I’m 8 days into my 30 day writing challenge. My objective is to take a working class approach to writing, delivering on demand and relying only on a topic and some key points. I’m writing about things I know and things that I’d like to know more about.

My first takeaway is that a strict writing schedule leaves very little time for reading. With only a few hours to write per day, there is hardly any time to read new material. This alone shows that daily writing, combined with a day job, can become unsustainable.

On the flip side, I‘m filling up a notepad with new ideas to do or write about during the writing process it self. Sleep, however, doesn’t benefit. Writing late in the day gets a thinking process going that takes a while to burn out. Tea drinking doesn’t help, either.

I’m sharing these stories on Twitter @michazzo and Instagram @michaelazzo.

Here are the first 7 stories summed up:

1. The lonely road of a self starter — Here I introduce the 30 Days 30 Stories challenge, and what inspired it: The fear of starting and not finishing, and what that does to the creative spirit.
2. The Future State — This one is about my home country, Malta. It talks about the islands’s struggle with national/cultural identity, especially amongst young people. It’s an optimistic take on the debate, which is how I feel about the island in general.
3. Five Things I’ve Learnt while Starting a Design Company— The running of a design company taught me several valuable lessons. Here, I talk about five that were pivotal in the success so far.
4. Interview: Sebastian Hefel— Interviewing people is something I want to do much more of. For my debut, I talk with Sebastian Hefel who’s my business partner at Sebazzo. It was a real pleasure to make.
5. License to Practice Digital Design?— This is something that often crosses my mind. I suspect that these questions will begin to trend the more digital design makes its way into our daily routines.
6. Malta, we need to talk. — This story does two things: It highlights what I think is the main weakness of Malta’s creative industry, the reluctance to collaborate and discuss issues surrounding our creativity. Secondly, it introduces Hey Disco, my latest project that presents a dialogue with an eclectic mix of innovators and shares their stories via mixed content and talks.
7. Nobody‘s Stealing Your Brilliant Idea.— Because the idea alone is not enough. This is about the uniques of our ideas and how closely related they are to who we are. We can keep ideas exciting and alive by sharing and discussing them with others.

If you enjoyed reading these pieces please do hit the ‘recommend’ button at the bottom of each story. To read more, follow me here on medium.

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I’m a Maltese designer/entrepreneur based in London. Partner at Sebazzo. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter.