Registering for this’Writing 101′ assignment was not something I had ever thought about or had wanted to pursue; in all honesty I hadn’t even heard of it and had no idea of its connotations. To be quite frank, I am a novice WordPress user, a debutante Blogger and the whole online writing community is new to me so I haven’t really known where to begin with any of it.
My personal challenge, I suppose, is to improve my writing skills, my style and ultimately, become a successful blogger, recognised for pushing the boundaries or aspiring to create something that little bit different. A part of me also wants this blog to be a sort of life affirming “self-discovery” vehicle, in which I can grow and improve as I search for my ultimate goal. In September I am taking off to Australia for 12 months on a working holiday and plan to document my year in a travel blog. Being an avid and keen nomadic wanderer since the age of 19, my previous travels and experiences are something I’d like to share with the online community too. However, I realise that travel blogs are in abundance at the moment, and every traveller thinks of themselves as an aspiring Simon Calder or Bill Bryson, publishing stories of how they traversed the Inca Trail or climbed the 2000 steps to reach the Great Wall of China in the hope of reaching journalistic heights or award worthy status by providing the reader with something unique and noteworthy; this saturation is the reason I want to create something a little different, something that possesses that ‘je ne sais quoi’. Being a complete blogging amateur, I am also aware that this task is going to be tricky and I seek the help and advice of the online blogging community in the form of members of The Common.
As I write I find myself inundated with ideas of where to take my blog; what to write about; how to lay the pages out and what to include, be it picture, links to videos or useful information on travel, yet I suppose I also lack the drive to follow through with these ideas somewhat; that awful demon known as procrastination creeps slowly into my consciousness and ceases any form or rhythm I may have been creating. I fear also that my writing, or my ideas and creativity may somehow, not be worthy enough to be recognised as something fresh and inspiring.
This sea of self-doubt that I am swimming in is hampering my abilities as a writer; it has also hampered my abilities as a confident decision maker, a determined go-getter and a stable, well rounded individual: quitting a career I worked so hard to achieve to follow my travel dreams seems insane to some, yet I truly believe it could help to disperse this self-doubt I unfortunately posses. Writing, sharing my travel adventures and documenting my experiences through this blog will hopefully enable me to achieve some form of peace and happiness, some liberation.
So it is with this that I ask for your help or advice, your comments and your ideas. I want to become a regular blogger, one whose blogs are worth perusing over and taking stock of; one whose blogs are shared or liked, are used for inspiration or just admiration, but most of all I want to share and to free my mind in order to create something of quality and importance, that beholds relevance…………..
My twenty minutes of continuous writing has come to an end, my first assignment for Writing 101 complete and I sit here reading back over my slight ramblings, criticising and wondering if what I have written even makes sense?
Chasing Amy-Lou 
I really like your style of writing, and am honestly looking forward to reading about your travels. I’d be really interested in reading a post about the mental/emotional process you had to go through to finally decide to leave your job to pursue your travelling adventure.
On a slightly different note, I can completely relate to your feelings of doubt (I actually wrote a bit about that in my own first post). From what I can see, you’re off to a strong (and interesting) start!
Thanks for this comment, it’s made me smile 🙂 Hopefully I’ll be able to retain your interest but like I said, I’m a bit of a novice, so bare with me while I get things set up and figure out how to use it all 🙂 More to come in the following days/weeks…fingers crossed!