This is how I started my writing journey back in 2010. It wasn’t my first time writing; I had loved writing since childhood. But this year, I committed to myself that I would write daily for at least 2 hours, from 8 am to 10 am. Did I follow through? Not always. But whenever I had time and was free in the morning, I felt a nudge to write. What’s the benefit of it? As a result, I wrote sometimes when I might not have otherwise.
Sometimes, I feel like I can’t write. My mind goes blank. Even then, I try to write whatever comes to mind. Often, I end up repeating the boring things I do—the same routine, again and again. You know why? Because we are human; we do many things every day. It’s our life. This is how life goes. As humans, we don’t have exceptional stories every day. Who looks at you every day? Who notices it? Only those who see you daily will understand that your day is different from the previous one. You’ll realize it too because there is a huge difference. It’s very hard work.
What are you an expert at? You can find it once, but you can’t find a new chapter every day. It’s the reality. You are a person, not a Hollywood blockbuster movie. You have your own life. Share this with your diary. You don’t need to organize every single word. Just write. Sometimes you won’t be able to think of anything new about your daily life. You might realize you did the same thing yesterday, even if it feels different. You know why? Because it’s a new day. You approached the task as an individual, which makes you different from others. Some things may be similar to others today, but overall, nothing is a carbon copy. You are just living your life. It’s not a research paper where you need to cite every single line, whether in APA or Harvard style. Isn’t that true? Something can be connected to something else. Something meaningful might happen at the end of the day. It matters when it carries meaning. That’s it.
If you write 100 new words daily, it doesn’t always make sense. There’s no point in using meaningless words. For example, suppose I now write ten completely different words than I’ve used so far: oranges, apples, sky, sea, white, black, sun, moon, donkey, pudding, pen, tea. Now tell me, what’s the meaning of these new words as a new experience? It’s different from what I wrote in my first couple of paragraphs. There were many similar words I used. But with my own experience, even if I use the same words, they still carry meaning. That’s what I’m saying. Every day is unique, even if you do the same task on a new day.