Where does it all come from?

How I managed to write everyday for 61 days and counting…

Where does it come from? The ideas to write a blog every single day. For 100 days. Well, it’s the 61st day of writing every single day so I have made some conclusions. I was just talking with my younger sister and saying how the ideas usually just come to me throughout the day and I then know exactly what to write. Which is true. But there are also ways to look for them, intentionally. If I want to be a writer, I can’t tell my editor to wait until I feel inspired. Here are 3 simple ways that I look for and attract ideas.

Observing

I listen and I look. There is a difference with hearing vs listening. You can choose what you see, taste and touch, but you can’t really decide what you hear. Just because you heard something doesn’t mean you are actively listening. I like to listen and pay attention to what is going on around me because there is always a story around us.

Some blog posts have come from conversations I have had with my sisters that has set off a whole train of thought. Others have come from people watching and drawing conclusions from social behaviours. If you take time to stop, look and listen you can learn so much from what’s going on around you. Is there a new trend on the rise? Are denim jackets replacing trench coats as the jacket of Spring?

Read

Shocker, I’m a writer and I love to read. There is so much knowledge in books, it’s kinda crazy how easily we can access them. In the Carlos Alcaraz documentary, they said that when you meet someone you look up to, try to learn what took them 10 years in 10 seconds. What that means is, the people who took the time, took years to research and investigate an area of interest did the hard part — all you have to do is read it. It’s so simple right, yet we overlook the power of books. You want to know about medicine, read a book by a doctor. You want to know about mental health, read a book by a psychologist. The information is all there.

With my deadline coming up, I haven’t been able to read as much as I like to. It’s definitely something I am looking forward to once I submit (for the last time!) I don’t just read books related to fashion or media, it’s useful to read about other subjects too to inform your practice in new ways.

Write

Practice makes progress. One of the best pieces of advice I have heard, which is also one of the reasons why I am writing every day is: there is no such thing as writer’s block. Unfortunately, I can’t remember who said this, I think it was a TikTok video. They went on to explain that writer’s block can only happen if you expect every piece of writing to be perfect and if it’s not perfect then you won’t write. That’s not really a progressive attitude to have with a creative skill like writing. Not everything you write is going to win a Nobel Peace Prize, but you increase your chances the more you try. If only 10% of your writing is going to be great, it’s better to write 100 pieces rather than 10 right?

The more I write, the quicker I write, the more ideas flow to me and the better the execution is. You won’t know what areas to improve in unless you actually start — some things can only be learnt through practice.

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