I used to blog daily from 2000 to 2012 at emergic.org. I had then taken a break because I had started working on the periphery of politics. And even as that work ended, I did not restart my blog. April 1 2000 was when I finally started again – at rajeshjain.com. And since then, it has been back to my old self: something new daily, writing for myself, and sharing readings. It has now been four years of the new blog, and I am so happy that I am writing again.
Much of the blog writing I do on weekends because I get contiguous time in the mornings at home. (I don’t do gym or walk on weekends. So I get about 3 hours from 5 am to 8 am, where I can write undisturbed.) I have realised that my best writing happens on these weekend mornings at my desk at home. I try not to miss the weekend writing slots and space.
I have always liked to write. When I was a teenager, I maintained a diary for many years. (I probably still have some of them at home!) As I grew up, I would write the occasional note to myself in my book – it was a way of clearing the mind. Sad moments, angry moments, frustrating moment – writing helped me move past the troubles life throws at us. Writing helped clear the mind. My diary became my friend, a person I could talk to whenever I wanted. My private space. Where I could say whatever I wanted without worrying about what the response would be. I still do that at times.
Most of my writing is now on the blog – mainly marketing ideas and short posts like this. The book happened because of the blog posts. (I now tell people my secret of writing of a book: 100 posts of 500 words each. And the 100 posts can be split into 10 topics with 10 posts each. Much easier to think like this than a 200-page book or 50,000 words.)
I don’t want for perfection in the ideas. Even if it is half-baked, I start writing. I don’t even edit – there can always be another iteration later. Many times, I have seen the idea evolve even as I am writing. I get into a zone – flow – where connections start happening. For the past few months, I have started using the AIs (ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini) to refine, summarise, critique, and enhance the ideas.
By removing the desire to write for others, I have freed up my own thinking. Its just me and an empty page to be filled when I start. All I need to do is to get the first few words going, and then the rest of the story starts coming together. Blogging lets the imagination roam free – I can imagine new worlds, new themes in marketing, and new futures. There is no one to please, no likes to count, no comments to respond, no metrics to track. Its just me, my mind, and the ideas that flow through.
