Is starting a blog about writing just a way to procrastinate writing?
I could be writing right now.
Hello, welcome to my blog! My name is Rebecca, I’m an Irish writer who struggles to balance everyday life with writing. I’ve produced many short plays and even one or two full-length productions in the past, as well as ghost writing a few non-fiction books when I used to work as a freelance writer. These days, I work full-time in an unrelated sector and while I do still write, none of my work has made it out into the wider world in three or four years.
I’ve procrastinated starting a Substack for months, because there are so many expectations around starting any kind of “content creation”. Reasons I’ve used to procrastinate include:
I need a backlog of work so I can post regularly.
I need my life to be less hectic so I can dedicate a regular amount of time to this blog.
I should submit anything I write to competitions, journals, etc, before posting them here, meaning I need a few months’ buffer before anything gets posted (see point 1).
I need to build a presence on a social media platform first so people know about me as a writer if I want any subscribers. I joined Twitter to achieve this, but only lasted about three weeks before deleting it.
The entire time I thought these things, the writing I’ve completed has been sitting, unread, in folders on my computer. What I post here will have been read by one or two people at most, and that’s not why I write. I write because I have stories to tell, and I want to share them with people.
I’m currently working on a big project, so posts here will not be a daily (or even weekly) occurrence. However, at the sake of annoying The Great Algorithms That Be, I think that’s actually better for most people, because it gives time to actually read what’s published. I plan to post short stories, maybe some poetry, and some thoughts on media and writing practice in my life.
If you decide to read any of my work, please let me know! Leave a comment, send me a message, anything at all. Now that I’m finally releasing my work from their lonely virtual homes, I’d love to know if you enjoy what you read.