Thoughts on writing, side hustles, and professional creativity

I should start by telling you I’ve no idea where I’m going with this article. Well, I wrote the title, so I have a little idea, but whether or not the version I’m writing resembles the version you’re reading remains to be seen.

At the end of last year I was itching for a creative outlet. I have some craft-focused hobbies, but I also have a brain that rarely stops ‘talking’ and I’ve always found that talking to other people, writing, communicating, or some variation on these activities, is totally essential. If I haven’t had enough grown up conversation in a few days, it leaks out of me in the form of 20 uninterrupted messages on the group chat at 11.30pm when I ought to be sleeping. It’s a problem.

I’m drawn to Instagram, because I love ‘meeting’ and reading/watching about other people’s lives on there. But I’m not convinced that Instagram-first content creation is going to ‘work’ for me. When I was running The Whin as a business, it was very Instagram focussed, and I found that ‘showing up’ on a regular basis was draining, rather than fulfilling. I don’t know if it was the subject matter, or the fact that it was tied to a floundering business, or if (although this is my hunch) it didn’t feel natural to me to be ‘on show’ in that way. I don’t feel great about the idea of people watching me go about my daily life - in fact I take great comfort from the fact that most people, most of the time, are not paying very much attention to me at all!

So rather than a ‘content creator’ I think I’d be better suited as an ‘essayist’ (does that sound like I’m just trying to avoid saying ‘blogger’?) I also really enjoyed having a podcast, and given that so many of my episodes were scripted, perhaps that’s like the audio version of blogging anyway. There’s an anonymity in words and voices that you just don’t get with pictures and videos.

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There’s also a piece of me which has long held the ambition of becoming an author. I feel as though I have enough words in me, and enough intelligence, to write a book. Novels require a greater level of creativity and persuasion than I can muster up, I think. So would I write a memoir of my average and unexceptional life? Probably not - I don’t really want to piss off everyone I know anyway…

And that leaves me with some other kind of non-fiction - the kind where you either have to do a lot of research, or you have to come by your subject matter expertise through another route. I think I could probably research a book - but I’m not sure I’d know where to start! Well, I’m very sure I don’t know where to start - because I’m not even sure what I would write about.

I think once I had a topic I wanted to write about, it would take me about 10 minutes to write a research plan and I could easily lose hours down internet rabbit holes reading up on things. But then usually to research a book you also have to talk to (other) experts, or you need to speak to people affected by your topic or issue - and I don’t know how I would persuade people to give me their time for that!

As for subject-matter expertise, I’ll admit to having some expertise in the realm of marketing and business! But then, the list of my ‘achievements’ in either field is incredibly short and unimpressive, so who would take my word for it! I did read a very interesting book recently by some Professors of Marketing (not their official job title) which made me wonder whether a side-quest back into the word of academia makes sense.

I mean, for me as an individual person, such a side quest sounds fan-bloody-tastic - sign me up, when do I start, is there a reading list? My brain is wired beautifully for reading and learning and digesting and writing about what I’ve learned, as I’ve just been discussing. But practically with family and financial obligations - well it doesn’t seem like a realistic prospect for the foreseeable future. Unless anyone wants to pay my mortgage while I take a sabbatical 😂

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And then, since I’ve brought up the topic of finances I might as well take the segue - what about monetising my efforts? Obviously SubStack has the option for content behind a paywall. Podcasts can run ads, although the residual income from The Whin Big Podcast tells me that’s not likely to pay the bills any time soon! So, you know, there are some avenues. But I know for sure without an audience there’s no income, so whatever the plan is for the future, the plan to start with has to focus elsewhere

It’s not that I want to build a business again, certainly not the kind that I had before. I’m much better off with accountability and a predictable income, so I’ve no intention of giving up either of those things until retirement! If I ever write a post telling you I’ve quit my job to ‘do this’ full time, my account has been hacked 😂

But I think I’m probably like a lot of people in thinking that it might be nice to a have a bit more flexibility in the family budget, a little extra fund for treats and holidays, that kind of thing - so it would be nice to spend time doing something I enjoy that has a positive impact in that area. Selling bits on Vinted and using cashback apps for purchases - well it’s not adding up very fast!

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Anyway in a bid to reach some kind of conclusion or ‘point’ to writing this and sticking it on the internet, I think I want to start by trying to build some kind of writing habit. Low stakes, no promoting it, just getting into the habit of writing down my thoughts - picking topics, structuring ideas, finding the joy and creativity. Once I have a better sense of what that looks like, what I have capacity for, what direction I might head in, then I can make something more of plan.

So - the initial goal is! To sit down at my desk at the start of every work day, and write something to post here. And to actually post it every day as well, even if that means it’s short and unedited. Most days I get to work before I need to start working, so I think I can be consistent. And even if it’s only 200 words on nothing in particular, it’s the habit that matters most!