Consistency Might Beat Quality
Day 19
Day 19 is here. Since I started my journey, I have attracted some followers and readers, but nothing earth-shattering. This, by they way, is fine by me. As I stated earlier, I’m doing this to work on my craft, not be famous. However, I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t matter at all if anyone reads. It does. I still stalk my stats like a jealous ex-lover. Why? I’m not sure. I think it’s because even one read or recommend gives me the confidence and a desire to keep going. It kind of says, “hey, this wasn’t for nothing.”
Since I’ve decided that I was going to post something every day, I knew it was unlikely that I would get as many reads, recommends or responses as my other posts. Before I started the challenge, my 2017 goal was to get out two articles a month. This was a more ambitious goal than last year (one article a month). However, the problem with that was that I didn’t have enough consistency in my process.
Here was my old process: I would work pretty hard on getting out the perfect article for a week or so at a time. I would edit and rewrite until I had something that I thought was worthy of the world. Once I satisfied my inner perfectionist, I would post it, submit it to a publication and share it on social media and anxiously wait to see what the world thought. Would it get 500+ recommends (that happened once) or two (my wife and dad)? But every time I would get out an article, I would be exhausted. I would tell myself “well you just got out that article, you should take a break, or at least just try to think deeply about what your next topic will be.” I put immense pressure on myself to top whatever article I just posted. This caused me to procrastinate. A day would turn into two or maybe a week (or four) and then I would start the process again once I thought, “holy crap it’s been too long since I’ve written something.”
Though I had the goal of two articles a month, I still was operating off of an “I’ll do it when I feel like it” mentality. I would get out an article early in the month and essentially take the rest of the month off until I freaked out and realized I needed my second one with a week (or day) to spare. Sometimes I got the second article out and other times I didn’t.
Now, the fact that I have to post something every day forces me to write, even when I don’t feel like. Even when I’m in crowded bar in Baltimore, trying to look socially engaged, but furiously typing on Medium to get out my post at 11:50PM. It forces me to write something, anything. It forces me to think when I don’t want to. It forces me to log into Medium every day. It forces me to be consistent, but also to get creative. It forces me to realize that I have something to say even if it’s nothing. And it makes me realize that even when it’s nothing to me, it might be something to someone. My process is now, no matter how I feel, I write something. And because I’m doing it more consistently, writing the bigger articles, doesn’t feel like such a chore.
But the biggest thing it taught me is that consistency beats quality. Since I started this journey, I’ve been invited to a new publication and considered a top writer in “Satire”. I’ve been a top writer in “Black Lives Matter” and “Racism” before, but it didn’t last long because I procrastinated on producing something else — anything else. I put too much pressure on myself. I let too many days go by when I didn’t write because the perfect idea and the perfect article never came. But it never will, so you might as well stop trying.
Consistently not striving for perfection is a beautiful thing. There were plenty of times when it was uncomfortable to post something, even 100 words, when I didn’t spend hours and hours on writing and rewriting it. My thoughts felt simple, boring and badly written. I felt unoriginal. Perhaps all of these things where true BUT I’ve also gotten a chance to feel other things through the process — honesty, vulnerability, and creativity. I’m slowly learning how to get out of my way. I’m OK with writing something that is raw and open. I’m OK with substituting honesty with perfection — and doing it consistently. I don’t judge myself as much when I write and it feels better. I give myself more grace. I’m learning to love myself more and it’s an awesome process. But it’s a process and you have to do it every day. You can’t share with the world if you’re too busy judging yourself. Feeling stupid.
Whatever you have to say, say it. There is a time and place to rewrite and edit. But if you don’t love yourself and your ideas first, no one else will, and you won’t produce a damn thing.
