One of the things that I’ve discovered over the last 10 years as a writer and blogger is that I’m more passionate about the topics that I write about more than the act of writing itself.
This might seem a bit obvious to many of you or it may even surprise to a few but it’s true – I am a writer only insofar as the fact that I write but I am not actually head-over-heals in love with act of writing itself.
Hah! I realize that this fact might reduce your respect of me in your eyes but it’s the truth – I love technology, I love WordPress, I love software engineering, and I love blogging, but I’m not passionately in love with writing like so many authors and writers out there.
Does that even make sense? (I hope so…)
What I have discovered is that I’m more in love with the discipline of writing or the art of growing in knowledge, wisdom, and skill of a certain particular gift and/or strength. This applies to many things in my life as I simply love the act of improving and forward motion in whatever I’ve committed myself to.
In fact, you could have guessed this about me if you knew me in High School as my Senior Quote in the yearbook was this:
Kaizen.
Yup, one single word! This is a Japanese word that I picked up in Middle School (while I lived in Japan) and I instantly fell in love with the word and the meaning as it represented much of who I was and how I saw the world: Continuous Improvement.
And I think this is true of many people as many of us desperately want to see progress in the things that they do both professionally and recreationally – whether they are getting paid to do whatever they do is not the end goal or even the entire core motivation!
We all want to improve our writing but it can become frustrating when we feel like we “should” love the act of writing and when we don’t we may feel inadequate or like we “missed” something or that we’re disappointing our readers (and ourselves) because we don’t match some cultural or historical expectation.
I think this is unreasonable and unfair! We are such a diverse group of people and we all write and blog for different reasons, sometimes because we see blogging as a means to a larger end or a vehicle for marketing our true passion and connecting with other like-minded invididuals and businesses. I think these are just as legit a reason to write and blog as it is to write and blog because you love to write and… blog!
But I write because I love the discipline of writing. I write because I love to educate others on how to become better bloggers. I write because I love to hear the success stories of people who use the strategies that I share, who use the products that I freely share, and who can leverage the perspectives and experiences that I’ve had to their advantage.
That is satisfying. That is satisfaction. That is “writing” for me. That is discipline and that’s what matters the most. Writing for me is not a passion – it’s a committed discipline to make a difference in people’s lives.
And that’s a sustainable and long-term motivation that’ll keep me here for a long, long time. That’s why I’m committed to writing every single day of the year, even if I don’t actually publish anything.
What about you? Is this a different perspective on blogging? Is this a fair one?
This is pretty much how I feel about writing too.
It’s encouraging to know that I’m not the only one.
On another note I have never heard of the word Kaizen but I’ll be using it more often.
The Japanese culture of discipline, excellence and honor has always fascinated me.
I’ve learned a lot from some great books on their culture.
awesome! glad you picked up a great word!
I feel similarly. I understand my writing (and even blogging) as “art.” As such, I have lots of artistic outlets that I enjoy, and writing is just one of them.
But, it’s artistically getting across what I’m trying to convey that I’m passionate about. It’s the message, not necessarily the medium. If I can get it across with some writing, great. Photography, great. Poetry, fine too. Speaking, wonderful.
But, it’s the “conveying the message” that feeds me.
Thanks for the inspiration!
sure thing rick!
i enjoy working on the message more than the writing!
This is the article I needed to read to get me refocused. Great stuff John.
sure thing joshua! thanks man1
Great thoughts.
I think your concept of kaizen goes against our culture in some ways. I hear a lot of folks say, “I’m just not good at this,” or “I’m not wired that way.” (I say it myself!)
The truth is, when we say that, we are just saying we don’t want to improve. And that’s fine. We don’t have the time and energy to get better at everything.
But we should at least be honest with ourselves. Even if we don’t have natural ability in an area, with discipline, we CAN improve. This is liberating!
i like operating in my strengths, just like many people… but i know that even strengths require a lot of work.
Writing is my passion, and blogging is kind of the side event that lets me talk about it some. (I’ve also moved back into games, which all seems to be working out really well!)
But I understand the point, and it’s the improvement I love more than anything.
that’s awesome patrick! glad that you do!
I’ve been writing since I was very young. The difference being that up until very recently I’ve never shared it with anyone unless they were very close to me. In other words there is only one other person on the planet right now that has read most of the 30+ years worth of material I’ve written.
For me this is truly life changing, becoming more than I was. So, yes, I guess I’m fairly passionate about writing at this time and I think I’m getting better at it…
love it michael! i’m glad you’ve got that fire!
I enjoy writing, but that’s not why I write. I write because I like to teach. I like the feeling of those “aha” moments when someone actually understands me, my heart and my passions. Whether it is communicating on a stage to 600 people or 50 students… communication is why I write. This keeps me moving forward as well.
Thanks John for the reminder.
justin,
i feel the same way…! teaching is in my blood! i love that “aha!” moment!
You really hit the nail on the head for how I feel as well. To be truthful, I like public speaking much more than writing. But I’ve noticed that writing regularly challenges me to step up my game. I’ve got to process information and think deeply about the subjects I blog about – and that’s the real benefit to me.
I think you took the words right out of my mouth Loren! Agreed!
do you do public speaking a lot?
Not related specifically to the blog or my desired niche, but I have done some teaching and preaching type things before and loved them. But I hope someday to speak often on my niche!
sweet! do you have videos?
I fully agree with you! I realized that I am not that passionate about writing when I joined Creative Writing Workshop. I have so many creative people who can write beautiful stories in 5 minutes. I am not like that. I like to write something useful, like you say: “teach people”. I am not a fiction writer for sure.
was this a local writing workshop?
I think you’ve given me a new favorite word: kaizen! I’ve always thought of it this way: In nature, if a fruit or vegetable isn’t growing, it’s rotting. There’s not “maintaining”. As soon as it stops growing, it starts dying. The same applies with us.
Kaizen!
awesome! enjoy it! love the word.
I am so glad to hear that I am not alone!!
hah! sure thing jon!
I don’t think you’re alone. I still feel that way and having a schedule helps (still working on that one). I highly recommend the book “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott. She talks about what it’s like to be a writer…and she describes it as a painful, difficult experience briefly interrupted by periods of boredom and delight. A great, hilarious and insightful read!
steve,
thanks for this. i’m going to check out that book……!