Still half-assing: Reflections on one year of Writing About Writing
It’s been a year since I started Writing About Writing About Writing. I’m still half-assing this with my whole heart, and that has to mean something.
This has been a hard article to write. As I sit here it’s going to be at least a day late. More if I can’t get these thoughts out of my head.
It’s been a year since I started Writing About Writing About Writing. And it’s been an interesting one. Something, something - historic times. I’m still half-assing this with my whole heart, and that has to mean something. I’m still here, and so are you and that means a lot more than you can know.
I think what makes this article so hard to write is that writerly instinct to downplay our accomplishments. It doesn’t feel like I’ve done much, so it can’t be that impressive. But like the amount of time it takes to write anything, I think it's a problem between the time and effort it takes to write, and the time you spend consuming good material. Writing is consumed all out of proportion to the amount of effort it takes to produce. And you can’t see the effort another writer put into their work any more than they can see yours. And we know damn well we’re all not even making minimum wage while we’re doing it.
So in the interest of celebrating accomplishments: Hey! This blog is still going. I’m sure a lot of blogs die an early death, though I can’t be arsed to look up the actual statistics. One year down. We’ll see if it makes it to three years. Maybe I’ll have published a book by then. I’m still revising the one I mentioned in my first post so at least I’m consistent.
The original goal for the site still stands too. I’m still reviewing writing books. I reviewed 13 last year, just a tad more than one a month which fits my original schedule perfectly. There are also 18 Tool posts and a round 25 blog-ish posts (including this one.) What’s more there are 31 of you subscribed to the newsletter, which, I just can’t tell you how much that means to me. Thank you all.
Lastly, a few stats to soothe my data brain:
We’re currently averaging around 50 visitors a week, with over 1,445 unique visitors total since last March. Most of you read about two pages (1.78 to be precise) and you hang around for a little over a minute.
In case you’re wondering, here are the top posts from the past year:
- Top blog post - How to start (and keep) a writer’s group
- Top review - Steering the Craft
- Top list - Gentle writing books for when life gets rough
- Top tool - Tie between The Master Study and Finding Begisterung
Oh, and I’ve learned to highlight text! Which doesn’t work in email (sorry newsletter folks), but which I’m still figuring out how to use. We’ll get there. I have plans for finishing the spiral story using a few different revision techniques over the next few months. Stay tuned for the conclusion and that excitement.
Hey, thanks for being around. Thanks for making it to the end. Thanks for writing, your writing is important even when it feels like you’re just tossing words into the void. Someone hears them.
Happy writing, this year, next year, and many more. ~EM
