What's Holding Me Back From Blogging

What has been holding me back from blogging? Time and the wasting of it. I have yet to quit my day job and do this full time, I have two kids, and I am the only driver in my house. Excuses, excuses. The list can go on and on if I let it, which I used to.The fact is that I have at least a couple of hours each day and a few more on the weekends, but I have chosen  to use methods that have worked for me in the past. Methods I learned before the whole Web 2.0 and Blog Explosion, because they are safe and they have worked. 

So I am basically scared of something new when my family depends on every cent I make. Didn't used to be that way. Families change things. But it is time to shut off crybaby, whiner boy for a while, keep my current irons in the fire, and start writing. I love writing. I kept a journal from the time I was 14 until my first job beat hope for a future in it out of me. Back then I read Natalie Goldberg's book Writing Down the Bones, which I highly recommend to anyone who writes anything. I have two copies, just in case I misplace one of them.

Then there is the fear that I can't write like I used to. After a few months of learning Natalie's methods, I could pick up a notebook and start writing in an instant. With work worry, money worry, chores that have to done, and all the other things that have filled the hours of my day, can I really unwind enough to write something worth reading. I know I can do the writing part. If I had too, I could write, "My blog sucks" 100 times. But the "worth reading" part? Who knows?

No one. That's who. And that's the same guarantee you have with everything in life.

Then there is the fear of exposing myself. These are my words. People will know what I think. Automated submissions, generic blog posts, and open source content really hide the guy behind the computer. Now I have to come out and sink or swim.

So why do I want to take this challenge? Because I have reached a ceiling with all of my past techniques. There is not enough time to make as much money as I want off the internet with them. No matter how much I track or try to streamline the process. And I have done it before. Shortly after I moved from Ebay to online marketing, I challenged myself to write 30 articles in 30 days after reading the book The Daring Young Man on The Flying Trapeze by William Saroyan.

He had finally gotten tired of writing stories that weren't getting published. He was going to attack. He wrote a short story a day for 30 days and submitted them to Story magazine. In the end, he had not only been published but had a book deal for every one of the stories. He went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. When put under pressure, even self imposed, the human mind will accomplish the goal.

I too accomplished my goal back then. I submitted each article I wrote to article announcement lists and in the end, I had hundreds of backlinks pointing to my site. This was in the days before Weblog became Blog and before Article Marketing was flooded with useless filler content. I am ready for this and thanks for the push, John. And sorry for the whole stream of consciousness thing.:)

Anyone else want to write 20 articles over the next 20 days?

What’s Holding You Back from Blogging? | John Chow dot Com