100 Days of Writing

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So, I haven’t written in a while. Or, to be more precise: I haven’t finished a written piece in a while. That is not because I didn’t write at all, but in the current situation, I simply decided to prioritize family and work over writing, which is still kind of a hobby for me. I started a few posts from time to time but then didn’t take the time to edit and finish them. This bugs me.

I genuinely love to write. Thinking about what to write is interesting already but when you start to put your thoughts on, well, virtual paper, something amazing happens. Just like with design work, the end result is never what you expected it to be when you started the piece. The act of writing is always exciting and surprising. Especially when you try to let the words just pour out. It sounds like a platitude, but the older I get, the more I realize how true it is: The journey really is the reward.

In some of my previous posts on this site, I wrote about what I learned from reading and listening to books and podcasts on writing. One of the first pieces of advice was to just start writing. Regardless of whether you are in the mood or not. Regardless of whether you think you have something to write about. If you want to be a better writer – write. But somehow, I did not practice what I preach. I’ll change that today.

Starting today, I will post a shorter – or sometimes maybe even longer – piece on this site for 100 days. I have no idea what I will write about yet. Some posts will surely be about the Web, about design, and about coding. But others might also be about an observation I made that day or something I learned or enjoyed. I might share insights from books and podcasts or also a chocolate cake recipe. We’ll see.

What will I learn from this? Will my writing improve? Will I think more about what to write? Will I make it a habit? Will you enjoy what you read? Will I fail? I don’t know. All I know is that I already like the idea of writing more and seeing where this leads me. I’m actually excited! Let’s do this. I’ll see you tomorrow.

P.S. If you want me to write about a particular topic, just drop me a note or write me on my twttr.

Posts I wrote thus far #

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73 Webmentions

  5. Photo of NouranMhmoud NouranMhmoud
    100 Days of Writing, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/100-days…
  6. Photo of Christophe Coevoet Christophe Coevoet
    @m_ott on the page matthiasott.com/notes/100-days…, the link to the article for Day 56 has the wrong URL, leading to a 404 (I found the right URL by going to the index of the notes instead)
  25. Photo of Francesco Schwarz Francesco Schwarz

    ????; 100 Days of Writing
    I just discovered Matthias Ott’s challenge of wiriting something every day for 100 days just recently. Since May 27 he’s constantly outputting such good content that it leaves me deeply impressed. What will I learn from this? Will my writing improve? Will I think more about what to write? Will I make it a habit? Will you enjoy what you read? Will I fail? I don’t know. All I know is that I already like ...
  28. Photo of Jeremy Keith Jeremy Keith

    100 tunes
    We got a headstart on the lockdown. A week before the UK government finally stopped dilly-dallying (at the expense of tens of thousands of lives), Clearleft became a remote-only company. At the beginning of this stay-at-home time, I started recording a tune a day. I wasn’t sure how long I’d keep it up, but I’ve managed to keep it going the whole time. Yesterday I recorded my 100th tune. It’s funny how ...
  44. Photo of Matthias Ott Matthias Ott
    Thank you Ilithya! ????; I’ll definitely write about editing and how I finish my longer posts (at least once a year… ????;). And the suggestion to write about habits and hobbies is also really good!
  45. Photo of Flo Flo
    About how to find a topic to write about?! ????;
  46. Photo of ilithya ilithya
    - Everything and nothing. - How to compromise with one self to finish a long post (more than 10min read)... I would like to read that, as I am struggling finishing one of those... get super distracted easily. - Personal: lifestyle outside tech world... healthy habits, hobbies
  49. Photo of Hidde Hidde
    Someone will have to do it, Matthias!
  50. Photo of Matthias Ott Matthias Ott
    Thank you, Hidde! I’m already looking forward to creating the photo for this post… ????;
  51. Photo of Hidde Hidde
    Best of luck on this project, I admire you for it. Looking forward to the chocolate cake recipe ????;
  53. Photo of Kev Quirk Kev Quirk
    If you want me to add your site to the blogroll, let me know. ????;
  54. Photo of Matthias Ott Matthias Ott
    Oh, that’s nice! A great idea – and people are posting quite a bit under the hashtag. ????; I’ll have a look at it!
  55. Photo of Kev Quirk Kev Quirk
    That’s great to hear, as I really enjoy your writing. I had a similar idea about a month ago and it’s seems to have morphed into a bit of a beast. I called it #100DaysToOffload it even had it’s own site now! 100daystooffload.com
  56. Photo of Lukáš Petr Lukáš Petr
    Good luck! That’s a great idea. I once did a 14-day challenge - 1 blog post a day. It was good, but quite stressful. Also, I do daily journaling (just 10+ minutes a day): lukaspetr.com/i-kept-my-writ…
  57. Photo of Matthias Ott Matthias Ott
    Great! ????; I still remember when I learned (super basic) juggling one summer as a kid. I managed to juggle four scarves or three balls in the end – and it was so much fun!
  59. Photo of Flo Flo
    My goal: rock solid with 4 balls and as many tricks as possible with 3. I bet you can still juggle 3 balls within 30 mins of practice. ????;
  61. Photo of Flo Flo
    ????; I recently started 100 days of juggling … but intentionally more.
  62. Photo of Mike Acler Mike Acler
    Hats off & good luck with this, Matthias! These public commitments are the best!
  63. Photo of Matthew Roach Matthew Roach
    That’s a lot of days.. But I'll look forward to seeing them in my RSS reader each day

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