*This is a more polished version of the content creation process for those who are more comfortable following an outline of the steps in the creative process, which I don't normally do in my personal blog; I just like winging it.
Intro
It has been a rainy and flood-filled week for us here in Metro Manila. The typhoon caused substantial damage and really poured hard. I'm lucky to live in a flood-free area so I'm grateful for that. For this blog post, I'm just going to freewrite about blogging and writing here on Hive. Here goes...
My process...
I have been blogging regularly this month. So far, I've published 13 blog posts, which is already more than my modest target of being able to publish two (2) blog posts in a week. It's good that I was able to do this; gives me that sense of rhythm that makes me want to write more about what I write. About any of my interests and experiences. I don't really have a niche here on the platform. I've never really thought about narrowing down the subjects that I want to talk about in my posts. I initially wanted to post about food and my vegetarian lifestyle -and I still do, but life has a way of directing us to places we might not want to go to. It's not necessarily bad. It's just the way it is.
I usually start the day with a subject already in mind, or something that I saw on social media somewhere down the rabbit hole, or just around town when I do go out and about. I then freewrite and see how it goes. I'm not much of an outline person, but I do stick with the basics. That every story, whether it is fiction or non-fiction, has a beginning, a middle, and an end. If you've read my blogs before, I just put headings for the "intro, body, and conclusion", but it's not a format that I subscribe to every time. I like to just wing it and go with the flow; go wherever my keyboard takes me. It's just the way it is as some people write better with a detailed outline, ala book report or thesis, while some are more prone to starting out with a blank slate, then just go from there.
Mindset..
I've set modest goals for publishing on my blog here on Hive because it's more of a journal for me. Something that takes a snap of the moment. Blogging in the diary-like style makes it less stressful. In fact, it helps release stress from my body. Being able to just type in anything that comes to mind is very calming to me. In a way, it's like mindfulness, except that I write about my thoughts rather than just letting it pass when I meditate. Doing this makes me focus. It let's me drop the worries in my mind and just focus on typing on the keyboard. I would have been better if I was doing it on a typewriter or on big clunky keyboards where you can really feel and hear the sound of typing something.
How blogging affects me...
If the goal of meditation is inner peace and calmness, then writing fits this description perfectly. I feel calmer after freewriting for a few minutes, release stress, and get transported to another plane of existence, especially when I'm writing fiction. Then, back to reality. It's the simplest, cheapest grounding exercise for me. In fact, it produces a small amount of rewards if I do decide to publish the work I've done; it's a win-win situation. Most of the time I just freewrite, let it sit in the drafts for a while, then just delete it altogether.
Writing, similar to meditation, also let's me tap the unconscious. My brain easily goes to alpha when I write. It's a really a blessing to be able to do this. It brings out the creative side that let's me imagine things in a better, more useful, beautiful way. It makes me happy to do this. Blogging for a short time let's me shift focus from something that I might be stuck with, like an upcoming project, then come back to it with a fresh perspective. It's practical.
Benefits, of course...
So, I think that blogging on Hive has benefits far more than the rewards we get after seven days. It helps us center and focus our attention on the blog post thereby shifting our attention from a worry we might have. The process of writing makes us, or at least me, calm down, then just let things come up naturally, solutions to problems that I don't even remember I was worrying about, which is really nice.
Speaking more about the benefits, I do appreciate the rewards that I get from blogging. It's not the be-all and end-all of why I publish, but it's good to get something for the time spent on the platform. Looking at the stats, I got 26.59 HP / 5.67 HBD from the last 30 days. I consider it a successful month, having gone back to blogging recently. So, in this aspect my goals are still the same moving forward, to aim for growth: two (2) blog posts in a week while doing other stuff on Hive. Speaking of growth, my HP had gone from 1,834.847 at the end of June to 2,185.86 as of now; a 351.013 HP increase, and we still have a few days until then end of the month.
Conclusion
#Hive is one of the best online blogging communities on the internet. It provides writers a space to publish, while owning the work themselves. It caters to different content creators be it bloggers, video creators, or digital artists. Also, there are a lot of activities outside of content creation that we can do in this space. For the financial-savvy among us, there's trading and investing on crypto and defi, where we can potentially earn money if that is what we want to do. Coders and developers may contribute to the platform with multiple dapps in the works; joining an existing project or just branching out on your own are both good depending on your needs and goals. Finally, enjoying a game can be quite fulfilling here, as you also earn tokens that can be easily converted to fiat.
And, that's it for today. Thanks for dropping by and spending your time here. Have a bright and fruitful day ahead.
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