The WIP Raven Post #1 I want to try a thing...
Work-in-Progress! A first attempt at a freer, more casual, creative blogging experience
I’ve always meant to do a blog, but I’d get caught up with the details, like the preparations and thought processes for publishing something ‘worthy’ on my main author website, or the lack of motivation to make ‘exclusive content’ for spaces like Ko-Fi. I would set out wanting to build something that would serve as an archive of my journey and progress as an author and/or illustrator, depending on which platform I’d be on, but then I would end up losing momentum. I’d lose the drive because there is either no good enough idea or it would take far too much work than is possible for me to do, and so I wind up having no new updates across the board on all platforms.
The key point here is my perfectionism.
Although I revel in the ideas stage, the execution gets stilted thanks to wanting or expecting something to be perfect. I realize now that I needed an outlet where I could share my creativity and works-in-progresses while allowing myself to spontaneous and messy about it.
The thing is, half the time I doubt a lot of my readers and the few followers I do have even read my Ko-Fi or Wordpress blog. That should take a lot of the pressure off my back, for one thing, instead of the sense of failure and disappointment for not driving in traffic. Why not try intentionally creating something for the sense of fun and to share with a shrug? Maybe it gets to someone, maybe it won’t? But it’s there, first, for me.
What I do like about all of these platforms is the idea of an ‘Archive’. An archive that would also serve as a personal portfolio.
I love journaling and documenting things. I love publications and I love portfolios. I love the idea of having this space where I could look back at stuff I did and be inspired to post and share more new stuff. I read on another creative’s personal blog before, the phrase ‘online playground’. That really struck me and has stayed with me since. I wanted that. I wanted to build something and have fun doing it.
This is the thing I’m building. The idea that it could be both a newsletter potential readers could subscribe to and a mini blog and archive are what convinced me. This is where I’ll share my WIPs, while also being a WIP.
So, now that you’re reading this, I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I’ll have much to offer other than the hope that you may find inspiration for your own creative pursuits and that we may try to build playgrounds together. Or if you might, by any chance, have gotten yourself here genuinely out of intrigue for the stories I write or want to look at my illustrations, then I’m honored.
It’s nice and cozy here. Welcome to the nest.
