Finding Your Voice: 5 goals for overcoming self-doubt and blogging consistently

How many of us really know our own voice?

If you're a blogger, you'll probably agree that this was one of the biggest hurdles when you first decided to share your thoughts with the world. If you're an aspiring blogger who has not yet taken the plunge, this might be one of the things holding you back. If you allow it, it's so easy to fall down the rabbit hole of self-doubt. What if I sound pretentious? What if I'm not as hilarious as my friends think I am? Oh god what if I'm boring?!

After the last Fozzel & Bean blog post, life took a serious turn. I like to call the journey of self-discovery that came next my "Yolo year". It's kinda like the twenty-something hipster version of Eat Pray Love. I threw out a tonne of possessions, changed my hair and clothes, quit my job and (temporarily) my degree, moved to the Gold Coast to share a questionably-hygienic apartment with at least 7 strangers, had a Summer stint as a nightclub photographer, met countless new and inspiring people from all over the globe, learned a million new things about myself, and damaged many liver and brain cells in the process (would not recommend). When the Yolo Year ended I tried to write again, but realised that I hadn't found my voice. In fact, I probably never had.

What follows is a series of Goals that I followed to find my own writing style, and to keep myself (and hopefully others too!) motivated for writing and blogging consistently.

5 Goals for Overcoming Self-Doubt in Blogging

1. Just write

Stream of consciousness writing is a technique used by fiction writers. When you're working on a novel or short story, it's easy to waste time fussing over the structure of one sentence or paragraph, losing sight of the big picture. On a smaller scale, blogging is the same. Stream of consciousness exercises are a great way to train your brain to express thoughts more freely. Sit down with your laptop or pen & paper, and let anything and everything that comes into your head flow onto the page. Forget grammar and punctuation. Forget whatever point you're trying to make or person you're trying to be. Just write. What is left might be complete crap, or it might contain something brilliant that inspires a future post. Either way, you are strengthening your writing voice.

2. Plan

With all the material from your writing exercises, you should have a list of things you're inspired to write about. Plan your posts out in draft form, adding pictures and other information as it comes to you, and keeping track of what needs to be done before the post is published (like finishing that damn coat!). Some weeks you might have plenty of inspiration and projects to share, while other weeks the real world requires your attention. Writing multiple drafts in advance means you're not wasting great ideas, and you still have content ready to be published during more quiet times.

3. Tell a story

An exercise from a creative writing class I took this semester: start really reflecting on the way you speak in person; the moments when you feel the most confident, and the moments where people around you are the most engaged. During this exercise I found that I love to tell stories that make people laugh. From the ongoing battle between my housemate and our resident spider, Huntsy, to the time I accidentally wore my squishy purple ug boots to work, when I'm telling my friends a story (even one where I completely embarrass myself) I speak with a confidence I never realised I had. Apply these discoveries to your writing and you'll have found your voice!

4. Never look back! 

Do not, I repeat DO NOT, read over your old blog posts when you are in a self-doubting mood. All you will find is a myriad of mistakes, lame jokes and general shame and embarrassment that will eat away at your confidence until your next post goes from draft to recycle bin. Focus on each new post, and your writing will get better and better with time!

5. Have fun being you! 

If there's one thing I learned during my Yolo Year, it's that no matter how weird or crazy you are, there will always be someone who gets it (or at least finds it endearing to watch). In this social media driven world where almost everything is public, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking everyone else is perfect. Spend a moment thinking about your favourite people, both in daily life and in the blogging world, however, and you'll probably find that the most refreshing people are the ones who are genuine. And life is so much more fun when you're spending time with people who know and love the real you.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you're an avid blogger, how did you find your writing voice? If not, what struggles are you facing right now when it comes to blogging consistently? Let me know in the comments :)

PS: If you're still following Fozzel & Bean from back in 2014, I literally love you! What have I missed?!?!

Etsy Design Awards: I'm a Finalist!?

Dear readers, before I bombard you with a heap of awesome new sewing projects, I have a little announcement to make...
Fozzel & Bean has been selected as one of 58 finalists in Australia's inaugural Etsy Design Awards! Um what!?

There are two parts to the awards. A panel of awesome judges will select a winning store from each category (I am in New Talent), and public votes will decide on one store for the overall Community's Choice. The winner of Community's Choice will be featured in a magazine, and sent to the Etsy headquarters in NYC!
It has taken me a couple of days to publish this post because I'm sort of in shock :P. But there I am, displayed amongst 12 other amazing new Australian stores:

 

In a stroke of truly bizarre timing, the design I entered was sold the day before the announcements. After an emotional send-off, the one-of-a-kind pride and joy of my store is now on it's way across the sea to Texas. I'll miss you, scarfy shawl thing that never had a proper name!

If you would like to help me win an amazing trip to New York, pretty please follow this link and vote for Fozzel & Bean! As an added bonus, voting will put you in the draw to win $250 to spend on Etsy! :D



Thanks so much, and have a great weekend, everyone!

Spring Happenings

It feels as though almost every post in this blog contains some kind of reference to the weather, but I couldn't resist making the most of the beautiful stone-fruit blossoms just outside my kitchen.

I promise that from now onward all weather references will be this colourful and positive!

For a little while now I have been experimenting with Spring appropriate accessories like lace collars.

