When I realized my next post would be my 100th I thought a bit about what I might like to do. I could do a little wrap up of past posts and write a bit about how my blogging voice has changed from day one to ‘day-of-100th-post’. I could pick out some of my most popular posts and hypothesize why some posts are more viewed/read than others. And I could just ignore the milestone altogether.

But I didn’t want to do that.

In the end I decided to share a couple of developments in my blogging mind (set?). That’s just it. I felt like I was starting to settle into something I didn’t set out to do. My first blog was a bit of fun about a Badger being a good icon for a certain type of business. Then I did a few journal type entries about a couple moments in my trip to USA.

As the release date for my first novel approached I started blogging about the cult my novel was based on. Then, when invited to be part of the Emerging Writers Festival I stumbled into an opportunity to blog everyday (if I chose) about writers events I attended and anything else related to the emerging writer.

Occasionally I blogged about things that got up my nose. Perhaps this is where I went off a bit from what I most enjoy writing, which is funny stuff!

While I am passionate about certain ‘political’ issues I think the best I can do for, and in, this world is be as positive as I can and to focus on controlling my own destructive impulses (selfishness, jealousy, anger etc…).

I see the world around me as a reflection of my thoughts but over my 100 posts sometimes I found myself blogging from an ‘us vs them’ perspective. Maybe there are some people in this world who think nothing of doing ‘evil’ acts or depriving other innocent folk of a life they enjoy—but I am not a politician nor a world leader with millions of people’s expectations riding on my back.

It’s not for me to say how anyone else—powerful or not—should change; it is up to me to change: ‘be the change’ and all that. They don’t say ‘talk’ about the change (though maybe writing about it is helpful?).

I am a little writer not many people have heard of (though I’m doing my best to change that—with my novel and with this blog!). Since I don’t have the answer to all the world’s woes I don’t want to be the type of person who points them out, not without some humour at least. I thought I was doing that but maybe I wasn’t. Or maybe I can just do it better—funnier?

With this in mind the other day I printed up an A4 reminder which now sits on my desk. It reads:

“I focus on funny. Only publish/share/write if it’s FUNNY!!!”

And that’s what I’m going to do from today onwards. Further to that I have been inspired by Twitter talkers and fellow bloggers who are taking up one of, or both of, two interesting challenges.

NaBloPoMo is about bloggers committing to blogging at least once a day for a month; NaNoWriMo is for writers who reckon’ they can do a novel in a month.

I haven’t officially signed up for either (though I may if it’s not too late) but I have spent today writing the first chapter of my ‘November Novel’ with a working title of ‘Yisyot’.

It’s scary and perhaps even a little foolish in a way, to share your work so quickly after doing the first draft, but I guess that’s the spirit of the thing. Get it out there. Don’t edit yourself to death. Have a go—as we say in Oz.

So I’m having a go. I haven’t done either ‘Na’ before but I’m sure there will be moments of despair when I regret publicly announcing my committment, but, if I make it to the end of November with a Chapter posted everyday over HERE then at the end I’ll have a first draft of a novel I didn’t expect to write.

And what is life if not unexpected?

As for funny, I’ll finish this blog with some encouraging words from Ernest Hemingway, for anyone considering sharing their writing with the entire world (perhaps) earlier than they ever have with anyone before:

“The first draft of anything is shit.”

or to put it in Zen koan terms:

“If a writer falls over in the forest and no one is there to see him fall does he make a sound?”

I know I’m not in the forest alone. Please feel free to come over to my Yisyot story and make some noise.

Thanks for reading this far!