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| Lost Momentum by ©LeDomduVin 2019 |
Lost Momentum
In a way, a blogger is like a writer or even a journalist. All the posts are written based on the inspiration of the moment: a picture, an image, an idea, a thought, a fact, the news of the day, or even another article about a subject you would like to write about or whatever else could have triggered your interest and imagination to write that post, a movie or even a book, at this particular moment.
As a writer, you usually go to sleep and wake up with at least one idea or more (it could also happen during the day, the evening or even at night). If at night before going to sleep, it might help to write it down so as not to forget it.
Barely awake, with your idea in mind, you rush to your computer and start to write something. The words flow right through your mind like the rapids of a river where facts, ideas, thoughts, stories, souvenirs and other memories converge.
With words mingling in your mind, the post or article is slowly taking shape and structure as the words appear to form phrases reflecting the idea, the inspiration and all other things you’re thinking about while typing them…
For a brief moment, time stands still or does not even exist. Nothing counts anymore except writing. You are focusing hard on the idea, the words, the prose, etc.... Oblivious to what surrounds you and what could occur and anything else.
You've been writing for a while now, but unfortunately, it's time to stop and move on to other things like preparing for work or attending to other tasks. This interruption breaks your inspirational flow, and you lose the momentum you have built up.
The facts, ideas, images, thoughts, stories, souvenirs and other memories you had a minute ago are now starting to vanish as your mind is occupied by other things you must think about to organise the rest of your day.
So, even if unfinished, you publish your post anyway as you think that you wrote enough to trigger the interest of your followers and other potential readers. Thinking that you might return to it and finish it later or the next day. You even state in the post that it is still a “work in progress” and that it would “be finished soon”, evidently knowing that it is a white "lie", as this particular post might never be completed or finished, as you may never come back to it, and move on with other things to write about without ever having completed the previous one.
If only you could have more time (and money) to be able to stay at home and write, or even go to other places to get the inspiration (a cafe, a bar, the park, the pier, the countryside, the beach, the mountain, etc…). But no, it is impossible as you have a daily job taking a large part of your day until late, every day, even on weekends.
After work, it would be great to be able to go back to writing a few more paragraphs, but no, you also have your life with your family, wife and kids, and things to do with them and a multitude of other things that need to be taking care of, before being able to return to your bubble and write a little longer before going to sleep.
A few days later, you realize that this great post or article you’ve started with so much excitement will be hard to complete and/or finish. You go back to it and start to revise it. Some new ideas start to flow. Yet nothing is as exciting as what you had in mind when you first started to write it. You wish you could have finished it on that day, when everything was in place in your mind and the writing pace was flawless and completely natural and didn’t require you to think as everything was there, clear and present in your head, and ready to be transcribed on the page…
But this was a few days earlier already, and since, your train of thought has taken other directions. The inspiration of the moment has gone to make room for other thoughts. And the idea that was so great only a few days ago does not seem as appealing as it was anymore.
Furthermore, other people beat you to it anyway, as they wrote about the same idea or subject in a more concise and straightforward manner, going straight to the point. Not like you, always trying to add more details and going more in-depth to finally produce articles left unread, as they are usually too long and as convoluted as your mind and thoughts.
They beat you to it as thousands of articles and posts are posted daily on people’s blogs, newspaper websites, news sites and other media like social networks. So what’s the point of continuing writing, will you say, as at least 10 other people already wrote on the subject, finished and posted their articles on the day you started yours…..
Does it ring the bell? It does to me, as it is pretty much the story of my blogger's life.
How many times did I start to write a post and never finish it? Too many times. Countless times….
Maybe I’m trying too hard, or maybe I’m writing posts that are too long, too convoluted, too complex or too detailed sometimes... Maybe I should change my ways of writing and write simpler, more straightforward and more to-the-point posts and articles… I have tried many times, but it is difficult for a writer to change his/her writing style and patterns. It takes time, discipline and dedication.
When I start writing, I'm always very excited. Yet, if I have to stop for diverse reasons, I usually lose the flow and lose interest in my articles. When that happens, I always say to myself, "I lost the momentum."…
I lost this internal force, driven by the inspiration, imagination and creativity that first sparked the idea in my mind but then vanished gradually in a couple days, as I could not finish the post/article on the same day I started it. On that day, everything was in place in my mind to write something that seemed good and interesting. A few days later, it went missing... Gone! Vanished! I just lost the momentum.
Sometimes I even say to myself: No one cares if you finish it or not! ...as no one reads blogs anymore, especially long articles like yours. And yet, my passion for writing and sharing my knowledge and experiences pushes me to continue posting most ideas, thoughts and other things that go through my head and mind daily, even if I lose the momentum and some of my posts will remain unfinished forever.
This is my internal mea culpa to apologize for my blog's unfinished posts/articles. Like any writer, when the momentum is lost, there is no point in returning to it. Better move forward and write other things.
Occasionally, it happens that I go back to and revisit an unfinished post or article. As I read through it, I add and delete, correct and refine my prose, and even may change things a little as my point of view on the matter may have changed or evolved.
Sometimes, I rewrite entire paragraphs to make them flow better or just give them a different or more positive vibe. Sometimes, I have nothing to add as I have no inspiration or the subject has been covered by so many other people that it would be silly to believe that I can write something else that has not been written. So, I leave it as it is, unfinished...
Sometimes, the inspiration comes just to rewrite some of the paragraphs, the ending or the conclusion, and it feels good to tell myself that I did not leave it unfinished… but usually, when the momentum is lost, it is definitely lost, so I usually move on and write on something else.
A writer's life is filled with lost "momentum" that he or she can’t even avoid or prevent. The writing of a piece on a subject is never completely finished as the ideas and thoughts of the writer are always changing, growing or diminishing, vanishing or resurfacing, evolving, directly and/or indirectly, under the influence of so many factors and reactions, emotions and feelings, internal and/or external, interfering with his or her daily writing routine.
The most difficult part of writing is knowing how and when to end the story, post or article to consider it finished and not have to return to it. Not as easy as it may seem, I tell you.
Most of the time, a piece of writing is just an expression of a specific idea, thought or moment that cannot be repeated and may never come back exactly the same way...
And once it is gone, it's a lost momentum….
Thank you,
LeDomduVin (a.k.a. Dominique Noel)
@ledomduvin #ledomduvin #lostmomentum #momentumlost #meaculpa #writer #writting
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