I'm At A Crossroad
After completing the full year of posting, alongside 94 other members of Hive, I thought that would be it. I thought that I'd breathe a sigh of relief, and old Lightning McKeys would drop the streak, and leave it there. Yet, here I am. 3 days into year 2, and still writing.
Writer's Block Is For Wimps
This is something I heard before, not that exact phrase, but something similar to it. I can't remember who it was who said it during an interview or spoken word.
They were speaking about writer's block, the dreaded thought that fills authors, writers, and bloggers with anxiety. The same thing can show itself in a slightly different form, affecting musicians, and video content creators. Essentially anything that requires dedication and creativity.
Anyway, during the interview, the person said how they don't believe writer's block exists, and instead believes that forcing yourself to write and doing it on command is the difference between being an amateur and a professional.
They basically said that they see it as an excuse and used the parallel between someone going to their 9-5 job, who goes regardless of wanting to, and they work even though they may not feel like it that day.
When I heard this it came at a really good time - literally just before joining Hive.
At that time I had a bit of writer's block. I had a project I was working on, and while I had put a lot into the project, there was a point where it fell, and my enthusiasm to write waned. 1 week not looking at it turned into 2, then a month, and you get the idea. The digital folder gathered digital dust. The niggling feeling to do some work on it was still there though, prodding me.
Breaking The Block
At this point, I'd like to say that I heard those harsh words of wisdom and grabbed the laptop, triumphantly finishing the story by sunrise and fist-pumping the air.
Nope. I just thought about doing it, and imagined myself picking up the laptop. Then a few days later, as those words echoed in my mind, I went back to it and completed the first draft of the novel. Did I publish it? Nope. See, originally I wrote it as 10 screenplays, which made up 10 episodes of the first season of this cool idea I had. When I finished it I said, who am I? Nobody. No one is going to buy this. But, if I write it as a novel, maybe I could publish it, and then I could potentially get this TV show. That's what I did.
Let me say, re-writing something from a screenplay to a novel is one of the most brutal things I've ever done. Finishing something huge, only to start from scratch again was a killer too, and that ordeal made me never want to write again.
Then I found Hive.
The Crossroad
Hive rejuvenated my love of writing. When I found the place it was about 3 months before writing anything fiction-based, but when I started to do so, my writer's block - in regards to writing fiction - was completely gone.
Being here, and doing last year cemented that old conversation I heard about writer's block. It's possible to control how much you write, and it's possible to get out of a slump.
But, bringing things back to the crossroads I'm at.
I'm 3 days into my second year, and I feel like I can't stop, and that I don't want to stop. I want to continue writing, and I want to keep going. There are other things I want to do, and I feel like the time spent writing could be better spent doing the other things, so I'm stuck.
I thought about it yesterday, and a few things are stopping me from getting started with the videos I want to make.
I have a good camera, I have good lighting, as well as a space to do it in, but the only thing stopping me is the fact that I need to paint the wall opposite my desk, then hang some shelving - which will make for a display area and a pretty snazzy background - as well as shelving, I'm mounting some helmets on the wall above the main display. Apart from that stuff, there are a couple of smaller things I need to do too.
It's going to be so sick, and I'm going to share it when it's done and ready to reveal.
Anyway, these small things I need to do, which will get done over the next few weeks when I buy what I need. Until then, I'm going to keep the steak going, and post, since I'm not ready to do the other stuff for a little while.
There's also the novella that is nearly finished, that's another reason why I want to keep this momentum up. Get that finished, and then compile all of the separate parts into one file, and start doing an edit of it all, before handing it off the a pro to edit, and publish.
!LOL
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Congrats on doing a whole year of posts. I'm impressed so many people managed that.
I think it's great to build good habits, but I've decided I don't need the pressure of keeping up a 'streak'. I have a long one on Duolingo, but I can still skip some days when I have 'freezes' stored up.
I am motivated by things I enjoy, but still need to push myself to get on with them. Of course getting rewards on Hive is an extra incentive, but I am at a stage where I do okay anyway. I want to see lots more people get that benefit and so I think this year needs to include some recruitment. If we can each bring in a couple more people it will make a difference.
Have a great year!
!BEER
I think recruitment will be far easier this year, and next year with the upcoming Bull run. I've been seeing a hell of a lot of Crypto-centric content, which has a focus on projects, and coins to invest in, so I think Hive will and should be a big part of that. TikTok seems to be a good outlet to discuss these things, so putting some emphasis on that platform may help. I know X has a lot of community members posting, and replying to people, so that surely will help too.
On a personal level, I think discussing Hive with friends and family is a great way to at least get people to know about it, even if they don't immediately join. Over the last two years I've spoken to everyone about the place and so far have brought my sister, mum, two friends from the cover band, and a mate of mine, who then got his partner. Of all of the people I've brought in my mate is the only one who posted the most. My sister makes YouTube videos, and I'm trying to get her to publish them on 3Speak, because some of them are really good, and it might be a way to get her to see it as a viable option and another place to post her stuff, she hasn't yet though, but I'm still encouraging her. My uncle and cousin have a YT channel too, and they make model/ historical videos, and I've been telling them about Hive and 3Speak too. I think being able to earn a few bob through posting on 3Speak would be great for small channels on YT who don't earn anything yet, and it could be a great way to encourage them to keep making videos and posting.
I don't use TikTok and am not on other platforms much. I just have some friends on FB.
I don't see an issue with people posting YT videos on Hive as that's easy. They just need to add some text and respond to any comments. We need to build a network of people who share interests.
My kids have accounts, but don't use them so I set them up with some delegation so they can earn from curation. I just don't know too many people who are creating a lot of online content. At least most of my band have accounts, but they are not too active here.
