I've been doing a podcast for 65 days now!

It was easy, in a way, when I first got started. Because it was new, and I crave new. Something I have not done before. I have no clue how to do. It was challenging because I wanted to do it every day.

Then, it started to feel like a chore. A burden. One more thing I HAVE to do instead of I WANT to do.

There were gaps. On days when I found it overwhelming - though my podcasts were simple and short. Oh, this "first world" problem I was facing. How ridiculous, superficial and self-centered. It's just a podcast about writing prompts. Something that was supposed to encourage me to write everyday.

Why do I need encouragement to do something I love?

Because although I love writing, I just don't always feel comfortable sharing my writing. Why? Maybe it's not always polished, good, eloquent, interesting. Ha! I thought. Really, you are taking yourself and your writing far too seriously. So I looked for ways to make the process easier to the bits that were holding me back.

1. I decided to use three random words as prompts - as opposed to looking for prompts online. It gave the challenge originality and reduced my search time online.
2. I'm writing to these prompts in my journal. Something about pen and paper keeps me alive. Plus I have all these nuggets of writing in a place where I don't need to save to cloud or back-up.
3. I'm taking my prompt writing journal with me everywhere, so I have no excuse and I can write my ten minutes anytime during the day.
4. I figured out how to make a podcast template so I can paste in the day's podcast without having to do the intro, outro and background music every time.
5. Understanding why this feels like a burden, an external pressure that does not exist externally but sits in my head, I knew my writing does not have to be excellent every time. Or even at all. Nor will it please me or anyone/everyone else all the time. Plus, these are practice runs and I don't have to prove myself to myself as I've published a great deal of my work already.

Are you a writer? Are you writing? Subscribe to my podcast here and here. 
Love
xxx
Fadwa

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