Hello World

There you go.

I have used the world’s most generic title to get this blog/essay or whatever this is, going. Phew! This feels great.

I started my “Medium” account back in 2017 and has published only one article since then. There are many people like me who have a medium account, who can write but are never able to commit some words that they feel is worth publishing. There could be a million reasons for it, but I think all such reasons can be condensed into two things — fear and perfectionism.

The funny thing here is that I am a professional content writer. I sit and write almost every day like clockwork for others and I love doing it. But whenever I sit to write for myself I cannot do it. I find it hard and confusing. There is always a fear of judgement, of making errors, of sharing something that is wrong. It is as if the one article I write becomes the measure of who I am as a person. The same fear repurposes itself as perfectionism, that every word I write must be perfect, error-free, and quotable.

When I work for a client I know what they want and the results they seek. So it becomes a routine, a concrete task of writing something and polishing it till it meets the desired result. And in that mode, I know I cannot be perfect and I try to be as good as I can be at that moment. Clients are more than happy with what I provide because “perfect” does not exist. In stark contrast to this, when I make the effort to write for myself, I simply cannot pick a topic or define realistic goals.

I have this compulsion to write about everything I find interesting. Then, even when I start writing after choosing a topic, I seldom finish it. I either get bored of it or I feel like writing something entirely different. This is my problem. And I like to think this is a universal problem most writers face.

I have had enough of this! I am tired of this personal drama. So, here I am writing this as a prologue to my writing challenge. It is time to say bye-bye to my debilitating perfectionism. This a pledge that I will write for myself as I would write for any of my clients. There will be just one topic, a first draft, a revision and the final piece.

I have no idea what I should be writing about! Nevertheless, I will start now. I will consume, experiment, elaborate, condense or connect ideas through my writing practice. There is only one promise; one published article every week, here in “Medium”. As Nike ads keep telling me, it is time to “Just Do It”.

Wish me luck!