Writing into 2024

The recently finished holiday season was good for at least one thing: I spend more time writing. A funk spread over me for a few months as the garden wound down. Now, the desire to write is hard to contain. I feel some of what I recently wrote has been pretty good, both on this blog and in my autobiography. A couple things made the difference.

Perhaps the biggest is by reading more, I’m beginning to gain better understanding of contemporary affairs and connect dots. When I began using Goodreads to track my reading, the goal was to start reading books again. Somehow I had fallen away from book reading. When I made a commitment to read 25 pages per day and began tracking books read, the number of annual books read grew from 24 in 2018 to 69 in 2023. Quantity improved measurably.

Better than quantity, I’ve been able to correlate perspectives of history that didn’t previously come together. Because of my book selection process, I tend to read books with similar themes, with direct consequences. For example, the Reagan Revolution is clearer to me now that I read multiple books from different perspectives about it. As understanding deepens, it lays a foundation and context for my recent personal history. There is no reason to describe the wake of Reagan and neoliberalism, but rather assume it as background and build something positive from there. My recent letter to the editor of the Cedar Rapids Gazette is an example of what is possible.

It may seem like a small thing, but beginning to write Part II of my autobiography using chapters with names helped a lot. Instead of a Jack Kerouac-style automatic streaming of content from memory, the chapter titles break up the narrative and enable the reader (and the writer) to focus on one thing at a time in a long and complex narrative. This was a recommendation of a friend who read Part I early last year. It was a positive addition.

I’m filling in for Dave Bradley at Blog for Iowa until his family gets settled in Indiana. That means I have a commitment to provide at least two posts each weekend. The weekly obligation keeps me thinking about possible topics. At the same time, it helps organize the flow of ideas into buckets for that blog, this blog, letters to the editor, and my autobiography. Having a firm deadline to produce something for an audience helps maintain focus. Dave expects to be away for several months, and it will help my writing.

I deactivated my X account on Nov. 22, 2023 after 15 years on the platform. After giving Threads a thorough beta testing, I found a core group of accounts that provide diversity and interest so when I need social media, I have a responsive place to go. I would like to rebuild what I had on X: a strong group of Iowans interested in politics. It’s happening slowly, but I’m hopeful with a presidential election this year, it will come together by Labor Day. I’m still new there. The biggest change is the weight of X toxicity was lifted almost immediately. That has been good for my writing.

I don’t make New Year Resolutions yet feel like in 2024 I can accomplish a lot on my autobiography. By reading and writing more, the process gets better defined… and easier. That should make the writing better. If the holidays provided a needed boost to my writing, I’ll take it.