This blog is literally a whatsapp conversation I had with my writing accountability group. Earlier this year, a few ladies and I set out to challenge ourselves to write consistently. We faithfully did a 21-day challenge in which we wrote content for books and blogs. After the challenge, which was nothing like any of us had ever done, I guess we got a bit tired, or a busier or both. That said, we still write, just not as consistently and everyday like we did in those 21 days. Last week, one of our members shared her new blog and we talked a bit about it. I noticed that she was plagued by something that I too had been plagued by in the past – the perfection bug rooted in the fear of how the public would receive her writing. This, coupled with the desire to get us back into the writing groove, I felt led to share that we should all remember that along this journey, we may fail. Scratch that, we will. But, every time we seem to have failed, we are actually learning and growing more. In addition to that, your writing is relevant to the seasons you are in. Yes, there is timeless literature. However, we forget that those that write timeless literature have had looooooooooots of practice. If we look at their earlier writing, even though it may tell of great talent, it may still not be as refined as their more recent pieces of work. Practice definitely makes perfect and practice is the cure to our need for perfection which makes us stagnate in our goals. Here is the actual conversation:
[10:50, 06/10/2020] kezy elaine: This is a message for all of us.
Get over the fear of failure and the need for perfection.
The truth is that you probably will fail. Perhaps you’ll open your blog 3 years from now and cringe🤣.
IT’S OKAY.
I opened my first ever blog in 2008 but in 2016, I closed it for good. I had grown and I wanted a fresh start.
I also had my first business website with my first ever fashion mini collections. I kept it running from 2016 to 2020 and closed it this year. I sensed the shift and I was no longer proud of the website. I felt I needed to have better content and web design in this new season.
And by the way, it was a nice site. But it did not represent the business well anymore.
You are going to have some mediocre content days.
You may fail sometimes …
[10:54, 06/10/2020] kezy elaine: So, what are things within your control currently?
Read through your content before you post. Self-edit it before posting or find an editor to work with.
Don’t detest your content. If you do, who do you expect to treasure it😆(am I being too harsh?)? One of the things to prove you love your content is be the first one to read your own blog post. Yes! Breathe deeply and read.
Congratulate yourself for making the effort every time. Every new blog post is worth being celebrated.
Take your eyes off you and start thinking more about the people you intend to bless with your content.
Pray over your content.
Love on your blog by changing its look at least twice a year to give it a fresh feel and also get you re-energised.
Cut yourself lots of slack!
By taking the step to write consistently, you are already better than most who never ever start.
…
And that’s it for today folks. I hope this encourages you to keep writing, keep blogging. keep learning and keep growing. I was reminded last weekend that every blog post matters. One of my goals is to write many books within my lifetime. To achieve that, I commit to writing often because every time I do, I get better!
Thank you for reading. Share some thoughts and comments. Share this with your friends too :-). You never know who needs it.
With love,
Keziah.
Keziah Elaine Ayikoru 