Well, I’m still here π . I’ve now been on this blog for 7 years and I’m happy to see that the famed “7 year itch” is no where to be seen. Writing on here continues to be the longest running hobby I’ve ever had and on the anniversary of penning my first words for this blog I like to reflect on the past year and if I’ve learned anything new. So let’s get into what I learned about writing in the last 12 months!
Challenges Can Be Good
Yeah that’s right – the woman who loves nothing more than napping and reading on a couch all day admitted that hard stuff can be good sometimes π . This is the second year in a row that I attempted and completed NaNoWriMoΒ – the challenge to write 50,000 words in November for National Novel Writing Month.
Both years when November would inch closer I would start doubting myself “Could I really do this?” “What if I run out of important things to say?” “What if my inspiration escapes me?” Since I arrived at my weekly posting rhythm through observation and experimentation, I always worry that having a set goal to hit during the month would not work with how I like to operate. I never want to feel like I ‘have’ to write even to meet an arbitrary goal I imposed on myself π .
TFW you're trying to give your brain a rest in preparation for @NaNoWriMo starting next week and it just keeps coming up with awesome, cohesive sentences you must resist writing downπ πΎββοΈβοΈπΎ pic.twitter.com/8dGh7tH7Xd
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) October 28, 2021
Creativity is such a strange and mystical thing to me and I didn’t want to break it. But, once again, while this challenge was definitely hard – but nothing broke π . And overall I found it fun to have a stretch goal like this that I wanted to hit – while also knowing that if I didn’t it wasn’t a big deal.
My writing inspiration still ebbed and flowed during the month, but overall the ebbs still allowed me to put enough words on the page to complete this challenge. AND it allowed me to get ahead enough on posts that the thought of posting twice a week in December for PurpleMas sounded fun instead of daunting. Win/win!
Curation Is Priceless
My human brain sucks at remembering things. Either I remember them incorrectly or not at all because my brain is full singing a random song on repeat instead π . This is one of the reasons I take pictures of basically everything I see – it helps me reminisce and remember things accurately.
That’s another reason I love this blog. I don’t have to wonder how I was feeling and what I was thinking on my way to financial independence or in the depths of the pandemic – I can just turn back the clock and read about it. Having the accountability of this blog and my weekly schedule has ensured that my life has been captured – accurately – in these words and I already find a lot of joy in looking back and seeing how far I’ve come.
"The experience of awe changes our perception of time. When we experience awe, time slows down. It expands." – Whenπ
Is this why days in retirement seem both infinite and over in a blinkπ€? There's so much more time and energy to pursue things that inspire aweπ. For example: pic.twitter.com/i1q3fMLrsL
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) December 7, 2021
Community Is Still The Best
I think I’ve mentioned community in every blog writing update I’ve ever written, but this year I was more intentional about mentioning that I’m open to hanging with y’all IRL and as a result had more of you than ever reach out to do so! I was even more impressed since I’m a little pinball nomad going all over the place π that I got to meet some of you that I never would have if I stayed in Seattle. In addition, I’ve mentioned how I had the first ‘FriendCon’ in Austin when I was accidentally in the same town at the same time as my finance friends that were going to a financial conference.
I was prepared to finally miss human interaction since we’re still in the middle of a pandemic despite me being a hardcore introvert, but it hasn’t happened. I have made some amazing friends through mutual acquaintances and shockingly through the internet that have become real friends as well. This continues to be my favorite part about this blog π .
I've decided to just lean into my love of planning in advanceπ€·πΎββοΈ. So in that vein: I have 12, 1-hour slots available to chat with me at a coffee shop in Austin, TX in September for the first FriendConπ! DM me or respond below if you want to grab a slotπ. WOOHOO I'm hypedππΎ! https://t.co/ORUU8702ss
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) June 14, 2021
Focusing On The Parts I Enjoy
I’m still just focusing on the parts of blogging I enjoy and ignoring the rest. For example, I love writing and hate editing – so I don’t do it π . And I mean that I dislike all aspects of editing – changing a paragraph, adding information, basically anything more complicated than fixing typos and grammar errors. My Mom is my editor and basically tells me when to add commas (since I hate commas π …), but I don’t rework posts after they flow out of me. I enjoy the process of writing, not tweaking, so I spend my time doing the fun parts…if only jobs could be like this π .
