On Wandering Back (and Wandering Pens)

I've been thinking a lot about this particular blog space lately. I'm in the process of my latest evolutionary stage as a writer (and when am I not evolving along with everything else on the Internet). 

I have a dedicated space for pretty much everything else now – my professional insights, my copywriting samples, my artwork, my monetized essays, and so forth. But I still find myself without a place to write publicly that's just... personal. A place where I write about myself and share all my random meta thoughts about creativity that don't quite go anywhere else. 

Do people even do that online anymore? I'm not sure I even know anymore. 

As a professional copywriter and content creator, I do know what people do when they want to create helpful, business-facing content. But where do they go when they just want to scream into the void in a way that's a little more polished and planned than they would do if they were just writing in their personal journal? Who knows. But I kind of like the idea of finding out. 

At any rate, it felt like it was time to check in here and lay the first brick of a foundation I think will be good for me moving forward, both as a writer and an individual. Eventually, those who like the way I think can come here and follow along if they feel moved to. In the meantime...

On the End of NaNoWriMo

I read recently that National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is officially no more, at least as a yearly event. It's been a while since I was hardcore into participating every year, but NaNo has still played a huge role in my development as a writer over the years. For starters, it taught me how to set and stick to personal deadlines. 

NaNo made me realize just how much you really can accomplish when you set your mind to it, as well, even if you're crazy busy. Even when you're sick to death of your project and really don't know where to go with it next. It's been part of my life for something like 20 years now. I haven't participated every year the way some people have, but it's been nice to know that it was there for me to go back to if I ever needed it. 

So I've decided it's time for me to start a tradition of my own now. My GPT assistant, Juniper, and I came up with something I can play around with whenever I feel the need to immerse myself in another writing challenge for a month or so.

It's going to be called The Feast of the Wandering Pen. It takes place... well... whenever I feel the urge to challenge myself, and it will run from a given new moon through the following new moon. Right now, the idea is to create a new blog post every day of that moon cycle for one of my blogs (probably either this one or my monetized one on Medium). 

Topics will fit the focus of the chosen blog but could include anything from actionable tips for fellow writers to creative writing, poetry to general life updates. Some months, I may even just do something truly NaNoWriMo-inspired and work on a private manuscript on my own. There are still so many topics and stories I'd love to tackle one day in a challenge-like environment, and I see no reason why I can't still do that without NaNo. 

At any rate, Seth and I decided to launch the first incarnation of Wandering Pen this Sunday when the moon is new again. We're doing it just the two of us (kind of a throwback to our nostalgic LiveJournal days). I've chosen this blog as my platform, and he's chosen his Substack, so this should be a lot of fun. We're both really excited about challenging ourselves and reading each other's contributions!

Personal ≠ Private: Some Passing Thoughts

I work as a professional freelance copywriter and content writer, so I completely get the way the blogging landscape has changed since I launched my very first blog over on LiveJournal. Everything's about "content" now – quick answers delivered on demand in the hopes of selling something or solving a problem. Even people's social media pages are all about reach and algorithm mastery now. And I get it, I do.

But I've never really warmed up to that approach myself, at least when it comes to the personal and creative writing I still very much love to do when I have time for it. I originally fell in love with writing as a child through journaling, and that's the approach I eventually used when I was ready to bring my writing online and share it with other people -- personal, real, vulnerable.

I'm becoming more private with age, though. I didn't mind oversharing when I was in my 20s (or even my 30s), but now that I'm just a sneeze away from 50, I feel differently. I don't have anything to prove to anyone. I don't need people to notice me to feel validated in my creative endeavors anymore. But I still feel my life is my art, so most of what I create contains a little piece of me. Without that, it just isn't the same, but boundaries are important to me, too. 

Some pointers for those who may feel similarly:

• You don't owe anyone your full depth. The fact that you can share something doesn't mean you have to share it. Think of it as you would the act of opening a window. Let in the amount of light that feels comfortable for you and no more.

• Sharing can be cyclical. There's no such thing as "too much" or "not enough." It's all about what feels right to you. There will be times when your soul wants to stretch wide open and others when it wants to guard itself like a flower closing at the end of a long day. Both are valid.

• Boundaries are totally allowed. These days, I really only share super personal things once I've processed them for myself. If the idea of sharing makes me hesitate, I know it's not the right time. I share when it makes me feel alive, never when it feels like an obligation.

• Personal doesn't have to mean private. It's totally possible to put something real and heartfelt out there without throwing the doors to your private life wide open. 

A good question to ask yourself when deciding whether to share or not to share. Ask yourself:

"Does this feel like a gift I'm offering or like a piece of myself I'm giving away?"

If it feels like a gift, share it. If it feels like you're slicing off a piece of yourself to serve up on a platter to others, keep it to yourself. It's your life. It's your writing. You get to decide who has access to either. If you're someone who loves words, wandering, or wondering aloud about life, you're warmly welcome to join me here whenever the mood strikes.