometimes: I wrote 16K+ words for an evil villain in the making for a “Bad Guys” game, for example) but asides from some poetry on dA, not much else.
I’ve always been expected to do mathsy things by people (I’m in software) because that’s “what I’m good at”, plus with the recent RL stuff (deaths, dx & other health things, plus work/life balance) trying to make my job work with my new “reasonable allowances” gear is where I have to concentrate my efforts, so other things are left to simmer while I fix that…
It’s a lot better than the last couple of years, but I am still the Queen of Procrastination sometimes. I did at least join a Barbershop Chorus and we are pretty good (UK, and I’ve even been on TV with it), but sometimes my anxiety over all the other costume and make-up hangups still get to me in that and I don’t show up 1/3 the time for rehearsals, especially after a hard day at work, even though I know the singing gives me a real buzz after I have been (and then I can’t sleep from the pain of standing on a riser for over 2 hours)
I’ll keep soldiering on trying to juggle/spin one more plate than is good for me. Sometimes it feels like I can’t win, or what I’m doing doesn’t matter, but I occasionally realise I’ve done more than some.
Hey thanks for that suggestion of the ‘Magic of Conflict’ , Brett. I am looking for better ways to handle my interactions with fellow volunteer bushfire brigade members ans that might be just the shot! After being a bit of an introvert all my life, I’m learning so much about the humans in a job and atmosphere that seems well worth the effort, but could use some more help!
Good luck on your journey! I am happy that I could be of help.
Wil – Your experiment got me to revive my own blog, so: Thank you! I totally get what you mean about thinking like a writer every day — I don’t post every day, but the first step is to get into the mindset in the first place, and that does take work.
I’m glad the experiment ended, though, because there’s a fatigue that comes with posting every day. A resentment, even. You don’t want that standing in the way of good writing. But I’m glad you tried it, and thanks for sharing the results.
You helped me with the transition from sane president to “What fresh hell is this?” I’m inspired by your commitment to authenticity and outreach. You posted Indivisible. You did good, and you did well, IMHO. So thank you.
“Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.” I LOVE THIS QUOTE. It is from the book/movie “Dune” spoken by Duke Leto Atreides! Very profound.
Hey, you might not read this and that’s pretty okay, but I want to give a sincere thank you for being a positive voice and force in this world. Pretty sure it’s officially the start of scarytimes here in the US of A, and man, it’s so easy to despair. And if I were somebody with a very significant reader base I would feel such a crazy pressure to, I don’t know, fix everything. I would feel like every post that didn’t catalyze the nation into a perspective of enlightenment was a personal failure. And I would question what I was doing. I would worry that I was just a familiar voice, which, by comforting those who are upset with the state of our nation, end up being a inhibitor of action, and therefore change.
So it’s very important to me that I impress upon you that what I just described is not what you are. Sympathy is great and absolutely valuable, but I never, ever visit your blog to wallow in a victim-embracing attitude. I come here to be inspired by the words of someone who gets upset when he sees injustice thrive, and who condemns it publicly, with conviction, and still, in the next sentence, embraces compassion.
I don’t know you, so saying I respect you would be kind of false, wouldn’t it? How can I say I respect a person, as though I know him, when I don’t even know what his favorite flavor of ice cream is? But I can say that I respect what you do. I can say that. I respect what you do. Please keep doing it. Please continue refusing to stay silent. Please continue pointing at things and saying, loudly, “this is wrong.” It’s legitimately a tragedy that I expect you will never see or know in your lifetime how much good you do and have done for your country and the world. If things were fair, then whatever degree a person made the world a better place would be the degree to which their depression was forced to get the fuck out forever, but that’s not how things are. Sad!
Thanks for Daily December. Thanks for Wil Wheaton dot net. And uh, thanks for Wil Wheaton. Yeah.
Thank you for voicing many things that I have wanted to say. One tiny dissent, however: knowing Wil’s favorite ice cream flavor is overrated, IMHO, when we are treated regularly to his authentic voice in so many various outlets. I don’t think its false to say that I respect Wil without knowing those kind of details. I know enough. I hope you don’t mind my saying so. Best regards.
Wil, I put a comment up yesterday but thought maybe I’d add more since I woke up this morning after a good night’s sleep thinking, this man needs help! Here’s the formula: 1. Hypnosis recording, every night. 2. When you wake, try to capture at least the feeling, describe it, name it, personify it, work it into a fictional story about an alternative version. E.g. Slasher/Jack the Ripper, ask him what he wants, confront him, bring the shadow into the daylight. 3. Do EFT working through different phrasings of the problem as they come to you, until the bother-factor is down to zero.
I worked as a counselor for a few years, and this kind of thing is very effective, it even works for me. It takes a long time to shift the way you’ve been. Hope this helps.