The Random Writing Rodeo
I recently met up with a new friend for dinner. During the course of the conversation they confessed that they were very passionate about Philosophy. They were intrigued about the “realism” and “logic” of the world, and how it operated. They talked about various different philosophers, their theories, and perspectives about how to perceive the world. As my friend put it, “this is what I think about while on the bus.” Admittedly, during this entire conversation, I was a bit lost. Philosophy is not my strong suit. Nevertheless, I was fascinated by what my friend had to share. Towards the end of the night, I was probably no more enlightened than when it began, but I did start thinking about how refreshing it was to be exposed to something completely different and gain some new information on a completely unknown domain.
At the same time, I have been also thinking about what to do about this blog. Writing is a muscle, and like any muscle it needs to be exercised to develop. I want to write more, and while I occasionally have a good idea about a post, more often than not, I am faced with writer’s block.
That’s when I realized that this blog could be a means of exploring new domains. Enter the Random Writing Rodeo. A challenge to myself to both learn something new, and write more.
The premise: Identify a series of random topics , and use those as springboards for blog posts. This should then give me motivation to research these new topics, try new experiences, or reflect on my previous experiences from a new perspective. Then use that newfound perspective to write something interesting, and worth posting.
Rules:
- Make a blog entry about a random topic every 2 weeks.
- Each entry should be a minimum of 700 words long.
- The entry doesn’t necessarily have to be about the topic itself, just inspired from it.
Topics:
| Week | Topic | Post Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | puppets | October 12, 2020 |
| 2 | postcards | October 26, 2020 |
| 3 | astronomy | November 9, 2020 |
| 4 | balloons | November 23, 2020 |
| 5 | elephants | December 7, 2020 |
As a pilot for this idea, I’m going to try and commit to 5 bi-weekly posts. I am hoping that by publishing all of this, I can hold myself accountable to this experiment I’ve conjured up for myself (and the faint hope that if anyone else wanted to try, they would have a guide to do so).
