For the last two weeks, I’ve been writing a long post on what’s been going on in my head since October 7th of last year, and I broke my two blog writing rules:

  1. Don’t write a post for more than two full days.
  2. Don’t write negative things about other people.

Let me explain first what I mean by these self-imposed rules.

Two full days mean usually two full mornings writing and not being done. I revise my posts and check for typos and grammar before I publish them, but this editing process is not part of “spilling the beans.” When I run out of time writing, I give myself the option to wrap things up the next day (or later in that day if I get the chance), but not to sit down and continue writing a second part.

Why not keep on writing? I found that if I’m not done writing down what I have to say in one sitting, I’m probably never going to publish what I’m writing. I will keep on writing until I forget my point and go into endless tangents or get overwhelmed during the editing part, which takes a decent amount of time, and the whole thing will feel like a chore. This used to happen sometimes with my old blog, and it sucks.

As for saying negative things about people, this is something I picked somewhere else a couple of years back: it’s a positive-karma-enhancing tool and a troll-preventative measure in one. It’s one thing to be grumpy and complain about an idea; it’s another to criticize a group of people (or someone specifically, which is even worse) in a negative light. This can be tricky at times, but usually, it means criticizing the idea a person (or a certain group) is after rather than the individuals themselves.

For my October 7th post, I gave up somewhere around the third day of writing. I was also getting too judgmental of people, and I came across as bitter and negative. The post started to look like the kind of post that makes me stop reading and even stop following a person, at least for a while. These are crazy political times for all of us, after all.

It’s natural that there are a lot of feelings about what happened and what is still happening, and it’s a good thing that I feel like I can talk about it more in length now. But. I must remember my two rules, they are there two help me. So, what can I do when approaching a difficult topic like this one?

For one, I should write one idea at a time without expanding on tangents and related events. For another, if I write about other people, I should focus on how they make me feel, not what they are saying and what I feel they are saying. One is authentic and honest, while the other is negative speculation.

I will try to salvage the big mess of a post I have for parts and see what I come up with. I’m also considering some sort of content warning for people who don’t want to read anything of the sort but still like other stuff I write about.