I Still Don’t Want To Write A Book
Speaking of things I don’t want to do π … I do a yearly check in on my urge to write a book since more people have been offering to help me write one or asking me to do so, which is obviously still super flattering, but still something I currently have no interest in doing. It looks really hard and like it would make me do things I don’t want to do…so I won’t π . Easy.
Ehhh that sounds like 'work'…I think I'll pass π€£
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) July 26, 2019
Instead of ending there, this year I wanted to dig into why I feel this way in case you’re curious. Here is what I came up with:
- Long Lead Time: A book that’s published traditionally usually takes at least a year of writing and editing before it’s published. That’s a long time to wait for feedback from all you wonderful people π . I much prefer having a thought, writing a post about it and then being able to read comments from y’all the next day. I don’t have the patience for that kind of lead time. Tangentially, books don’t have comments sections. Some people might email authors (I’ve heard of that happening), but for some reason I doubt that would happen with me. I’d be shouting into the abyss when my favorite part of writing is interacting with y’all.
- Fixing Errors: As I’ve mentioned, I’m an avid reader and a part of that is reading enough books that I’ve seen a surprising amount of typos in published works. I am not perfect and I make mistakes on here often, but another thing I love about blogs is that I can fix it! My perfectionist bone doesn’t like when I publish a typo, but as soon as I fix it and press save that tightness in my chest abates. That obviously would not be the case with a published book – that mistake would be out there for all eternity.
- Marketing: Since only about 25% of books even earn back their advance (and are therefore financial successes) people have to market the shit out of them! That’s why every year I see the people who just came out with a new book on every podcast in the same month for example – they’re understandably trying to get the word out to increase their chances. Well, after 9 years working in marketing – I don’t want to do it anymore π .
- Editing: I mentioned my dislike of editing above and I understand that book editors want to and will make things better, but once again: that sounds hard π . I don’t like revisiting or repeating myself (yeah I wasn’t a great theater kid for this reason…) so that wouldn’t work for me.
So for all the reasons above I still have no interest in writing a book. I’m super flattered people suggest it (though I’m curious why since this blog is a weekly updating book… π ). For now I much prefer this medium and don’t really see the upsides of writing a book instead in my situation (if you can think of any please let me know below!). Like with all things, I might change my mind in the future, but this is where I stand for now.
Conclusion
So that’s where my mind is after 7 years of writing on this blog. After a year of continuing to write weekly in retirement I analyzed if that’s something that still fits with my lifestyle and goals and was happy to discover: It does! So I’ll continue to be here at least every week. See you next time and thank you for being here!
What’s your longest standing hobby?
Congratulations on 7 years!! I’ve been blogging across a few different sites for 13 years (oof!) and agree with everything. The friends we make and the ability to go back and say, “ah ha, I knew it!” to yourself is priceless. Also, I am with you on the book. I love creative writing and NaNoWriMo, but I don’t know if I will ever go back to edit my own writing. π€£
Thank you! And wow – 13 years is really impressive π . Also glad to hear I’m not the only one who dislikes editing haha.
I’m so glad you’re going to continue blogging! Your writing has been such an inspiration to me as I kick off my own early retirement, and start blogging (just to find my creativity and learn to write better). I hope we get to meet in person someday!
Oh wow thank you – I’m so happy to hear that π . Woohoo early retirement and blogging! And I’d be happy to meet in person some day – feel free to reach out when I mention I’ll be in your area (I usually include where I’ll be in my monthly recaps).
7 years, wow! Your blog is solidly in kid territory, no longer a baby (or bebe as Moira Rose would say – please tell me you’ve seen Schitt’s Creek??). You should be very proud! Writing a book can definitely be long and laborious, but you’ve already written several books’ worth of content with this blog and the Nanowrimo challenges. You know you can do it, because you already have π Great post as usual!
Haha that’s a great way to look at it (and I’m actually going through Schittβs Creek right now – currently halfway through Season 2!) And that is another great perspective – this is basically an ever evolving book right here π . Thank you!
