Lately I’ve felt like my writing is getting better. It's been about a year and a half since I made that a priority and set out to launch a newsletter to work on it. While I keep getting better structurally, I also seem to be pushing people away... which makes me wonder if I’m actually improving at all.
Talking with someone about this recently helped me discover that my biggest problem seems to be a translation gap rather than a structural, storytelling one.
When you're told that people can't keep up with your mental leaps, everything you write starts to sound like “first I’ll explain why this matters. Then I’ll give an example. Finally I’ll summarize.” But, somehow, I've screwed that up, too. People still don't connect with what I was saying.
Apparently, that's common for neurodivergent folks (or so I'm told.) I'm neurodivergent, but the way I communicate has never felt common. I just want to be able to connect with people. But recently I've found my thoughts never seem to land as intended.
It's been frustrating over the years. But I’m deeply committed to honing my craft. That's where the idea to write these daily emails came from, anyway. Creating the MAP Year Project gave me a way to get better through daily reps. So it's not just a resource for others (sorry) since it doubles as an accountability mechanism for me to chip away daily at improving my writing.
We're coming up on September 1st, which is when I'm kicking off The MAP Year Project. After tying myself in knots figuring out a simplified user experience, here's the current version of the new "front door" I'd been working on for The MAP Year Project. Before I announce it far and wide, does this "front door" make it easy to join in without overcomplicating things?
onward.
-dmac