How I managed to write again after 38 days
It wasn't writer's block, laziness, or my tendency to lose interest that stopped me. It was something else...
After the meme article I published last, I wanted to write something technical backed by research. When I scrolled through LinkedIn and read the emails from other newsletters I’ve subscribed to, I felt inspired.
But, I wasn’t able to pen any of those for the past 38 days. It wasn't because I lost interest or felt lazy. It was because I was forcefully ignoring the topic I was dying to write about.
*takes a deep breath*
I wanted to write about baking.
I wanted to write about how my brownies are extra delicious when Cadbury Silk is used, how all my attempts to make cookie bowls and cookie bars failed, how my walnut cake tasted like heaven with a bit of honey and so on. Because I have been baking every weekend since the quarantine began and I absolutely love it.
But, I pushed aside those thoughts worrying about why I wasn’t able to focus on the product marketing topics. Not to mention the guilt that I was letting down my subscribers by not publishing regularly.
Every time I was on the verge of ‘okay, let’s write about baking’, the below thoughts came across my mind:
What will my subscribers think? What if it doesn’t offer value to them? Will they unsubscribe?
Of all things I thought I would write about in Silent Marketer’s Journal, I never imagined myself writing about baking in the wildest dreams.
I was torn between taking the plunge and sticking to the usual topics when my colleague shared Danielle Pioli’s video with me:
The video is about how we give our identity away to the things we do to express ourselves. In my case, I identified myself as a product marketer and writer. I couldn’t accept baking as part of my identity. Though I yearned to write about it, I resisted it.
The truth is my identity is much more than the activity I choose to express myself, but what it is that I'm expressing. There are so many ways we can express ourselves!
- Danielle Pioli
Why force myself to fit into a single identity when every way I express becomes my identity?
I realized I could write about product marketing, baking, books, Youtube videos, and pretty much anything I’m passionate about. Though I did say this newsletter is going to be a roller coaster ride in About page, I was not ready to actually do it all this while.
As I can feel the invisible weight going away from my chest, I can confidently say that I have come one step closer to fully expressing and embracing myself.
And yes, you would have guessed by now. My next article would be about baking.
Author’s tip: I wasn’t able to focus on my train of thoughts as I was writing after a while. Writing on paper really helped as I couldn’t backspace and had to keep going.