Wow – congratulations on 7 years! That’s a lot of posts and words for sure!
My longest standing hobby is probably going to the gym. I started hitting the weights back in around 2013 when I first started working and fell in love with the constant, gradual, and measurable improvements over time.
Loved it the first day, and still love doing it now and haven’t really ever been tired or bored of it.
Thank you! And that’s a great hobby. I love heavy lifting too though I haven’t kept it up consistently. That’s awesome – keep at it π !
Yay to another year!! my Longest standing hobby is definitely cooking and reading and talking about food π
Yay indeed! And those are some awesome hobbies π .
Love this post! It’s fascinating to get a glimpse into others’ writing processes. We really admire your ability to so clearly articulate your ideas, especially without editing! π€― I always call my first drafts “word barf” because it’s a bunch of incoherent sentences and other non-sense that I have to go back and organize into…something. Congrats on this amazing streak! π»
I’m so glad you love it π ! And thank you – you’re making me think harder about this and I think most of the “word barf” to “something” transition happens in my head or notes app. I may jot down an idea, but until it has substance and I can easily expand on it I don’t actually sit down to write that post. Maybe I’ve been writing posts in my head this whole time haha. Thank you!
Ha Ha, I resonate with your brain and your desire not to edit much. If only this was how it worked. I want to do all the fun parts of writing and the rest…not so much.
I suppose my longest hobby has been geocaching since 2005. I’m not heavy into it…just another way to document my travels.
Haha I’m glad it resonates with you and do feel lucky I can just focus on what I enjoy since I’m not trying to turn a profit or anything over here. It’s truly a luxury π . And ooh geocaching has always seemed fun to me, but I’ve never done it. I’m going to do some research because that seems like a super fun thing to add to my nomad travels.
Yeah, as I was reading this, I was thinking writing a book isn’t really in the cards if you can’t stand editing, I think my longest standing hobby is cooking. I find it really soothing so go beyond the basics of “I need to feed myself to live,” but I’m always looking for interesting recipes, trying new ones out on friends and family and trying different cooking styles.
Right? π Know thyself and all that. And that’s a wonderful hobby! I started getting a little more into cooking for fun and baking this year and hope to keep it up.
Not to be that person, but I found it too ironic the typo was in your paragraph about editing… “For example, I love writing and hate editing β so I donβt do it π . And I mean that I dislike all aspects of editing β changing a paragraph, adding information, basically anything more complicated *THAN* fixing typos and grammar errors. ”
Congrats on seven years! I’ve only been doing it for four and sometimes it’s a struggle to find the time/desire. I’m glad it’s still something that brings you pleasure.
P.S. Do you do anything for SEO for your posts? Or do you just write them and that’s it? I’d love to do the latter, but I know SEO is important, too, especially when you’re building up a reader base.
The latter…I don’t care about SEO or do anything about it. I’ve built a good reader base without caring if that helps π .
Another perfect example of why I prefer writing blogs to books – that has been changed. Thank you for the heads up and I’m glad you appreciated the irony. If only I had done it on purpose π . And thank you!
Congrats on 7 years! You’ve got it right to write once a week. Just enough to keep things interesting, without over-doing it. Cheers!
Thank you! And yeah that cadence seems to work for me π .
Iβm so glad youβve kept writing. Iβve never read this blog for the FIRE part (itβs a happy coincidence that itβs something I find super interesting), but rather because I like how you write. You could switch to writing a bird blog, and guess who would show up every week to read: this lady. I agree about the book stuff, btw. I canβt tell you how many awesome blogs are **crickets** after the first book deal. Iβd prefer to pay every month for a Patreon rather than lose my favorite authors to books I read once & never revisit. With that said, if you ever write a book, of course Iβll buy it, but Iβd miss this blog terribly. π
Oh wow – that means a lot to hear you didn’t come here for the FIRE part! And haha if I branch out to a bird blog you’ll be the first to know π . And thank you for the hypothetical support, but I really do prefer this medium and want to keep at it. I try to always keep an open mind, but I can’t currently imagine how a book would give me anywhere near as much fulfillment as this blog – so I’ll still to blogging.