2018 is coming to a close. I’m not quite sad, but I’m not quite enthusiastic. I’ve found that, as I get older, years coming and going seem to get shorter and shorter. I’m unsure if anyone else feels this way, but I can’t possibly be the only one.
This month, the Praxis curriculum had us do 30 straight days of blog posts. I will admit, I went into the experience thinking it would be a lot easier than it was. Of course, I proved myself wrong. I underestimated my obsession with consistency – once I made one post over 800 words, I felt in my heart that I needed to do the same for each and every subsequent post or else I wouldn’t feel accomplished. In a way, that’s unconsciously honorable of me.
What did you learn?
Well, first off, I learned to be more flexible. Whether it was my schedule or my inability to immediately come up with an idea of what to write about, I learned that not everything I set my schedule to accommodate will happen at the time I plan it to happen.
I didn’t plan my posts ahead like I was recommended to do by multiple sources, and sometimes the looming daily deadline caused me a lot of stress. Other times, I would doubt myself, think that what I had to say wasn’t nearly as interesting or valuable as the other participants’ posts. I know, I know, it’s unfair to compare myself to others, but this being a subconscious reaction, it’s a bit hard for me to block out.
Biggest challenge?
My drive for consistency. I mentioned it briefly above, but I highly value consistency, and I chided myself that if I didn’t meet the standard I set for myself in the beginning, that I was a hypocrite and I should feel bad about what I wrote.
I found that the best way to counter my own toxic thoughts was to completely zone out while writing – it sounds sloppy and ineffective, but it really does work. I would just write and write and write whatever my brain felt like spilling out onto the keyboard, and eventually I would surpass the word count like it was nothing. If I don’t worry about editing while writing, I write more. I’ll leave the editing for after the fact, and this helps a lot.
Growth?
I wrote a lot. A lot. More than I would normally write in a single month. That in itself is a form of growth. If I were to tally up all the content I made this month and show it to my pre-December self, she’d reel at the sheer amount of stuff I felt I had to say.
But did you improve?
I think so. I went ahead and read my post from the beginning of the month, and then immediately I read my posts from several days ago. The difference in quality and sophistication of voice is slight but noticeable.
Will people want to hire you more now that you’ve finished?
I believe that consistency (yes, the same point I’ve already driven home) and practice can do wonders for personal gain. In my mind, employers see that, too. Someone who keeps at it and dedicates daily time to honing a skill is far more valuable in the long run than someone who only picks and prods at their hobbies from time to time. Dedication is the flagship of the professional.
Even if people don’t share my love of video games, I believe that reading the care and passion I have for the medium shows just how much I dedicate myself to the things I love. I’d stake my life on it.