#oneaday Day 968: Silence to 1K

As I draw ever closer to that elusive “1,000 daily posts” combo it becomes more and more difficult to think of things to write about each day. I’m very conscious of the fact that I have already repeated myself on several occasions as well as spent several posts on a number of topics where one would have perhaps sufficed (hello, Katawa Shoujo) but I have no regrets as to how things have gone so far.

I’m not saying there aren’t 968 different things in the world to write about, obviously, it’s whether or not I can say anything coherent about them — and whether or not I can actually think of any of them when it comes to time to write this blog, since I almost inevitably end up doing it as one of the last things I do each day. (Today is an exception — I’ve specifically decided to write this before I settle down to a bit of pre-bedtime My Girlfriend is the President). Sometimes when you have to write something, your mind just goes blank and the absolute last thing you want to do is write. I get it sometimes during my day job, when I play a game so unbearably tedious or awful that the mere prospect of writing about how tedious and awful it is fills me with a sense of deep melancholy. (Other times, however, it’s fun to rip something that has clearly been crafted with no care or attention whatsoever a new one — or indeed to praise something that is worthy of praise.)

And yet despite occasional dalliances with writer’s block, here I am, day after day, posting my inane ramblings to anyone who will listen. To my surprise, I have built up something of a small but apparently dedicated audience over the last few years I’ve been writing this. My distaste for the Facebook “Like” button is well-documented, but the WordPress “Like” button is another matter — it gives me the opportunity to see when new (or familiar) visitors have stopped by and felt the need to show their presence, which is genuinely nice to see. (WordPress’ overly-positive emails make out that someone clicking the Like button is an absolutely massive deal on a par with being whisked away on a romantic getaway and proposed to in front of a sunset, but we both know you’re just clicking a button.)

Believe it or not, as self-indulgent as this blog is more often than not, I’m very grateful to those of you who stop by and read/like/comment. I’ve said on numerous occasions that this blog isn’t “for” anyone — the original remit of the #oneaday project was simply to get all the participants writing every day for the sake of writing, not for the sake of building an audience — but it is pretty awesome to see that, on occasion, something I post resonates with someone else somewhere else in the world. Ships in the night and all that.

Speaking of the #oneaday project, I have to toot my own horn a bit here — I’m pretty proud of myself for sticking with this for so long. Granted, with the number of words I’ve written across the last 968 posts I could probably have penned at least two or three novels, but that’s not quite the same as having an “outlet”. On more than one occasion I’ve been grateful for this blog as a means to share things I’m thinking or feeling with anyone who will listen — it’s not always easy to do that face-to-face or over the phone, but bizarrely, announcing it to the entire world via the Internet is absolutely no problem whatsoever, largely because in that case you can simply express yourself and walk away without having to have any of those difficult “conversation” things.

But I digress. To my knowledge, the only other original participant of #oneaday’s first year who is still going is the inimitable Mr Ian Dransfield of Play Magazine fame. Meanwhile, it looks entirely possible that the most pleasant Gemma Critchley is also about to start blogging again, which is nice to see. It’s been a bumpy ride for daily bloggers, though — in the first year, a huge number of participants (including the “founder”) dropped out within a week or two of starting; in the second year, I made a bold attempt to try and organise everyone via this “hub” site, relaxing the “rules” a little in order to (successfully) attract more people, and inviting readers to sponsor our efforts for charity. (In the process, I apparently pissed off one of the original participants who had not taken part since January of the previous year, who promptly posted an incoherent ranty post about how he was going to do things their own way, only going to prove my suspicions about said person. No, I am not saying who it was or what my suspicions were.)

This is now my third year of daily blogging and while the “community” feeling of blogging together with others is all but gone (for now, at least) it’s still satisfying to know that I can look back on the last 968 days and know that at least some of this waffle is worth reading again. It may be narcissistic to do so, but I do sometimes enjoy just hitting the “Random Post” button and seeing what comes up. More than enjoying rereading my past posts, it’s sometimes fun, sometimes sad, always interesting to think back on where I was in my life at that point — and where I might be another 968 days from now.

I guess I should start planning my 1,000 post party. Who can make a good cake?