I have to stop writing for other people.

The Sunday Journal #01

I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve rebranded the logos and changed the colors on this blog. From its conception I thought I had everything figured out, but as time went on and I began to write more and more, I found myself entering different eras of this blog. You may have even noticed—if you’re receiving this in your email inbox—that the name Carissa Mae Whaddya Say has been changed to something different this time around.

Carissa Mae Whaddya Say started out as, well, a self-help blog. I was writing about the different ways that readers could improve their lives, incorporate a positive mindset, and otherwise learn to find joy in everyday life. My articles were short, bubbly, but to the point. That style of writing fits the Carissa Mae Whaddya Say vibe; bubbly, excited, and with a hint of childlike playfulness.

Carissa’s Chronicles, however, has a completely different tone! It sounds historical, journalistic, like documenting one’s life. This is the vibe I’m going for. While I won’t ever lose the bubbly, exciting, childish side of myself, I feel that making this change allows me to better encompass the overall direction I want this blog to venture toward. I’ve gone through several different eras over the years, but I’ve always kept the vibe the same. You know how they say, “Be the change you want to see?” Yeah, I’m doing that.

My dream (laugh if you want to) is to have a blog that people talk about, a blog that makes it big, a place where people can go to read stories that resonate and that people can come to if they need a little advice or just want to find some interesting journal prompts. I can’t have any of that if I’m not the one who starts the conversation and gets people talking. I have to start taking this blog seriously if I want it to succeed in the way I envision.

I read a quote about writing; a piece of advice, really. It said, “Write what you want to read.” As a writer, you are first and foremost writing for yourself; the audience is just a side effect of putting your words into the world. For a long time I was writing the opposite. I wasn’t really writing for myself—I was writing for other people. I was writing things that I thought other people wanted to read. As it turns out, writing that way turned writing into a chore and made me feel kind of stressed out and anxious about writing in general.

Throughout the course of my writing career (I’ve never been paid for it, so the term “career” is extremely loose) I’ve come to realize that I’m not being honest with myself. Many of the things I’ve written were for other people, not for me. I didn’t feel like jumping for joy when I published a new article, and I hardly ever re-read them. Writing for an audience, as it turns out, makes the author rather miserable.

After journaling extensively about how I feel about writing, why I feel the way I do, and being honest with myself, I have come to the conclusion that I have to stop writing for other people. I’ll never reach my writing goals if I’m constantly confining myself to a box just because I think I’m writing what other people want to read. Well, I’m done writing what other people want to read; it’s time for me to start writing what I want to read, and writing what makes me feel alive and enjoy the process of writing and creation.

I know that not everyone is going to enjoy reading what I have to say, but that’s the point. Writing shouldn’t be for everyone. Writing shouldn’t be generalized and vague to cater to a wide range of people. Just how we all have different experiences and enjoy different things, my writing is best enjoyed by a group of people who want to read the same things I want to read. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read an article and found it to be too generalized and vague. The best writing is writing that is specific and niche, if you will, although I know many of us in the writing community don’t like to define ourselves by a niche.

That’s another box that myself and other writers try to squeeze ourselves into. Niches. Sure, you can be knowledgeable about a specific topic, which makes it your niche, but—at least for me—if I want to enjoy the writing process to the fullest, I can’t box myself into a niche. Having a niche can be restricting, which is why I’m done trying to define my writing. These are Carissa’s Chronicles; I chronicle, document, and otherwise write about, well, anything I want to chronicle or document.

I’ve gone through rebrands of this newsletter, but this has to be the biggest, by far—even if it’s not entirely noticeable from the outside looking in. I’ve tried having schedules, tried just writing whenever inspiration struck, but for me? There has to be a healthy balance of these things. Schedules can exist with spontaneity. Spontaneous scheduling, if you will! I’ve also learned that I have a hard time keeping track of things throughout the week for me to relay to all of you, so instead, I’ll be focusing on writing a weekly “journal” about whatever comes to mind. This will prevent me from feeling stuck on having to constantly write about the same thing each week, while also providing the structure that I need in a writing practice.

I have a few other things mapped out for this blog that I’m excited to incorporate, but until then, I hope y’all can contend with The Sunday Journal and all of the random rants and ravings I’ll be going on about. Next month will bring a few new things, so be on the lookout for them in your email inbox! The Sunday Journal will be delivered to you each Sunday, and will detail, well, just about anything I feel like writing about that week. You can also check out my Daily Diaries where I’ll share random photos, and short posts about anything and everything.

I’m looking forward to this. I hope y’all are too. And I also hope this encourages you in some way to tackle a challenge or that dream you have, and to actually take steps toward seeing it through. Dreams stay dreams because of many different reasons, but the main one is that people don’t put in the work. I want to put in the work, and I hope you do too.