I'm starting simple, using reclaimed yarn in various fibers and weights, and trying to develop a style that is both earthy and delicate. Feminine without being too lacy or frilly. I guess that's Fozzel & Bean style in a nutshell! It's amazing how much writing helps to put abstract feelings into words.

This particular collar is made from a beautifully delicate reclaimed cashmere yarn. It looks like a warm cream, but up close you can see that it's flecked with tiny strands of red. The closure is a metal vintage button from my stash, with what looks like a red gemstone in the face.

In other news, September is shaping up to be a hectic month. I have so many great things to share over the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

Monday Motivation - Dreaming of Summer

Instead of moping about the cold, I have taken to looking through old Instagram photos from Summers on the coast, and dreaming of how warm my toes will be in just a few more months.
Before Winter ends, however, I'm determined to venture out into the frost with my camera. By Christmas I might need something cool to stare at, after all.

How do you stay motivated when your sewing space becomes an ice-box? Maybe I just really need to move house :P

Happy Monday!

The First Market

Oops! There is a reason for the recent radio-silence.

The last few weeks of term involved some intense essay writing (and gin drinking!). And, because I must subconsciously love crazy deadlines, every spare moment was spent preparing for my very first market stall!

I set up my little table at the Manning Valley Envirofair - an annual sustainability fair in my hometown. It was lovely to get away from the icy Armidale weather for a weekend. The sun was shining. People were smiling. I even went to the beach!

The response to my knitwear was mind-blowing. I met so many kind people, all of them excited to find something warm to take home for the Winter. Previously, I hadn't been sure whether markets were something I wanted to do. Now I'm already looking forward to the next one!

The greatest part of the day was being able to chat to my customers and really get to know the kinds of people interested in my designs. A cello player found a pair of fingerless gloves, perfect for keeping her hands warm during evening performances. A lovely woman undergoing chemotherapy found a warm pink beanie, soft enough to wear against her delicate skin. It was a wonderful feeling, seeing people walk away with smiles on their faces, and realising that there really is a need and a desire for little businesses like mine to thrive.

While we were setting up, I just had to get a photo of another stall-holder wearing her new knit bow! Doesn't it look great in her awesome hair?

My little loot: An cute pair of handmade earrings, and some Greenpatch Organic Seeds.

Have you ever run your own market stall? I'd love to hear about it!

My Core Style - Wardrobe Architect

Over the past few weeks, I have been following along with Sarai's Wardrobe Architect Series over at Coletterie. The aim of the series is to help each person develop a totally functional wardrobe that reflects their own personal style. By defining which colours, patterns and shapes make us feel certain things, we should be able to create a wardrobe filled with functional quality pieces, and prevent all of those future dollars and hours wasted making or buying items that are never worn.

I have enjoyed reading about everyone's different styles and colour palettes, so I thought I'd share a little of where I'm at so far. Putting together a style board was very helpful. You can see the full board on my Pinterest, here. There should really be a third collage that covers Summer/festivals, as that's a huge part of how my love of colour and fashion really developed. Right now, though, it's way too cold to be thinking of such things.

So far, I would describe my style as: warm, saturated, cute (but not cutesie) and, most importantly, comfortable.

My colour palette came as no real surprise: mostly saturated, warm-spectrum colours. Dark neutrals with lots of grey, very few pastels, and none of this coral, camel or beige stuff that everyone else seems to love so much :P

If you're interested in refining your own wardrobe, and don't have the time or effort for style boards, a simple colour scheme really is worthwhile. Already it has prevented me from several bad fabric purchases! 

Has anyone else been following this series, or going through a similar process on their own? I'd love to hear about your discoveries!

Monday Motivation - Early Morning Photography

Early mornings always make for lovely photography. The weather is getting cooler, but not unbearably so. Which means, on the spontaneous and unreasonably early mornings I am awoken by this hairy face...

 

... it's actually a nice opportunity to beat the joggers and dog-walkers and go exploring with my camera (and even remember to put the bins out!). It's amazing how different my neighborhood looks when coated in fog. And how accomplished I feel when the alarm goes off and I'm already up.

It almost makes me consider becoming a morning person. Almost.

So how do you feel about mornings? Are we hardwired to forever be either early-birds or night-owls, or can we just change the settings?

Monday Motivation: Daily Planning

(photo from my instagram)

I have decided to try being a little kinder to Mondays. They don't mean any harm, after all. What could be better than waking up to a fresh new week and a steaming pot of coffee? 

 I have a terrible weakness for stationary. Especially the kraft-coloured, customisable, recycled milk-carton kind (like this). I often find myself lurking in the stationary section when I'm supposed to be buying something boring like sponges, trying to come up with a reason for needing brown paper sticky-notes or stripy manilla folders. It's not quite as bad as the fabric addiction, but it's getting there. I'm only admitting this because I know I'm not alone.

 

In the spirit of Monday motivation and awesome office supplies, I purchased this lovely downloadable planner designed specifically for bloggers. For $12, so far it seems incredibly thorough, with plenty of space for planning out posts and listing goals and ideas. There are a ton of free printable planners around, but this one looked the most organised. It's also pretty, without being overwhelmingly colourful or filled with cartoon animals.

If it's as great as it sounds, you can look forward to regular and hopefully awesome future blog posts!

Do you have any tips and tricks for keeping your blog organised? What do you like most about Mondays? I'd love to hear!

'The Ultimate Blog Planner' from Clickitupanotch.com