Forget the big idea
I finished "Show Your Work" by Austin Kleon (the follow-up to Steal Like an Artist) on my commute home last night and was struck by one thing in particular, one image amongst all the words:
It isn't even in the actual book, but in the section at the end showing ideas that didn't make the cut.
This single image speaks directly to me.
How many times have I written that I can't have big ideas, only little ones, and beaten myself up for it as though it is some kind of failure.
A sense of realisation kicked in, a minipiphany: what is a blog if not a succession of little ideas. With enough time those little ideas can combine into something bigger, patterns can form and threads emerge, a big idea will start to grow on its own. It's why I had considered gathering a number of my #write365 pieces into some form of collection.
If a blog is a series of little ideas does that make it a failure?
Only if you don't post!
@colinwalker great reminder, thanks for posting!
@colinwalker At work we tend to say “many small things” to let us break down things into manageable connected pieces to allow better focus on each. Never thought about applying the same thinking to my blog to allow the larger themes to appear. Thank you for your post.
@cm Thanks Chad. I guess, seeing that in print was a much needed validation.