The Second Time was... Charming!
October 16, 2020
Starting from scratch isn't easy, but that has never bothered me.
Finishing. That's a different story.
RTFM!
I am really good at starting. I get excited about an idea or a project or a new piece of gear. I start making all kinds of plans. It's gonna be Great!!
I jump in and buy a bunch of stuff. Whatever I can afford. I've bought tools and materials for leather working, twice. I've been buying books, paint, brushes and paper for watercolor painting for three decades. My latest project before this blog: wire jewelry. I bought several pliers, yards of wire, beads, clasps and a big tool box to store my jewelry making kit.
Have I made any jewelry or made any leather items or (jeez!) painted any rocks recently? Noooo …
(Yes. I bought paint and brushes to paint rocks. I even bought rocks... )
The jewelry kit sits under my “art table” with the leather kit and the painted rocks kit (yes, I know). The water colors and drawing tools are on top of the table. The pile of How To books sit on the shelves nearby.
The How to Books! I buy them and buy them. Do I read them? Noooo …
Apparently my brain is convinced I can just absorb any printed information in my vicinity, as if by osmosis. I'm a sponge, a paper towel - the info-picker-upper!
Read the book, Jericho! READ! THE! BOOK!!
Around about 2013, I decided I would become a Travel Writer. I bought a bunch of books, like ten of them. All new. The book at the top of the list: Lonely Planet: How to be a Travel Writer. Did I read it? Did I read any in the stack? No. Of course not. I took those books to a used book store when I sold all my books in 2015. My best friend Max and I dragged twelve large plastic totes of books into the store and I walked out with $165.00 - I paid over $100 just for the travel writing books!
I think a lot of artistic and crafty people feel my pain. I hear sewists and knitters complain they are drowning in fabric and fibers. I read musicians lament that their instruments have grown dusty and their hard earned callouses have fallen off. I'm in good company, no matter how frustrated we all may be.
This time, I want to make a real go of it. I know I say that every time. But, I'm getting better. With age I have found more discipline. Some. I've found some discipline, far more than the none I had previously.
So … I bought the book again.
For starters, this time around I am actually reading How to be a Travel Writer - huge improvement! (Pats self on back.) As of the time of this writing, about a week before this article is to be published, I'm about three fifths of the way through the book. I hope to be complete by the time this is published. However, even only that far, I've already found a lot of great advice, resources and inspiration. I was right to buy this book, not just once, but twice.
In the book, I found a lot of encouragement. I also found a lot of discouragement. This book doesn't pull any punches or candy coat the truth. It's a tough career in a saturated market. I'm proof that just about any fool with a computer and internet access can start a travel blog. The book was also written before The Pandemic. I've picked possibly the worst time to enter one of the hardest careers to start.
If you are as foolish as I and are set on starting this career, I highly recommend this book.
See you out there - Keep On Going!