Of course man, it's better to get people here who will not only post their content but also respond and actually integrate into the Hive community. I found after joining here that it's very different than other social media platforms because it feels more like we're all a part of the same team, unlike something like Instagram, Facebook, YT, X, or TikTok. There's much more community spirit, and I think getting people here, and into some Discord servers would be a good way of letting them discover it.
I do agree with the thing I heard off Wes when I first joined Hive and the terminal, he said "I came for the money, and stayed for the community." It's so true, and I think anyone who actually joined here would feel that same way. I've always admitted that the idea of getting paid for blogging was the reason I joined and started writing, but as the weeks went on and I got to meet people, that idea totally changed.
The audience here is tiny, but they may be more engaged than on other platforms. It could be different when we have millions, but that's a long way off.
Yeah, it's a small audience, but maybe for video makers, it would be easier to accumulate a following since there isn't a hell of a lot of competition to compete with.
A few months ago Leo got 250k to onboard people and market Hive, has that come to fruition yet do you know? I haven't heard much about it.
I know there was some talk about an onboarding campaign, but I've not seen details of whether it worked.
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I definitely can relate to this. I don't have the dedication you do for writing every day, but I have been writing and creating a lot of stuff that just ends up not making it to HIVE. Some is because of potential player spoilers for my dnd world and game, and some is because I've been trying to keep my Starforged play going through just writing it in a physical notebook.
But even with that, I find I've got plans for video series on ttrpgs that I haven't been setting up for the same reason as you.
I am excited to see your new setup when it is finished!
That's the thing man, I really want to get started off the videos on a good foot. While I know most people wouldn't really mind a messy background, I'd rather it be right from the get-go. Even though I really enjoy seeing people I follow change up their setup over the years and expand.
I'm just really lucky that I've been able to find the time to write each day, but had I not joined Hive I think I could have gone the complete other way and just stopped with the fictional writing altogether, which I'm so glad I didn't.
Your videos are going to be sick, and I'm eagerly awaiting them dude!
!LUV
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My brain is so use to it, like a vice, once you start you can't stop, I haven't suffered much from that writer's blockage in a while, what works against me is the time, the day to day, irl stuff frustrates me, I'm trying to manage my time better and rest more, thats something that works for me too, good resting
Yeah, I'm the same, I need to focus more on taking the time to just rest and shut off my mind. I used to play Xbox with friends but over the last few months, I haven't been doing that.
It's awesome to see someone set a goal and reach it by stepping up to the plate every single day. I write every day as well, I just don't always do it on Hive.
I've rarely had to deal with a bout of writers block, my problem is the opposite. I prefer long-form content, which is not favored here on Hive. Some of my best posts were long ones over 1000 words, which almost no one read.
They were accounts of events that helped me grow as a person, such as the time I almost fell overboard while in the Navy. I spent months piecing together the post Life is Precious #8 - The Night I Almost Died, Yet Learned To Live... (part 1 of 2). It was very emotional to re-live that terrifying moment, and while only one person read it at the time, I wanted to get it out on the blockchain, and was glad I wrote it down and got it out in case it might be helpful in inspiring someone else trying to surmount life's difficulties.
Yet if you write short posts, they say they're "low effort" so you can't win. So I've cut back on the long 'Epic Posts' and just try to share writings that fall somewhere in the middle, in this the new TikTok age.
So yes, I completely agree that writing on a regular basis can make one a better, sharper, writer over time (whether anyone sees it or not).
Yesterday I watched an interview with the star of my favorite series called Jerry Seinfeld Knows He Is Funny and Doesn't Want Your Feedback. The portion on his writing habits starts at the 3:36 mark, and even though he's talking about stand-up, it has applications for Hive blog posts and writing in general.
I have what I call a "Writers Bucket" "post" which is well over 5K words that I add to from time to time. It's not meant for publication, it's a writers "exercise area" that I can fill completely unfiltered whenever an idea strikes me, much in the way a comic tries out a new bit onstage.
Things that I learn from those sessions, find their way into future blog posts once they've been fully fleshed out in "The Bucket." So even though I haven't posted very often recently, I'm still writing, and loving every minute of it, and I know you are too! :)
Being able to reach long-term goals is great, I had a few this year that I'm pleased to have reached, two of which were based on Hive, I wanted to earn 10k HP, and earn the daily posting badge, which I managed to do, so that filled me with a lot of confidence and joy.
I've seen some really low-effort posts, consisting of 150 or so words, but they can tend to do well which is kind of bizarre to me, especially when I see posts of 1000+ words - that clearly took hours/ days to write - getting $1 or less. It's sad to see, but there could be many reasons for it, sometimes people just don't see them, or they may not have the time to read something large at that moment.
TikTok brain could certainly be a thing. I always heard that after 750 words people retention drops, so keep posts between 350-750 words. Sometimes it's tough to edit yourself down to such a size, so maybe it would be better to do them as multi-part posts of 500ish words, although, I've noticed that there's an issue with multipart content, which is people don't really like to come into something on the 3rd, 4th, or 5th part. That sounds really interesting though dude, I'll go and check it out.
The Writers Bucket is such a cool idea, like a digital journal. It's great to have something like that to be able to pull some inspiration from when unsure of what to write about on a particular day. I tend to write notes in a physical notebook, or notepad on the computer. Just when I get ideas for stories or things I'd like to discuss in the future.
Congratulations on getting that 365 days streak of writing!
For me, writer's block often comes about when I transition from one form/way of writing to another. I have to adjust to this new way of writing and this is what actually keeps me from writing anything at all. But when I get the hang of it and the flow is engaged, it's hard to stop.
Good luck on your projects and have a wonderful 2024 :)