I have been away from this site for a couple of months. There are reasons for that but none of them really matter – I was busy. The truth is, I think I was also struggling with the pressure I was putting on myself.
If I put my mind to it, I can read pretty damn fast and that’s good for content. The problem with this is burnout, and I certainly experienced that.
To work past this burnout I decided to reread Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. I did not think much about it, I just did it.
No pressure to finish the book and no pressure to create content after I’d finished it. My aim was the simple one of enjoying the book. And I did.
There are content creators out there who can create something for everyday of the week. I am not saying that they find this easy, but I find it incredible that they can continue to upload their work at such a consistent standard and rate.
I’m envious of it, but I don’t think that kind of schedule works for me. Perhaps for a month or two in a row, but I soon give up as I run out of ideas. I have, however, had an idea.
One thing I have had to gently let myself believe is that I do not need to create something for everyday of the week. In fact, I don’t have to do anything.
This has always been something I have done for fun! It’s not a job. It’s not university work. It’s a hobby. So I need to treat it as such.
Imagine if I had spread the content released everyday for a months over the year, one post per week – for a longer month that would be 31 weeks.
I know that a post per week is completely manageable, and if something came up that I wanted to talk about which couldn’t wait, the odd week might even have two posts on it.
My point is that I am coming back to this site and I am going to start posting again, but I’m planning for it, so that no matter what happens, there will be something ready to post every week.
Rereading Gardens of the Moon has rekindled by love of talking about books and the fantasy genre. I will continue, I think, to reread the next two books in the series and then try to read all ten.
The difference this time is I am not pressuring myself with time. I can take as long as I like – just enjoy the experience of reading and talk about the books when I’m ready.
I don’t know what day these posts will come out – perhaps Thursdays! – but I have not planned any just yet and I refuse to rush one for next week if I don’t have one.
Two weeks, however, is more than enough time. And I am going to take my time as slow as I like.
