12 Days of it does not need to be perfect – Is the pursuit of perfection blocking your creative blogging outlet?

On the 12^th day of Christmas …, oh wait Christmas is over! So is 2016. Wait I think I missed the gap to put up my New Year’s resolutions. But before January completely ticks by and I like totally miss that too …

Writing consistently, keeping a blog supplied with regular content is not as easy as it seems. Life is demanding of a mother, wife, woman, employee, … . What with so many things demanding to be done right now, is it really such a surprise? Yesterday I did not even get time to make proper lunch or dinner.

That is not the only problem. Don’t worry this is not going into a long rant about my problems as to why this blog does no receive more regular content. The only reason I mention it, is, that I know I’m not alone. I know t as a blogger and writer to grow an audience; you need to connect with your reader on a personal level. The only way to do that is to be human. i.e. be relatable. That sounded really technical, boring, and somewhat manipulating.

You see, I know quite a few things about building an audience, writing better blog posts, etc., etc. . I subscribe to several blogs which blog exclusively on this subject. And these would be major blogs with hundreds of thousands and even millions of readers. I go to the Pro’s when I look for blog advice. Not that I’m judging any regular ol’ blogger for posting blog advice, as many do. I too used to write much on the subject. We each have our own blogging goals, methods to our own personal blogging madness etc. but I’m not going to go into blogging tips and tricks, or even writing tips here, because let me face it; after three years of blogging I have very little to show for it. My only accomplishment so far has been that I’ve not yet quit this hobby.

I’m getting side tracked. It is not often that I allow my thoughts free rein. Don’t you just hate being interrupted every time you try to string together two thoughts? If it’s not my own thoughts getting in my way, my children interrupt me at every second sentence. All of which is not the point of this post.

Learning as much as possible about writing, blogging and all other things that go along with that, such as Social Networking, SEO, correct grammar, etc. etc. (I’m using that abbreviation way too much in this post) as I can muster in my limited time over the last few years; has pulled a plug on my creative spirit and basically drained this blog of content.

That entire paragraph has been way too wordy. Did you even get the jest of it?

Suddenly it has not merely become about writing a blog post, but about writing a super excellent blog post. A blog post so divine it’s better than death by chocolate cake.

It is the kind of perfection, which takes hours to compile. After all, one does not simply take over the internet by compiling dull blog posts.

No, that one is too short. That’s too unoriginal. That’s too long. That’s too boring. That’s too mundane. Who’d even be interested in reading five words of that? Wait I’ve got to go do this, that, that, and that other thing. Tick, tock – no writing published for this week the next week and the entire moth.

You get the core of the problem?

To overcome this little hurdle, I’ve come up with my one and only blogging New Years resolution.

I’m calling it:

12 Days of it does not need to be perfect.

While in school, I took five years of art class. My teacher (who was also art shop owner) once told me that I have a really unique talent. She hoped that I would not quit art after school, but that I would continue.

To me, my abstract works looked like rubbish. Pale in comparison to the fine art my mother is capable of. There is no market for art in these parts. I’ve never been able to put it too much use. Don’t get me wrong you learn a lot when you study art, and not just which colors go well with each other. You learn, problem solving, to think outside the box. The creative part of your brain gets a workout. However, my artwork will never be perfect. My still-life’s will never look like the real thing. My self-portraits don’t even look like me.

My writing will never be perfect either. Writing like art is a creative outlet. And part of blogging is not to compile works of perfection, but to develop your own unique writers voice, to see what connects with people, to have fun.

Hence, I will schedule 12 posts this year, one for every moth. In other words, one for January, one for February, one for March – you get the idea. I should be able to schedule 12 posts this year – I hope. In an ideal world, I’d have typed them all up already and have scheduled them. Nevertheless, this is called 12 Days of it does not need to be perfect, for a reason. I can’t manage the blogging ideal.

These won’t be part of any blogging prompt or any other link up.

These random posts, while seeming perfectly sound, normal and acceptable will fit into my category of:

It does not need to be perfect. At the end of each post, I’ll ping back to this one.

I’m just blogging here. It could be poetry, prose, You Tube videos, memorable quotes – you get the picture.

Once I’ve scheduled my December post – and I find that I still have more time and ideas etc. I’ll just post it.

If this idea resonates with you, feel free to join me in my pursuit of non-perfection. You can ping back (or drop a link in the comments) here or to any of the other posts throughout the year. Although I’m not expecting too much of a response. Most bloggers don’t have a problem scheduling these random what not’s. If you do however join me, I’ll at least try to tweet your post.

I don’t really like writing posts merely for the purpose of having created content. I will still pursue the goal of it being somewhat of benefit to anyone who stumbles across the post. Most likely, all these posts will fall into the very broad niche of blogging I am writing here. (You can read all about that on my About Page)

The first day of “it does not need to be perfect” will hopefully be scheduled some time during mid-January. I’ve already drafted something, actually a poem which inspired this entire idea.

If you have stuck with me through these thousand plus words, I thank you. May it be of benefit!

P.S. Happy New Year!

About the Author

Sarina often sat on the peaks of the dunes of Southern Africa watching the ocean tide drift in. A daydreamer, often dreaming up stories for lands somewhere over the rainbow. She is a mother, a wife, a blogger and an overall creative spirit. Above all, she is a human being.