I have this idea for a paper but I’m not sure where it’s going. I started writing it years ago and have somehow managed to commit myself to it for my annual review. The paper is about blogging but I am now more interested in the notion of collaborating with yourself in a blog – getting back to the notion of journaling as a process of developing one’s ideas. Then I realised that I’m very slack at doing that exact thing, even though I know there is value in it. I think one of the things that prevents me is the fear of getting into a two digit readership. This blog is for me (and anyone else who happens to stumble upon it) and it’s supposed to be where I develop my ideas. But I’m slack.
Part of the idea of doing this is getting those little bits of writing done. Engaging with literature and thoughts and all manner of things (that aren’t thoughts or literature … is there anything else?). But I keep hesitating. It’s as if future me doesn’t matter. But I want to talk to future me. That’s what this is all about. Having a blog or a journal is leaving notes for yourself, talking to future you. Those thoughts can be revisited while helping to measure change in ideas, growth of knowledge and shifts in perspective. I want to document them. I want to be able to come back, but I’m too much the vicarious participant. If I love reading so much, what’s happened to my writing?
As we near the end of our semester, I’m going to commit to more regular updates, find something worth commenting on, talk to myself, because, really, this is about me. If you also find something of value, then, hey, that’s great. But I’m talking to myself now.
I started my blog for the very reason you describe. I wasn’t doing enough regular writing to maintain any kind of skill level and a year and half post phd this was becoming a problem. A paper would come around and i’d write seriously for about a month, but then nothing for months on end. It’s difficult though to motivate oneself to take the time to write on the blog I find. Well it’s easy to write short little posts but to post something more substantial takes time and effort which is often in short supply!
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