Today, I officially start work on the Project 1000. Read about it here. Right now, at about 10 in the morning, rather than being at work, I am home and trying to desperately figure out what could capture my imagination and make the interest last for 1000 words. Here are a few things that I think I can write about…
- Things that I know and I want other people to know. Like why is it important to use formatting palettes while you are working on Word and Powerpoint. But then these would be academic at best and dont really know if someone would even read these. Like I could even talk about the importance of ensuring that you strictly put the left ear plug in your left ear and not otherwise. The question remains, would it help me become a better writer? Would it help me structure my thoughts better? Would it help me dig deeper into the topic and learn more about it?
- Yet another love letter to sgMS. Come to think of it, I can write one every day. But most days the stories would be repetitive and since sgMS is history, I am not sure if she would ever read those letters. But then, thats the point of the letters no? The other person may not be around but you keep them close to you, in your thoughts and in your dreams. Letters are yet another manifestation of those dreams. Right? So may be one letter each day. Even if its a small letter that talks about nothing important or love like!
- The book that I have been trying to write since last 29 and half years. But then I either had a lot of plot ideas. Or I dint have a single one. Now, through some magic, I have identified a couple of plot ideas. But I dont really have an interesting story to tell as yet. I know I am not great with the language and unless I have a very compelling story to tell, there is no point in writing one. And they say that a decent sized book has about 70000 words in it. So maybe, I can write a book in 70 chapters and I can take the arduous task of writing one chapter each day? At 1000 word per chapter, it would be easy to read for the end reader (if I manage to find some readers that it).
- Random motivational jazz, the kinds Seth Godin and other write. But then the trouble is that Seth and other people have seen the world and are credible voices in the otherwise riff raff online world. People actually pay to listen to what they have to say. And on the other hand, if I paid someone the biggest fortune ever, they may not want to sit through a single reading of my best pieces.
- Thats about it I guess.
So without further ado, here is the decision. Every day, for next 100 days at least, I would write the following.
- A letter to sgMS. Not on the public domain obviously.
- One chapter of a book. Not necessarily the same book.
And I would obviously write my regular blog posts. Like today, I am tempted to write about the advantages of working in a secluded corner, the way I am writing right now. I am all for working out of open spaces and gardens and parks and coffee shops but to be honest, most of that work is catching up on email and doing things that dont really add any value to your personality. The real deep work, where you actually create something, can only happen when you are in the zone and the fingers are flying on the keyboard. And at least for me, its really tough to get there when I am outside. The inherent curiosity that I was born with, makes my head wander to all the places in the world, but to the task at hand. And hence the advocacy of sitting in a secluded corner.
So thats about it for the time being. Next up on the agenda is the letter and the chapter. Godspeed to me. And just in case someone is taking a note, I am about to reach 1000 posts on this blog. Over the period of last 7 odd years. Way to go Mr. Garg! No mean feat!