2025-12-25

Merry Christmas, everyone!

If you’re a consistent reader of this project, I am deeply grateful for your continued support. It’s tough because since I don’t actively track viewer statistics or farm engagement, it can feel as if I’m writing into a void. However, I know that I have at least a good handful of consistent readers. Whether I know you personally in real life or became acquainted with you over the internet, I still appreciate it when you check in.

So far, Christmas has been just another day, but that’s nothing to complain about for me. I received a new beanie from my brother and sister-in-law that I enjoy. The beanie looks great and fits well, so I’m happy to have received it.

I feel that I’ve been getting into a better groove with my writing. I finally finished my essay on how I quit nicotine and since finishing that, I feel freer now that there’s nothing on the docket. A significant error I encountered while writing the piece: my outline caused a huge block in my writing process. The essay, despite being so short, took months to finish because I felt so confined by the outline. The main obstacle was target word counts for each section. I wanted each section to be about twice as long as they turned out, but I was struggling to add more words.

Feelings of inadequacy plagued me. I felt that the lack of words translated to a lack of substance, but the truth is that I didn’t want to put too much unnecessary padding into the piece. The brevity was actually important here because the personal arc and the philosophical themes were naturally concise. If I spent too long on them, it would’ve drowned out the whole piece. I’ve told myself before that I’d rather write 500 substantive words in a day than 2000 mediocre ones. I still stand by that statement, but found myself going against my better judgment.

Now that I’m done with the piece, I’ve focused on my approach toward my next one. I started it yesterday. It’s another short story that I’m hoping to submit to lit mags and journals. Fingers crossed on that one. This time, I’m taking more of a pantser’s approach—no outlines, just a rough premise and divine inspiration. When I wrote last night with this approach, it was much easier to produce the volume I was looking for. I wrote about 600 words and condensed it down to 450 after revisions. It’s the exact pace I was looking for.

This is why writing in Cogito has been so important. Over the last year and a half of maintaining this practice, I’ve realized my instincts are much sharper. I write with more confidence and less apprehension. My prose is not only more direct, but I can produce it at blazing speeds. Even on days where the iron isn’t as hot, I can still produce a large amount of words. Becoming prolific is more important than ever in today’s market. The supply is heavily saturated and the demand is constantly shifting its attention. I’ve come to find out that the people who actually make it as writers do so through hard and smart work.

I’ve struggled with maintaining a consistently strong work ethic over the last two years, which is of course a normal thing, especially when one is first starting out. But instead of giving up or darting my focus elsewhere, I decided to stick with it despite the lack of success. As I’ve gone through my twenties, I’ve realized that this is the time in life where I have to pick my trade. It’s best to find it sooner rather than later, and for me I’ve resolved that my life’s work will revolve around the written word. Whether it be through fiction or nonfiction, my work here will be a lifetime effort. Most people overestimate what they can achieve in a day and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade.

On Christmas day a decade from now, I want to give myself the gift of being proud of my progress.

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