At the beginning of the summer, I posted about my seasons of discontent. The premise of that post was that we all go through times when we question ourselves, our motives, and our actions. That struggle is real. As the summer gets closer to an end, I’m still not certain of my next step on this journey.
I’ve been writing at Hip Diggs since October, 2014. I’ve published over 400 posts. I’ve written four ebooks. That’s a lot of writing. I’ve covered a lot of different topics surrounding simple living. Still, it can be a struggle to keep from feeling like my writing is getting repetitive.
Where Do I Go From Here?
I love writing about simple living and minimalism. I don’t intend on quitting. Still, I question how I can grow as a writer if I continue writing articles about the same topics.
I try to live simple and I’ve been documenting my own experiences. But another reason I chose to write about simple living is that I felt that I’d have a larger palette of writing ideas to choose from than I would with many other topics. And I do.
Before starting Hip Diggs, I attempted to write on topics like forgiveness, leadership, and writing itself. I reached a saturation point much quicker with each of those topics. After a few months I felt stumped. Simple living offers a greater variety of subjects because it can be applied to so many areas of life.
If you’ve followed my blog, you’ve seen that I’ve included posts on tiny houses, music, writing, walking, business, and even dating. I’ve done this for two reasons:
- More variety for readers: I don’t like blogs that cover one specific topic in detail. I wind up feeling like I’m reading the same article repeatedly. For me, reading is an adventure. To always read the same genre would drive me looney. I look for variety. I assume my audience would like some variety as well.
- Self-discovery: Writing is a very personal journey. I’ve written fiction, poetry, songs, and more. These other genres of writing offer me a greater opportunity to explore my own inner-most thoughts and feelings. Writing about simple living has some limitations. By expanding into other areas, I’ll be able to feel more content with my own variety of content.
Will You Struggle With Me?
Writing can also be a very lonely venture. As writers, we isolate ourselves. We explore our own depths for the sake of sharing the results with others. That is a brave struggle. But what happens when we feel like we’ve reached a saturation point?
I know what would happen if I changed the focus at Hip Diggs. I’d lose the majority of my audience. I’ve played that out before. Still, I feel the need to branch out a little more.
So my question to you is simple: Would you stay with me if I were to stray a little further from being a straight simple-living blog? What if I were to have more posts about religion or psychology? Would you keep reading?
Don’t worry, I am going to stick with the general topic of simple living and minimalism at Hip Diggs. But I just want to be up front with you all. I’ll be exploring some new topics. I’m not sure exactly what those topics will be, but I’ll know when they come to me. When I started Hip Diggs, I invited readers on a journey not a destination. I hope you’ll bear with me while I continue to explore.
