One Month To Go – Don’t Screw It Up!

Thailand Snake Baby
Maybe I'll devote December's posts to all the cool stuff that goes on in Thailand. Sure, this baby was eaten, but was eaten in a damned awesome way.

Back in January I promised to write every day that month. Then I just kept going.

Now, I’m in the home stretch with one month to go. I’ve gone without a miss and I’m proud of the work that’s been published. I would have never thought that I would have something to say every day of the year but I guess I did. Not every post was a winner – there’s a probably a dozen or two that I’d like removed. The bad hair days of writing, if you will.

That’s actually not an apt metaphor as I don’t have bad hair days.

I have some big projects for 2013 which include a book of some sorts, launching some silly merchandise, and a podcast. The first one I’m trying to tackle is the podcast. I have a solid idea (I think) that blog readers would find interesting. Currently figuring out some of the engineering and technical skill required to make it work. I’m hoping for the first episode to go live by January 1.

If I had to sum up what I learned this year from all the writing, I would answer with, “Not much.” I learned really only one thing – if you do something you’re not particularly good at, and do it a lot, then you get good at it. Knowing that there wasn’t an option not to come up with a post every day really forced me to learn how to sit at a blank screen and start writing. Unless something goofy happens to me throughout the day (which rarely happens), I’m on the hook for creating something out of the blue.

What I normally do is scrub my current feelings and see if I can find something to relate outwards. This year I dealt a lot with sadness so that was a major theme. Shame, too. Hopefully next year will be more about fear and anger. Those are way more fun to write about.

The other lesson I’ve learned is to give up control. It’s way too hard for me to manage everything. I still try most of the time, but I’ve cut back  immensely. Needing each post to have perfect grammar and syntax is crazy since I don’t even understand comma rules. I still freak out if the site goes down or I don’t get any comments on a post. It happens and trying to stop it is pointless.

Here’s an example – I never check my stats anymore because it either bums me out or makes me feel awesome. I just looked, for a goof. Turns out the last two days traffic was down about 30%. No idea why. I can’t imagine everyone decided I needed to feel like a failure and decided to teach me a lesson. I’m not that important. But it did bum me out just now. I’m not the center of anyone’s life and I’m guessing people just forgot to check out the blog the past two days. Or I accidentally hit publish on that piece I wrote about how it’s okay to punish your wife for her misdeeds by assigning her more housecleaning.

Damn – now that I’m thinking about it, that would have been a hilarious post on its own. Oh well.

I’ll try not to let the content go to shit in the last month. I still need to get my holiday cards out, and if you remember what I did last year, this should again be fun.

Lastly, Aunt Becky from MommyWantsVodka and I are planning a reader party in January if you live nearby Chicago. Should be awesome.

Thailand Snake Baby
Maybe I’ll devote December’s posts to all the cool stuff that goes on in Thailand. Sure, this baby was eaten, but eaten in a damned awesome way.

photo credit: AmusingThailand via photopin cc

7 thoughts on “One Month To Go – Don’t Screw It Up!”

  1. Kirsten__Leah says:

    “Hopefully, next year will be more about fear and anger. Those are way more fun to write about.” Haha…awesome. Dream big! Looking forward to following your blog.

  2. kathym425 says:

    Congratulations on sticking to your goal of writing every day.  It’s an accomplishment to be proud of.  I haven’t posted on my blog in ages.  I love the idea of blogging but have such a hard time getting it “out”.  Maybe I’d find it easier if I made a commitment like yours.  I always have worked better under pressure……

  3. KimWCPosse says:

    @RachelintheOC @tfpHumorBlog Enjoyed reading it, and CONGRATULATIONS on writing every day for (going on) a year?!! That’s impressive!

  4. KateHall says:

    Okay,
    A) Your blog is my #1 favorite, so while you may not be at the center of my life, you’re #1 in my blogging life (outside of my blog).  And when talking about your blog my husband and I endearingly refer to you as “the guy that pooped his pants”.
    B) I’m encouraged by what you wrote here b/c 1) I suck at commas too, and 2) you think your writing improved over time – so that means that mine can only get better!
    C) What’s a reader party? I’m in Chicagoland.
    D) I’m writing this down for future reference (like tomorrow): “What I normally do is scrub my current feelings and see if I can find something to relate outwards.” Because I don’t know how you do it: make the mundane totally entertaining, so I’m taking from you whatever advice I can get.  Again, not sucking up, even though it sounds like I am, just being honest.  Maybe too honest. And maybe pathetic.

  5. Diana Jordan says:

    I fully expect another Christmas card from you this year.  If I don’t get it, I may break into your house and pee on your floor along with the cat.

  6. Katjaneway says:

    Sorry DJ – I’m one of the reasons you’re down 30%!! I’m, going through some hefty shit right now, have horrible internet, and just haven’t felt like reading your blog and/or commenting. Not your fault. I’m just dealing with stuff. Sorwy 🙁

  7. breannaldh says:

    I’ve just started reading your blog in the last few weeks.  For some reason you showed up on Twitter as a follower. I have 8 followers now!  WOOHOO!  Have no idea who they are. !???
    Really enjoy how easy you are to read and how you talk about every day happenings that remind me of what goes on around here.  Looking forward to reading more and really would like a Christmas card, too!

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