One Week In: Observations of a First-time Shipper

When I signed up for the January cohort, I had my Plan: write 30 essays in 30 days, strengthen my writing habit, make friends. The last seven days have brought me back to reality. Here are 5 observations from my first week as a shipper.

It’s OK to Fall Off the Ship as Long as I Get Back On.

Publishing 30 essays was the plan. Work was ridiculously busy. Writing the essay about mom was a punch in the gut that raised the severity of my depression symptoms. So, on day 7 I published 5 essays. But here I am with essay 6, and I didn’t beat myself up about it.

Clear, Not Clever

On day 4 I was a little irritated. Why were some of my essays not getting comments? Dickie and Cole answered that question in yesterday’s live call: I had confused them with clever headlines. Being clear is key. Lesson learned.

Flexibility With Sacred Hours

In a perfect world, my Sacred Hour would be sacred. Life likes to get in the way, so I have been flexible. It has been 3–4 pm, 6–7 pm, and today it’s 7–8 pm. But I have written an hour a day for the last 7 days.

. Ha

Sticking to 300 Words is Hard!

I thought that I could write my essays without an outline, since that method is how I usually approach writing. That’s the quickest way to hit 300 words and only be halfway through an essay. I have learned to write outlines and be ruthless with editing.

Circle is Important

How am I going to meet new people and expand my reach if I don’t participate in Circle regularly? Isolation doesn’t cut it. Once I hit publish, I’m hanging out in Circle. Ahoy fellow shippers!

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