Sitting down to think about this year-end wrap up, I felt chagrined–sheepish!–that I, like so many others before me, started the year writing strong and then trailed off, publishing not at all since late October. So many good reasons for the taper–of course! But truth is, I was creatively tapped out–and as I struggled to generate meaningful content I was concerned that I was at risk of boring my readers. Better not write at all.

I learned during the year that writing is like exercise: it takes greater commitment but it is easier to do on a steady basis, than it is in fits and starts. Writing was at its most fun early in the year, when I was publishing three times weekly. The time required to keep that pace was beyond significant though, intense. Hello, rest of life, where did you disappear to? Fun–and very satisfying–yes, but I had to back off. I never quite found the same sustained, loose rhythm again, although certain articles were still a pleasure.

In the end I produced 71 articles in 2011. They have served almost as sketches for projects I’ve been thinking about or working on–that’s been extraordinarily valuable to me, and I hope, in some way, to my readers as well. Looking ahead to 2012, although I’ll continue to write from time-to-time, my ambitions for the year are much more modest than they were for last–I’ll write six to eight pieces throughout the year. More>>